Wired.com has an article on why it’s better to buy a used car than to buy a new hybrid.
The author’s argument states that it takes 113 Million BTU’s to build a Prius hybrid, leaving it having to travel 100,000 miles to make up the debt, as compared to a used car, which has already paid back its debt.
There’s a problem here, he’s talking BTU’s, when the global concern is about carbon emissions.
What’s a BTU? It’s a British Thermal Unit. It’s a measure of heat, having nothing to do with carbon output.
Case-in-point, thermal solar panels work by collecting the suns heat and transmitting it to a liquid medium for use as a heat source. This activity produces BTUs, yet there is no carbon production. Still the author continues to do the math relative to the amount of BTU’s released by gasoline, and makes the assumption that there must be a larger carbon footprint because of a higher level of BTU’s.
WRONG!!!!
This is a completely dis-associated mathematics, because most assembly plants run off of electricity, which could be provided by nuclear or water based sources, leaving his founding premise without any viable weight.
Are we in such a panic that we’re willing to jump on any idea that sounds cool?
[ Read the Article ]
But what do I know?
Posted by Jocko 