By Tracy Sorensen
"Some cars will always be necessary", says environmentalist Peter Warrington. "We have a country that is so big that we are going to need them. What sort of cars they are and how often they get used is the big question, really."
Environmentally conscious engineers around the world have been designing "greener" cars for decades now. Methane gas, solar power and electric storage batteries have all been used with some success, although nothing has yet come close to the performance of the petrol-fuelled combustion engine.
Motoring journalist Brian Woodward reports on the relative merits of the Japanese Kei car in Simply Living: "Kei cars have an engine of two or three cylinders with a capacity of 550 cm3. This compares with an Australian made Nissan Pulsar, with an engine that is 1800 cm3, or a Holden Commodore with its V8 engine of 5000 cm3. Yet these tiny engines are not only fuel efficient, but powerful as well ..."
The Bicycle Institute of NSW argues that road conditions and attitudes should be changed to accommodate the most environmentally sound transport activity after walking: cycling. Matt Faber told Green Left that the institute has had some success in getting a list of proposals agreed to by the Roads and Traffic Authority.
The institute calls not just for changes such as sealed road shoulders and more bicycle parking areas, but the introduction of showers and change rooms in office blocks for hot, sweaty bike-riding workers.
The slight inconveniences associated with bikes had to be weighed, said Faber, against the "terrible problems" associated with cars and the benefits of bike riding. n