Scooters and the Environment
Travelling back and forth on a small sized motor scooter produces about 10% gas and emmissions than driving the same distance in a 4 wheeler. Obviously comparing a bigger scooter with a smaller car produces figures that are (slightly) less impressive, and, unless one uses an electric scooter or another alternative fuel, fossil fuel is still being consumed and greenhouse gasses are still being produced. Even so, The fuel tank of an average-sized scooter holds one to two gallons, and today?s scooters easily get 50 miles per gallon, and a good number of them a lot more–some upwards of 100 mpg. Therefore, if you own a petrol powered scooter, you?ll probably fill up two or three times per month, and get 75-200 miles per tank. That is easily three to four times more fuel efficient than the average family size car. What does that mean? It means three to four times less fossil fuel consumed–which is direct conservation. This also means that the emission of harmful (and dangerious) chemicals like carbon dioxide are greatly reduced. Additonally, this is an added bonus since a large number of motor scooters are frequently used in urban areas. Inside city centers, their smaller environmental footprint helps combat the polluted air that most urban centers are forced to bear.
It could be many many years before alternative fuels become a sufficient part of the UK driving picture to be an acceptable alternative and, although we hope that the change over will come sooner rather than later, as long as fossil fuel remains the number one choice, motorscooters are certainly an excellent way to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.
Although some progress is being made to produce a good alternative fuel for motorscooters (The Yamaha hydrogen fueled FC-AQEL for example) we are still waiting for something that is actually in production, not to mention something sensibly priced. We feel It is not enough to drive an eco-friendly vehicle as serious ecological impact can only happen if there is overwhelming acceptance of benign transporation solutions. General access to inexpensive, reasonably well made and well supported motorscooters could maybe inspire a mass move that would have a significant positive ecological impact. The scooter is clearly the easiest first vehicle to acquire and clearly the most economical to drive and the stage is therefore set for a craze that could be of great benefit to the future and our planet
From an enviromental viewpoint when you are considering purchasing a motor scooter one of the first decisions you?ll need to make is whether to purchase an electric or fossil fuelled model. Electric, battery-powered scooters are broadly speaking better for short-range travel, and environmentally speaking, their non-dependency on oil and petrol is a huge step in the right direction. Electricity is a cleaner fuel source at the point of use, and battery design is improving all the time. However, you need to take into consideration that if a petrol powered or hybrid scooter is more conveinient for your lifestyle, do not feel bad - as we saw above, a petrol powered scooter is still a much greener option than a car.
