DIRTY FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE - John Whitelegg
A new report from the respected Environment and Forecasting
Institute in Heidelberg, Germany puts the car right back at the
centre of the transport debate and raises fundamental questions
about a society increasingly adapting itself to the car.
The German analysts take a medium-sized car and assume that it is
driven for 13,000 km a year for 10 years. They then compute its
financial, environmental and health impacts "from cradle to
grave".
Long before the car has got to the showroom, they find it has
produced significant amounts of damage to air, water and land
ecosystems. Each car produced in Germany (where environmental
standards are among the world's highest), produces 25,000 kg of
waste and 422 million cubic metres of polluted air in the
extraction of raw materials alone, say the Heidelberg
researchers.
The transport of these raw materials to Germany and around the
country to factories produces a further 425 million cubic metres
of polluted air and 12 litres of crude oil in the oceans of the
world (for each car).
The production of the car itself adds a
further 1,5000 kg of waste and 75 million cubic metres of
polluted air.
Calculations of the impact of a car in use make the generous
assumption that the car has a three-way catalytic converter and
uses 10 litres of lead-free petrol for every 100 km. Over 10
years, the Heidelberg researchers believe that one car will
produce:
44.3 tonnes of carbon dioxide;
4.8 kg of sulphur dioxide;
46.8 kg of nitrogen dioxide;
325 kg of carbon monoxide;
36 kg of hydrocarbons.
Each car is moreover responsible for 1,016 million cubic metres
of polluted air and a number of abrasion products from tyres,
brakes and road surfaces;
17,500 grams of road surface abrasion products;
750 grams of tyre abrasion products;
150 grams of brake abrasion products.
Each car also pollutes soils and groundwater and this
calculated for oil, cadmium, chrome, lead, copper and zinc.
The environmental impact continues beyond the end of the car's
useful life. Disposal of the vehicle produces a further 102
million cubic metres of polluted air and quantities of PCBs and
hydrocarbons.
The sum of these different life cycle stages produces some
insights into the penalties societies must face if they become
car dependent.
In total, each car produces 59.7 tonnes of carbon
dioxide and 2,040 million cubic metres of polluted air. Each
car, say the Germans, produces 26.5 tonnes of rubbish to add to
the enormous problems of disposal and landfill management faced
by most local authorities.
While this detail is impressive (and wholly absent from the
environmental claims of motor vehicle manufacturers and motoring
organisations), it is still not complete. Some of the more
startling revelations are in the researchers' wider analysis of
social and environmental costs.
Germany suffers from extensive forest damage attributed to acid
rain and vehicle exhaust emissions. The Heidelberg researchers
calculate that each car in its lifetime is responsible for three
dead trees and 30 "sick" trees. [...]
The Heidelberg researchers say that over its lifetime, each car
is responsible for 820 hours of life lost through a road traffic
accident fatality and 2,800 hours of life damaged by a road
traffic accident. Statistically, they suggest, one individual in
every 100 will be killed in a road traffic accident and two out
of every three injured. Translated into vehicle numbers, this
means:
Every 450 cars are responsible for one fatality;
Every 100 cars are responsible for one handicapped person;
Every 7 cars are responsible for one injured person;
And into production data:
Every 50 minutes a new car is produced that will kill someone;
Every 50 seconds a new car is produced that will injure
someone.
Land use data are also brought into the equation to show that
Germany's cars, if one includes driving and parking requirements,
commandeer 3,700 sq km of land~60% more than is allocated to
housing. Every German car is responsible for 200 sq metres of
tarmac and concrete.
The total impact of the car over all the stages of its life cycle
also produces a quantifiable financial cost. The Heidelberg
researchers estimate this to be 6,000 DM per annum per car (about
$5,000) and covers the external costs of all forms of pollution,
accidents and noise after income taxation are taken into account.
This is a state subsidy equivalent to giving each car user a free
pass for the whole year for all public transport, a new bike
every five years and 15,000 km of first class rail travel.
The car is thus revealed as an environmental, fiscal and social
disaster that would not pass any value-for-money test. More
importantly, the car can now be seen as a disaster in itself. It
is ownership as well as use that is the problem of the car and a
car used sensitively (if that is possible) is still a problem for
energy, pollution, space and waste. The balance sheet's bottom
line is enormous societal deficits and penalties and an
assumption that we will all continue to pay the bill.
Reference: Oeko-bilanz eines autolebens. Umwelt-und Prognose-
Institut Heidelberg. Landstrasse 118a, D69121, Heidelberg,
Germany. John Whitelegg is head of the Geography Department at
Lancaster University and director of the Environmental Research
Unit, Lancaster University. (Oct 93)
John Whitelegg, Eco-Logica Ltd., Transport and Environment
Consultancy, 713 Cameron House, White Cross, Lancaster, LA1 4XQ
(0524) 842655, Fax: 0524-842678.