Eco friendly car 2011

Vidic, 2:00R09University of Pittsburgh, Swanson School of EngineeringOctober 9th, 20121“HYBRID CARS”: NOT SO ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLYColten Fortenbaugh (crf30@pitt.edu)INTRODUCTION: HYBRIDS CREATE POLLUTIONHybrid cars may be solving several problems dealing with theharmful emissionsof gas-powered vehiclesinto the environment, but they are also creating some pollution issues of their own. They may emit a little less greenhouse gases into the environment whileyou are driving them, but they are also a more complex car and thereforerequire asubstantially larger amount ofenergy to produce. This increased output of energy increases the amount of pollution emitted into the air, thereby nullifying the advantages gained through reduced emissions during the operation of a hybrid vehicle. Also, sincehybridshave batteries, the materials used to produce themstill haveto be gathered and disposed of –doing these things can be harmful to the environment as well. Manyproponents of hybrid vehicleswill claim that battery-powered vehiclesdon’t give off bad emissions, but where is that energy to charge the battery coming from? If it is notfrom a clean energy source,itis still polluting the air. I feel that our environment deserves better,and that the auto industry should stop leading people to believe that they are having a positive impacton the environmentby buyingand driving hybrids.I have always beencurious about how hybrids supposedly “help”us protect our planet, and researching them gaveme enoughinsightregarding the topic to form a solid opinion on it.Also included in this paper will be a discussion on the ethics involved in creating hybrids as well asengineering in general, along with a weighing of the value of doing research on a topic such as this as a freshman college student.THE BENEFITS OF HYBRIDSOver two million people have chosenhybrids because of the benefits they are supposed to have[1]. For instance, they give off less CO2during operation[2]. They produce less noise, and since hybridcars run partially off of a battery, they require less gasoline [2]. They also have a braking system that partially recharges the battery [3]. However, hybrid cars are only slightly more efficient than a diesel powered vehicle [2]. The auto industry claimsmany great things to be trueabout hybrids, but many of these claimsaren’t as true as they want you to believe.PRODUCTION LEADS TO POLLUTIONWhen you drive a hybrid car, it has less of an impact onthe environment than when you drive a car that is fueled by gas. Most likely,no one will deny this. However, hybrid cars aremuch more complex than regular cars, andthefactories producing them emitmore pollution than a normal car factory [4]. Since hybrids have a gasoline engine and anelectric engine, they would also have to carry extra weight, which means they should require more energy to run [5]. In order to counteract this, most hybrid car companies try to make their car framessignificantly lighter in order to make them more efficient. Theyachieve thisweight reductionby making the framesout of aluminum instead of steel. However, there is an enormous downside to this–aluminum productiontakes ten times the amount of energy than thatofsteel.[5]. Essentially, that means ten times the amount of pollution emitted into the environmentbeforethe consumer ever drivesthe car.After thesehybrid cars aremanufacturedusinglarge amounts of energy, they still need a battery to actually produce the results that the auto industry promises.BATTERY PRODUCTION HARMS THE ENVIRONMENTThe batteries that are found in hybrids are made primarily of nickel. It requires much more energy to produce nickel batteries than it does to produce lead batteries, which are found in gasoline-powered cars[5]. Those in favor of hybridsclaim that the nickel batteries may be slightly better for the environment in the long run. However, I do not believe they couldbe environmentally friendlyif Toyota offers two hundred dollars for people to return their used nickel batteries so that Toyota can dispose ofthem properly[6]. My concern is summarized well by this quote: “They worry that a hybrid utopia might turn into a toxic nightmare when the nickel metal hydride batteries in today's hybrids end up in landfills” [6]. Another major concern is themethods used to obtainall these materials for complex hybrid cars [7].MINING FOR MATERIALS DESTROYS THE EARTHHybrid batteries contain nickel, and their wiring is primarily copper. These metalsused to createhybrid cars are acquiredthrough the process of strip mining. In strip mining,miners clear the surface of all life and collectmaterials close to the surface, rather than digging down into the earthto find them[7]. This form of mining gives off a considerable amount of air pollution and also destroys plantsand streams. A group of scientists from the University of Maryland, Duke University and others found that strip mining does
Colten Fortenbaugh2irreparable damageto the earth and can cause health issues for humans[8]. Each hybrid car requires approximately seventy pounds of these metals, whichare acquired through strip mining [9].After reporting that fifteen hundred streams have been destroyed, Duke professor Emily Bernhard said: “It obliterates stream ecosystems [...] they’ve been wiped from the landscape.” These scientistsalso report that the damagecould last hundreds of years [8]. Strip miners also level mountains to get to the coal beneath them, and that damage is most certainly irreversible [8]. However, the biggest factor is the electricity that charges the batteries of hybrid cars. If the power plant that produces the electricity uses coal,then that produces an evengreater amount ofpollution. Also, the coal that is used to produce that energy isacquired through mining. At the Powder River Basin, located in parts of Wyoming andMontana, thirty-one thousand acres have been mined. Federal law statesthat the landthat ismined must be reclaimed, but so far only eighty-six of those acres have been reclaimed. They are mining the land at an extremely faster rate than they can reclaim it [10]. POWDER RIVER BASINThis is where the coal is mined that powers the hybrids [10].Tearingup that much of the earth’s surface doesn’t seem very beneficial to the environment. Maybe gasoline-fueledcars are better for the environmentthan hybrids cars.HYBRIDS VS. GAS-POWERED VEHICLESBoth the hybrid and the gas-powered car have a normal engine. That means even though the hybrid has the low maintenanceelectric engine, it also hasthe engine of a normal car. One still hasto change the oil andtake care of it just as theywould in a normal car [3]. Their brake systems are slightly different. A gas-powered vehicle has simple brake pads. A hybrid car alsohas these, but they also have a system called regenerative braking [3]. This causes the engine to run in reverse, and while doing sothe engine acts as an electric generatorand slightly recharges thebattery[11]. The performances of the cars are where the hybrid is supposed to make its mark. Since the production of hybrids puts so much pollution into the air, a “break-even” point is the method by whichthey are typically measured. The break-even pointis the amount of miles at which the emissions given off during production and driving of the hybrid are equal to the amount that would have been emitted from a gasoline-powered car. A study done by students at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2010 found the break-even points of several vehicles. The Ford Fusion Hybrid would need to be driven for 150,000 miles exclusively in the city before it breaks even. However, if most of the driving were done on the highway, one would need to drive it approximately two million miles [5]. The Ford Escape Hybrid would need to be driven for 200,000 city miles before breaking even and one million highway miles [5]. For the Toyota Highlander Hybrid, onewouldneed to drive 250,000 miles in the city to reach the break-even point. However, if one weredriving exclusively on the highway, one wouldnever break even.This is because the fuel efficiency in the hybrid model is worse than in the standard version when driving on the highway [5].Essentially,untilonedrives ahybrid to itsbreak-even point,theyare doing more harm to the environment than good.ETHICAL DECISION MAKINGDoes Creating Hybrid Cars Follow Engineering Codes of Ethics?After learning about the creation process of hybrids, I believe that the auto industry is not being entirely honest in the way they market hybrids. The cars are “green” once they are created and they do not give off pollution while running. However, they can only be as environmentally friendly as the energy used to recharge their batteries [12]. At this point, most of this energy comes from burning fossil fuels, which pollute the environment considerably. This causes an ethical dilemma. According to the National Society of Professional Engineers Code of Ethics, engineers may not act in ways thatdeceive the public [13]. Taking that into account, it does not make sense that the general public should think that hybrid cars are “green” when they are harmful to the environment. However, the engineers are involved in the design and creation of the cars. There are other professionals that market the products and therefore the engineers never do anything against the code that could be considered deceiving to the public. However, in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Code of Ethics of Engineers,it states, “Engineers shall consider environmental impact and sustainable development in the performance of their professional duties” [14]. Now it seems as if my research was wrong, because if the engineers have to take into account the environmental impact, then clearly hybrid cars would not be polluting the earth, but they are. Examining