Student columnist addresses small changes to improve your vehicle’s impact

BY GAVIN LEIGHTON FOR GREENING OF OIL

As I continue to talk about simple behaviors we can change to reduce our environmental impact, I have chosen to focus this article on one of the most common aspects of American life: driving. 

The data on how many registered cars there are in the United States is inexact, but the Department of Transportation estimates that there are upwards of 250 million registered cars. Since driving is extremely common, simple changes can reap large rewards. In this article I suggest several behaviors associated with driving that can reduce the number of gallons of gas burned per mile driven. 

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The first behavior, properly securing your gas cap, seems trivial.  However, an estimated 147 million gallons of gasoline are lost per year because up to 17% of the cars on the road have damaged or unsecured gas caps. In either case, gas vapors escape the tank in the car and evaporate away without being used in the combustion engine. So whenever we are at the gas pump, we have to remember to secure the gas cap.

Another way to reduce emissions is to maintain your car’s oil, spark plugs, and air filter. All of these components can decrease your engine’s efficiency if they are damaged or worn out.

For example, an engine with the proper amount of oil reduces friction and therefore uses less gas. Spark plugs that don’t fire appropriately can waste gas and increase exhaust release. Additionally, a clogged or dirty air filter reduces the amount of that mixes with the gas, and a non-ideal mix of gas and oxygen reduces efficiency. Problems with any of these parts can reduce efficiency, causing you to buy and burn more gas, increasing your environmental footprint. 

Finally, one can also alter their driving habits so as to reduce the power needed by the engine. For example, rapid acceleration from stop signs or red lights requires more gas than more prolonged acceleration to cruising speed. 

If you are at a stable speed on a major highway, using cruise control will also reduce the amount of gas burned. This is because when a person is driving they stay near a constant speed but use minor breaking and acceleration to stay at that speed. However, cruise control avoids the unnecessary breaking and acceleration and saves gas.

Finally, if you are leaving your car for more than a minute you should turn the engine off.  Cars set to idle burn countless gallons of gas per year that could be saved.

In a perfect world, everyone would be able to upgrade his or her vehicles to more fuel-efficient versions on a constant basis. Until that point in time, we can modify behaviors and maintain cars so as to reduce the amount of gas we burn, and in the process reduce our environmental footprints.

About Gavin Leighton

Gavin Leighton is a first year graduate student studying biology at the University of Miami. He is focusing his efforts on the maintenance of a cooperative behavior in an African passerine.

Born and raised near Philadelphia, PA, Leighton attended Colgate University in New York. At Colgate, he majored in environmental biology and was the president of the environmental student group on campus for two years. Leighton was also a member of the sustainability council at Colgate University. The council was a group composed of faculty, staff, and students that made advised the administration on environmental decisions. 

Visit Leighton's website