Expert’s advice: Don’t waste gas in idle time at fast-food windows

Expert’s advice: Don’t waste gas in idle time at fast-food windows
Friday, June 05, 2009
BY T.W. BURGER tburger@patriot-news.com
Robert Davis has a pet peeve.
The retired Navy submariner and PECO energy-efficiency expert sees long lines of vehicles sitting in line at fast-food restaurant drive-through windows and it drives him crazy.
Davis is no off-the-wall crackpot. [...]

Humanity’s carbon budget set at one trillion tonnes

If emissions keep growing at the present rate, the carbon emissions budget for the 2 degrees target will run out in 2021.
Humanity’s carbon budget set at one trillion tonnes

18:00 29 April 2009 by Catherine Brahic
For similar stories, visit the Energy and Fuels and Climate Change Topic Guides

No more [...]

The Declaration of Cumaná, Venezuela | This is a Brilliant Read Based on How We are Currently Functioning as a Society

The Declaration of Cumaná
April 23rd 2009, by ALBA Member Countries
ALBA
Cumaná, Venezuela
We, the Heads of State and Government of Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela, member countries of ALBA, consider that the Draft Declaration of the 5th Summit of the Americas is insufficient and unacceptable for [...]

Canada’s greenhouse emissions soaring: UN report

1) Canada’s Report to the UN attached.  Canada has the worst record of any G-8 country and one of the worst of all countries who signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol.  Spain actually is even worse but it signed through the EU agreement.
greenhouse-gas-emissions-2007
2) Unfortunately the global picture is also [...]

Every breath you take — air quality in Europe

Every breath you take — air quality in Europe
Courtesy of European Environment Agency (EEA)
Originally published Mar. 2009

The characters in this story are fictional. However the data are real. The story is set on 27 July 2008 when an air quality warning was issued in Brussels. Anna is 37 years old and [...]

What is the global-warming impact of the omnipresent drive-through?

February 25, 2009
Advice about recreational eating
Hey Mr. Green,
What is the global-warming impact of the omnipresent drive-through? Surely this has to be one of our biggest wastes of energy. –Robert in Biglerville, Pennsylvania
In drive-throughs or anyplace, idling is, to summon the old saying, the devil’s workshop. Every hour you [...]

The High Cost to Society of Idling

Problems caused by idling

There are a number of problems associated with idling:

It’s expensive
It’s bad for breathing
It’s bad for children
It’s an ineffective way to warm your vehicle
It’s damaging your vehicle

It’s expensive
Even if the vehicle isn’t moving, if the engine is running, gas and oil are being consumed. With fuel prices as high as they [...]

20 Things you should know about idling

Idling gets you nowhere – and it can be costly. Excessive idling wastes over $100 a year per vehicle, and generates needless greenhouse gas emissions.
Idling produces more emissions per minute than driving.
Engine exhaust (diesel and gas) contains more than 40 hazardous air pollutants.
Traffic areas around schools – where vehicles are often [...]

Tailpipe Emissions | These are the chemicals produced by a vehicle as it runs

Tailpipe emissions

These are the chemicals produced by a vehicle as it runs (1):

Carbon dioxide (CO2)
Nitrogen oxides (NOx)
Hydrocarbons (HC)
Sulphur dioxide (SO2)
Particulate matter (PM10)
Ozone (O3)

Carbon dioxide (CO2)

Sources:

The combustion of fossil fuels (oil, gasoline, coal, etc.); deforestation.
Every litre of gasoline that is burned produces about 2.3 kg of CO2.(2)

Impacts:
Responsible for over 60% of the enhanced [...]

Tim Hortons joins drive-thru debate | Kitchener

MERCURY NEWS SERVICES

Mercury news services
September 12, 2008
Terry Pender
Mercury news services

KITCHENER
Tim Hortons went on the offensive yesterday against a possible ban on future drive-thrus in the city.
“If you get rid of drive-thrus, the cars keep coming, and the cars will move to the parking lots,” Nick Javor, a Tim Hortons [...]