CAR-LESS DAYS - TE ROTO FLEET - by Denis

Reduction in Green House Gas Emissions from the Te Roto Road Vehicle Fleet.
The fuel used in New Zealand's vehicle fleet accounts for over half of the total energy used in NZ annually.
This ratio probably applies to most New Zealand homes. If they are spending two to three hundred dollars a month on their power bill you can bet they are spending a similar amount to run their cars, if not more with the recent price increases!
We had taken various steps to reduce energy used in our homes, (see previous blogs), however in an effort to reduce the fuel used by the vehicles owned by residents of Te Roto Road during the Greenest Street Competition, it was decided to introduce an old method tried in the 1970's - Carless Days!!
Unlike the draconian scheme from the '70's, this one would be entirely voluntary. Each household would be asked to have at least one day a week when they didn't use their vehicles. Obviously depending on circumstances this would prove to be easier for some families than others.
RESULTS:
Column 1 Household
Column 2 Vehicle
Column 3 Reduction/Increase km use for year
Column 4 CO2 output grams/km travelled
Column 5 Reduction/Increase CO2 output for year.
A : 1 : 2500 km : 218 g/km : 545 kg
A : 2 : No change
B : 1 : 9000 km : 162 g/km : 1458 kg
B : 2 : 5500 km : 341 g/km : 1875 kg
C : 1 : 2430 km : 177 g/km : 430 kg
D : 1 : 12764 km : 141 g/km : 1800 kg
D : 2 : 456 km : 152 g/km : 70 kg
E : 1 : 2769 km : 171 g/km : 474 kg
F : 1 : 272 km : 216 g/km : 60 kg
G : 1 : 2929 km : 224 g/km : 654 kg
G : 2 : 2640 km : 206 g/km : 544 kg
G : 3 : +1000 km : 227 g/km : 227 kg
H : 1 : 3444 km : 186 g/km : 640 kg
I : 1 : 800 km : 190 g/km : 152 kg
J : 1 : 7580 km : 276 g/km : 2092 kg
J : 2 : 9300 km : 264 g/km : 2455 kg
Total Reduction km use per year = 61375 km
Total Reduction CO2 output for year = 13022 kg
CONCLUSION:

By the use of a very simple method involving a bit of forward planning to organise their vehicle use, the residents of the street have avoided making unnecessary trips and reduced their total of:-

#1 Distance travelled by 61,375 km
#2 The total CO2 produced from their vehicles by 13022 kg
#3 Fuel Saved : Since individual vehicle consumption figures were not recorded, an approximate group average figure will be calculated.
From the Govt Wright Car website.
To calculate CO2 emissions from fuel consumption figures litres per 100 km. (L/100km)
CO2 g/km Average Conversion factor for petrol is (L/100 km x 22.961 = CO2 g/km
From this we obtain (L/100km = CO2g/km / 22.961)
Total CO2 saved = 13,022,000 grams
total km saved = 61,375 km
The group average CO2 emissions = 13,022,000 / 61,375 = 212 g/km
The group average fuel consumption L/100km = 212 / 22.961 = 9.233 L/100km
Total fuel saved = Avg 1/100km x Distance Saved / 100
= 9.233 x 61,375 / 100
= 5,666 litres
# 4 Dollars Saved:

Fuel prices increased rapidly during the six month period of the project, so an exact figure would be impossible to calculate.
However if we assume a conservative average cost of $2.00 per litre, this gives pretty impressive value = 5,666 x 2.0
= $11,333 over 1 year !!
Over all a very worthwhile project !!