Greener Cars 2004 | Green Energy News

February 8, 2004 – Vol.8 No.46

GREENER CARS 2004.

The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) has published its seventh edition of the Green Book (tm) - The Environmental Guide to Cars and Trucks. The Green Book examines currently available cars and light trucks (including SUV’s and minivans) in the U.S. for their lifetime impact on the environment - emissions from their their daily use and their manufacture.

As in the past few years, Honda and Toyota hold the first few slots as the greenest vehicles available with the Honda Civic GX fueled by compressed natural gas now in the top spot. The Honda Hybrids, Civic and Insight, and the second generation Toyota Prius follow close behind in the ratings this year.

The Green Book also lists the meanest - most environmentally damaging vehicles. Surprisingly it’s a Volkswagen - a diesel version of its Toureg SUV. Diesels score poorly in the ratings because of the higher polluting emissions associated with them, even though greenhouse gas emissions are lower than equivalent gasoline fueled vehicles.

Portions of the book are available online for free, but a paid subscription will get access to additional information ACEEE uses on all cars as well as information on new models introduced throughout the year.

The U.S. Department of Energy, along with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, also offer access via the Internet to fuel economy and emissions information for all cars and light trucks sold in the U.S.. But the government service doesn’t rate the vehicles nor include manufacturing emissions. It does, however, give the vehicles an air pollution score and greenhouse gas information.

Visit the Green Book at http://www.greenercars.com/ or the U.S. Fuel Economy page at http://www:fueleconomy.gov/