Re: Embedded Energy: Should I replace my car? my boiler? my freezer?


"John Beardmore" <wookie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:dlV4Deyx+ggEFwrG@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In message <pan.2006.06.03.09.41.54.634072@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Barry Bingham


I've owned my car for six years, it is very well maintained by an
enthusiastic specialist and I suspect that it could easily go on for
another six years. Until I bought this car new in 2000, I changed my cars
every 3 years or so: itself a very wasteful/environmentally
questionable practice.

Only if you recycled them when they were three years old. Presumably you
sold them on, and the next owners drove them the other 160,000 miles ?


My view is that this is key to the whole issue. Cars are not usually
scrapped until they are over ten years old, I'm sure I read somewhere that
the average is 15 years - not sure if this is a UK figure or EU figure, or
when I read that, maybe it's falling. So those of us fortunate enough to
be in a position to determine to some extent what enters the "ecosystem"
(or whatever it's called for machines) perhaps should consider we have a
duty to choose well. Unfortunately many very large cars, e.g. Range
Rovers are so robust that they almost certainly last a great deal longer
than 15 years, and something like a Smart probably won't reach the average.

Curiously something similar happens with people - socialists have a shorter
average lifespan that capitalists. Ah well, we can't have everything.

Michael



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