What's Your Transport Footprint?

That's right, 6 tonnes before you even take it for a spin. A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: "Swapping a thirsty and polluting older car for a lighter, more fuel-efficient model can make environmental sense if you are doing a high mileage, but if you do relatively few miles it makes sense to keep your car for as long as it is reliable. The greater your annual mileage, the greater the potential environmental savings from changing to a more fuel-efficient model."

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These are all true. When traveling by plane, book a flight in the daytime instead of at night. This is because at certain altitudes, aircraft produce condensation trails, caused when the plane's hot exhaust hits the chilly atmosphere. Yet during daytime, these clouds have a cooling effect because they are white and thus reflect some of the Sun's energy back into space. In addition, about 50 percent of the carbon emissions released by airplanes come from the takeoff and the landing so always fly direct. And finally, try to buy a ticket with an airline that you know has the newest possible planes. New airlines are more likely to have state-of-the-art planes that are more fuel-efficient and made from lighter materials. But always check the airline out yourself for specifics.

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3 Ways to Fly Green With Eco-Smarter Business Travel
Do Not Fly at Night

According to AAA, it costs a commuter 54 cents to drive his or her car one mile. In a year, a car owner spends over $8000 on vehicular expenses and produces nearly 5 1/2 tonnes of carbon emissions driving. Public transportation usually costs less than $1000 a year. Even if you don't take the planet into consideration, in economic times like these there is just no excuse for not taking advantage of a deal like that.

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Top 7 Safety Tips For Public Transportation

You should drive 55. Yes it rhymes but it's true. For most vehicles the optimum speed limit is somewhere between 50 and 60 mph. This is no coincidence either, it also happens to be the average speed at which the government tests vehicles in order to determine their fuel economy rating. Good gas mileage = emissions reductions; driving efficiently matters.

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Green Glossary: Hypermiling

Powered by an algae-based fuel cell engine, the innovative mode of transport has a tracking system for navigating railways efficiently. Both these characteristics result in minimized fuel costs. Chiron is a means of transportation designed to minimize the ecological damage which combines the flexibility of road vehicles with the environmental suitability of the railway.

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Algae-Powered Big Rig That Transforms Into A Locomotive
Swedish Green Train Project Breaks Speed Barrier

Planet Green's Matt McDermott looked at three trips in the United States: New York City to Washington DC (230 miles or so), NYC to St Louis, Missouri (about 950 miles), and NYC to San Francisco (about 2900 miles) and found that driving in a Prius (or another car that has similar fuel economy) and sharing that car with three other people has the lowest carbon emissions, even over a bus. Pretty surprising. Going from New York to San Francisco this way would mean that each person's emissions would be about 305 lbs of CO2. But emissions become much larger per person if you don't fill the car.

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Planes, Make 2009 the Year of Green Travel

Each newly manufactured car will need to get 42 miles to the gallon under the Obama Administration's new goals. Each gallon of gasoline burned produces approximately 20 pound of C02, so a 30 percent more efficient car makes a huge difference in reducing tonne after tonne of carbon emissions. Check out your current vehicle's emissions with Planet Green's How to Go Green: Cars.

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Check Your Car Emissions Before Obama Does
How To Go Green: Commuting

According to the Ecopreneurist Southwest is the world's most efficient airline. They have paperless tickets, fuel-saving winglets, fleet-wide advanced avionics and pages upon pages of other eco-friendly upgrades. They are the EPA's Blue Skyways Collaborative Partner and have won several environmental awards since 1995. They save 274 million pounds of CO2 per million flights. They recycle oil and even work to reduce noise.

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Choose a Green Airline
Pony Up for Carbon Offsets When You Book Flights Online

Even assuming that the electricity to power an electric vehicle is not produced from rooftop solar or natural gas and it comes 100 percent from coal, it is still much cleaner than gasoline powered automobiles. Electric cars themselves produce zero emissions. And the powerplants that provide electricity are stationary sources and can be constructed to be cleaner sources of electricity.

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There is no better feeling than hitting every green light. It's also great for gas mileage and the environment. But it may not be luck at all. Some cities have rigged their traffic-light system so that a car driving the speed limit will zoom through the green lights unhindered. That's one more reason to slow down because engine idling is a huge waste of gas and just 30 seconds of idling uses more fuel than restarting the engine. Idling causes significant and unnecessary emissions of particulate matter, hydrocarbons, and greenhouse gases. The resulting pollution causes asthma, acute respiratory infections, and lung cancer.

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How to Catch all the Green Lights When Driving
Regenerative Braking Helps Save Energy

While in a long distance trip from NYC to San Francisco a bus would emit 520 lbs of CO2 and a train would emit 1220 lbs, the emissions of a train and bus reverse in inner city travel. According to Carbonfund, for trips under 20 miles, due to differences in the type of vehicles used on these routes, train comes out ahead. That 20 mile trip into the next county on a train would emit about 7 lbs of CO2, while in a bus it would emit about 13 lbs of CO2. The numbers show that trains are clearly the best choice.

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Planes, Trains, Automobiles (and Buses): Which is the Greenest Way to Travel Long Distance in the US?
Air Travel and Climate Change: Take the Train