Why
Driving cars is one of the major sources of carbon emissions, with the average petrol car in the UK producing 174g CO2e per kilometre in 2020 (Statistica, 2020)
Passenger cars are the biggest source of transportation emissions in the UK. In 2019, they accounted for 55.4% of the total UK transport emissions (Statistica, 2020)
How
Drive your existing car for as long as possible - only switch to an EV when it’s no longer safe to drive.
Minimise the number of trips that you take by car.
Car share - aggregate trips.
Walk or cycle.
Take public transport.
Drive efficiently - at a modest, steady speed, avoiding constant braking and accelerating. Driving at 60mph saves 10% of total fuel.
Don't idle - you can save 16g - 27g CO2/ minute (TRL Report, 2020).
Don’t use your air-conditioning - it burns approximately 0.2 litres - 1 litre of petrol per 100 km. Choosing to not use air conditioning can reduce your fuel consumption by 5% - 10%.
When you change your car (only once you have run your current one into the ground) buy the smallest electric vehicle (EV) possible.
Recommendations
Car-Share Services
Zipcar
JustPark
Liftshare
BlaBlaCar
TangoRide
Hiya Car
Yuko
Enterprise Car Share
GoCarShare
Co Wheels
Scooter-Share Services
Lime
Tier
Dott
Bird
Voi
Neuron
Zwings
Wind
Bolt
Ginger
Bike-Share Services
Beryl
Brompton Bike Share
BTN BikeShare
Freebike
Lime
Jump by Uber
Swapfiets
TfL Santander
Next Bike
Smoove
Vaimoo
Belfast Bikes
Did you know?
Modes of transport with the lowest carbon footprint in the UK are trains, local buses and coaches.
In UK, the average CO2e emissions per passenger kilometre are 171g for cars, 105g for buses, 41g for national trains and 6g for Eurostar (Our World in Data, 2018).
Choosing to take the train instead of a car for medium-length distances could cut your transport emissions by approximately 80% (Our World in Data, 2018).
CO2 Footprint of Cars in UK 2020, Per Kilometre: (Statistica, 2020)
Luxury Car (E.g. Mercedes S Class) fuelled by petrol produced 328g of CO2 p/km
Luxury Car (E.g. Mercedes S Class) fuelled by diesel produced 202g CO2e/ km.
Upper Medium Car BEV's (E.g. BMW 3 Series) produced the lowest amount of CO2 per km, at 43g.
Supermini Car (E.g. Ford Fiesta) produced 45g CO2/ km.
Mini Car (E.g. Fiat 500) produced 49g.
Small, medium, large, city and estate cars emit 280g CO2 per mile.
MPVs and small & medium SUVs emit 310g CO2 per mile.
Sports cars and large SUVs emit 410g CO2 per mile.
Spread the word
In order to keep warming below 1.5C we need to halve emissions by
2030. Share this action and help play a part in reversing climate change.
