Quote:
Originally Posted by MTBikerTim
The other factor is cost to the environment of the cars production. I had a teacher once who said he would never buy a new car no matter how efficient it was as the cost (environmentally) to produce would always out way the benefits of any efficiency gains to the environment.
I thought this was a very good point. I always wonder about those energy saver light bulbs, sure they save energy but how much more energy do they take to produce being so much more complex.
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Some of the #'s I've seen (in relation to our big cash for clunkers gov't stimulus subsidies program) is that the "carbon" cost of production results in about 10% of the total carbon output of the cars life (however that is defined.)
It can be worth it, but you have to get a reasonably more efficient more car, and depends also on how "used up" the car you are junking is. Someone else can figure out that inflection point....