THE GREEN FILES
By Sonia Green-Brown
PE Issue 210- Green Driving Options Abound
I don’t quite understand it. The price of crude oil is around $37 a barrel. The price for gas is the lowest it has been in years but just about every car maker around has at least one model that falls into the category electric, electric plugin or hybrid.
There are at least 20 different models to choose from whether you are looking for luxury in the Porsche, BMW, Tesla or Mercedes lines or proven performance from the Toyota, Honda, Ford and Chevrolet. And recently Toyota introduced the Mirai as the first mass produced hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.
Most would have predicted that with lower fuel prices these alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles that are usually sold at a premium might have slowly disappeared from the market. But they seem to be here for the long haul.
I continue to contend that The Bahamas is well suited to be a leader in the area of sustainability and should be so, since we cash in our environment to drive our economy. But what are we driving?
There are a few cars that fall into this category on the streets of Nassau with one standout being Bahamas Waste with its fleet of vehicles powered by biodiesel. Wouldn’t it be great if we could say the same about the fleet of government vehicles?
How about a line of taxis at the airport and other gateways that are electric powered or hybrids? If we are paying attention these vehicles are commonly in use by taxi drivers in many cities around the world. For taxi drivers these hybrids make a lot of since as the more you drive the easier it is to realize your payback.
We don’t have to stop at just incentivizing these changes we can even take it further by tracking all the carbon being offset and make application for carbon credits. In other words the investment can be realized for a cash return.
In our efforts to make The Bahamas greener we need to include programs that provide relief to consumers battling high electricity bills but we must also be mindful of that ever present other bill- the fuel bill. For many it can be elusive to capture the funds spent on gasoline. There is no bill to look at monthly and unless requested, no receipt is given. Even with lower costs this is a real burden to many in our country.
Consumers around the world, and some are our customers, are making the decision to drive green –to possibly save money, have more control over fuel bills that are subject to fluctuating markets and to save the environment. What do our driving decisions say about us in The Bahamas and what are we prepared to do about it?
We would like to hear how this article has helped you. Send questions or comments to sbrown@graphitebahamas.com.
Sonia Brown is Principal of Graphite Engineering Ltd and is a registered Professional Engineer.
