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Green Info
Green Car Tips
1. Change gear early
Change gear early - around 2500rpm for a petrol-engined car and 2000rpm for a diesel - which saves revving the engine too hard, reducing emissions and fuel consumption. But do not labour the engine by selecting a higher gear too early - that wastes fuel and increases engine strain.
2. Read the road
Try to read the road, anticipating obstacles so that you can avoid heavy braking - that wastes momentum and therefore fuel - and avoid unnecessarily sharp acceleration too. Reading the road well can also prevent accidents.
3. Cut the air con
Use your car's air conditioning system sparingly - it's not often needed in the spring and autumn, and it can knock between one and three mpg off your fuel consumption, usefully reducing CO2 emissions too. Do run the system occasionally though - prolonged non-usage can eventually damage the compressor. Check that the heated rear window switch is not on unnecessarily too it's quite a consumer of power.
4. Get going quickly
Drive away as soon as possible once you have started the engine from cold - it warms up more quickly, reducing consumption, emissions and engine wear. But don't rev the car excessively when it's cold either - that's bad for engine wear (because the cold oil won't be circulating fully), as well as consumption and emissions.
5. Don't ruin the aerodynamics
Always remove roof-racks, bicycle racks and ski-boxes when they're not in use - they increase aerodynamic drag considerably, especially at speed, lifting CO2 emissions and knocking fuel consumption. Driving with the car's windows and sunroof open also increases drag, especially at speed.
6. Avoid short journeys
Avoid trips of only a few miles - fuel consumption and emissions output heighten considerably during the warm-up period, and a petrol-engined car's catalytic convertor, which cleans the exhaust of nitrogen oxides, particulates and other pollutants, is less effective too.
7. Cruise moderately
Consider your cruising speed on motorways - travelling at 65mph rather than 70mph can reduce consumption and emissions by as much as 25 percent.
8. Don't get lost
Plan your journey - going the long way round, getting lost and running into roadworks can increase your journey's emissions considerably. Buying a satellite navigation system - the add-on systems are now relatively cheap - can help here.
9. Check your tyres
Check your tyre pressures regularly. Running them under-inflated can increase fuel consumption and emissions by three percent, apart from being dangerous - under-inflated tyres can overheat at speed, risking a blow-out.
10. Don't be an idler
If you're stuck in a traffic jam, switch the engine off - apart from reducing CO2 output, and saving fuel, you'll be cutting the output of other pollutants.
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