RE: Speed Humps Rival Fiji For CO2 Footprint
Friday 10th July 2009
"The AA (Automobile Association) did a bit of research on fuel consumption for cars at the Millbrook Proving Ground and found that a typical mid-size car running at a constant 30 mph did 58 mpg. However a car slowing down and speeding up for speed humps only did 31 mpg. Put that into carbon figures for a petrol car and you get 113 g/km of CO2 at a constant 30mph, or 211 g/km over speed humps. So a kilometer of road with speed humps creates an extra 0.1kg of CO2 for every single car that travels it.
The average road in the UK has 2.46 cars passing per minute throughout the day, so for argument's sake, a street typically has 1 car going each way down it every minute during the day and night. In a year, that means a single typical 1km stretch of speed-humped road with 10 speed humps creates an extra 103 tonnes of unnecessary CO2 per year or equivalent of taking 32 cars off the road.
Taking into account the UK's estimated 100,0006 speed humps, then that's a colossal 1.03 million tonnes of CO2 per year. That's about the same as the total carbon footprint of the 830,000 residents of Fiji, or almost twice that of Greenland. Ouch. And that doesn't even consider the motorbikes / trucks and other vehicles that use the UK road network."
Speed Humps Rival Fiji For CO2 Footprint
Never mind the risk to sumps and spoilers, they're consuming our carbon in island-sized chunks
The CO2 impact of Speed Humps in the UK is greater than that of the whole of Fiji, says Clear, a self-styled 'Carbon Offsetting Company' whose employees found time to do the maths between other, um, very important offsetting carbon-type things.
"The AA (Automobile Association) did a bit of research on fuel consumption for cars at the Millbrook Proving Ground and found that a typical mid-size car running at a constant 30 mph did 58 mpg. However a car slowing down and speeding up for speed humps only did 31 mpg. Put that into carbon figures for a petrol car and you get 113 g/km of CO2 at a constant 30mph, or 211 g/km over speed humps. So a kilometer of road with speed humps creates an extra 0.1kg of CO2 for every single car that travels it.
The average road in the UK has 2.46 cars passing per minute throughout the day, so for argument's sake, a street typically has 1 car going each way down it every minute during the day and night. In a year, that means a single typical 1km stretch of speed-humped road with 10 speed humps creates an extra 103 tonnes of unnecessary CO2 per year or equivalent of taking 32 cars off the road.
Taking into account the UK's estimated 100,0006 speed humps, then that's a colossal 1.03 million tonnes of CO2 per year. That's about the same as the total carbon footprint of the 830,000 residents of Fiji, or almost twice that of Greenland. Ouch. And that doesn't even consider the motorbikes / trucks and other vehicles that use the UK road network."
Thanks chaps - just the ticket for a slow news day!
(Pics via www.moillusions.com and www.strangecosmos.com )
Discussion
It could probably do with some refining, but we'd noticed that no-one had done any research into the environmental impact of the bloody things so we got our research guys onto it.
No way we're advocating 20mph everywhere - just outside schools / hospitals and Aston dealerships (you want to get a better look right?)
No way we're advocating 20mph everywhere - just outside schools / hospitals and Aston dealerships (you want to get a better look right?)
Edited by badgerracing on Friday 10th July 13:40
My local council (in a bid to waste some of our money before the end of the financial year) has recently put speed bumps in just about EVERY street in my town...... which is annoying. The ones on my commute out of town to work though are not wide enough, meaning you can place each wheel on either side and not feel a thing!
A case of the Governement/council etc wanting their cake and eating it.
stick the scamera vans on the NSL dual carriageways and coin it in, stick speed bumps along the 30's cos cameras wouldnt make them any money, and bump up the tax on polluting vehicles as an attempt to combat carbon emmisions, what a load of crap.
stick the scamera vans on the NSL dual carriageways and coin it in, stick speed bumps along the 30's cos cameras wouldnt make them any money, and bump up the tax on polluting vehicles as an attempt to combat carbon emmisions, what a load of crap.
thehardman07 said:
My local council (in a bid to waste some of our money before the end of the financial year) has recently put speed bumps in just about EVERY street in my town...... which is annoying. The ones on my commute out of town to work though are not wide enough, meaning you can place each wheel on either side and not feel a thing!
I hate these speed bumps!! they are ok if in a car with a normal ride height but if im in the skyline or celica then they will scrape all the way down the car on the underside. Just had to have the exaust re-attached on the celica because of it!! Grr! Even have to be carful in the bmw.They put these speed bumps in so that the emergency servives dont have to slow down i think.
general190 said:
thehardman07 said:
My local council (in a bid to waste some of our money before the end of the financial year) has recently put speed bumps in just about EVERY street in my town...... which is annoying. The ones on my commute out of town to work though are not wide enough, meaning you can place each wheel on either side and not feel a thing!
I hate these speed bumps!! they are ok if in a car with a normal ride height but if im in the skyline or celica then they will scrape all the way down the car on the underside. Just had to have the exaust re-attached on the celica because of it!! Grr! Even have to be carful in the bmw.I have to slow right down and take one side up and over to save scraping my chassis fking things!
Berger 3rd said:
A case of the Governement/council etc wanting their cake and eating it.
stick the scamera vans on the NSL dual carriageways and coin it in, stick speed bumps along the 30's cos cameras wouldnt make them any money, and bump up the tax on polluting vehicles as an attempt to combat carbon emmisions, what a load of crap.
They're not doing it for the money either, as famously mentioned on Top Gear, Simon Cowell's income tax was more one year than all speed camera fines put together for that year!stick the scamera vans on the NSL dual carriageways and coin it in, stick speed bumps along the 30's cos cameras wouldnt make them any money, and bump up the tax on polluting vehicles as an attempt to combat carbon emmisions, what a load of crap.
Who gives a flying fk?
The Co2 Argument is pointless as CO2 makes no difference to anything and speed bumps are just st anyway.
They're never going to remove speed bumps just find another way to use this sort of retarded crap to punish the motorist.
fk CO2, fk Speedbumps, fk Fiji, fk Carbon offsetting sthouses. The whole thing reeks of self important arse holes.
The Co2 Argument is pointless as CO2 makes no difference to anything and speed bumps are just st anyway.
They're never going to remove speed bumps just find another way to use this sort of retarded crap to punish the motorist.
fk CO2, fk Speedbumps, fk Fiji, fk Carbon offsetting sthouses. The whole thing reeks of self important arse holes.
The figures also dont take in to account the Carbon footprint of making the speed bumps, making the additiona shocks and brake pads that you wear out faster driving over them. Disposing of the early wear components.
When someone takes that in to acount come back to me with new figures!!
When someone takes that in to acount come back to me with new figures!!
Speed bumps might be annoying, but not so annoying as people speeding past our house. We live on typical housing estate. No house is more than 750m from the main road and even at 20mph it would take no more than 90 seconds to get to the furthest house, and on average 45 seconds, after leaving the main road. So why oh why do idiots in all manner of cars have to zoom past at full throttle and frightening (at least to my children) speeds. Since the speed bumps were put in it dramatically slows the cars down, so in this case they are a necessary evil. Of course the sites need to be appropriate.
Is there any better alternative solution?
Is there any better alternative solution?
the Fantom said:
Speed bumps might be annoying, but not so annoying as people speeding past our house. We live on typical housing estate. No house is more than 750m from the main road and even at 20mph it would take no more than 90 seconds to get to the furthest house, and on average 45 seconds, after leaving the main road. So why oh why do idiots in all manner of cars have to zoom past at full throttle and frightening (at least to my children) speeds. Since the speed bumps were put in it dramatically slows the cars down, so in this case they are a necessary evil. Of course the sites need to be appropriate.
Is there any better alternative solution?
Are these people running into anything?Is there any better alternative solution?
Is it a bad thing that your children are frightened of fast moving cars?
nsmith1180 said:
The figures also dont take in to account the Carbon footprint of making the speed bumps, making the additiona shocks and brake pads that you wear out faster driving over them. Disposing of the early wear components.
When someone takes that in to acount come back to me with new figures!!
Hmm, what is the average life of a shock absorber anyway? I have a nasty feeling that shock absorbers are out lasting the modern vehicle, or at least in the UK. I have only ever changed shocks on my old Golf and that was during a very expensive rebuild before the vehicle went into storage. Anyone else would have scrapped the car.When someone takes that in to acount come back to me with new figures!!
Brake pads, how long is a piece of string really. Not sure you could easily put a price on it. Most of this stuff is low speed braking which must have a minute amount of wear.
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