The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that cars causing global warming should be regulated by adherence to the Clean Air Act. In other pats of the world too environmentalists have been fighting hundreds of legal battles to make cars pollution free. In several European countries and also in India such rulings from courts have already been enforced. The result is proliferation of hybrid cars
In the past, boats with sails and oars were the only hybrid vehicles. Such boats sailed with the speed of wind. Oars help to sail in case of insufficient wind. In the modern times, mopeds and electric bicycles appear as hybrid vehicles as those function with an internal combustion engine or electric motor causing no pollution of air.
Diesel-electric or turbo-electric trains are hybrid vehicles. There are buses and other heavy vehicles which run on turbo electric or diesel electric propellers. Heat engines power an electric generator or hydraulic pump which is used in such hybrid vehicles causing no air pollution.
Hybrid vehicles sometimes refer to engines that run on liquid petroleum gas. Such LPG driven cars or autos emit no carbon compounds causing no air pollution. Petroleum-electric engines are used in some motor cars like Toyota Camry Hybrids, Ford Escape Hybrid and Honda Insight and others. A recent survey says Honda is the market leader of hybrid vehicles.
These vehicles' engines are run by internal combustion by a variety of fuels and electric batteries. Some enginesare propelled by gasoline, bioethanol, biobutanol which are environment friendly.
An electric vehicle is propelled by electric motors. The motion is done by wheels or propellers driven by rotary motors or linear motors. The required energy can be obtained by chemical compounds stored in on-board batteries or rechargeable energy storage system or fuel cell, or nuclear energy used in nuclear submarines and nuclear aircraft.
Some companies for example General Motors has rolled out several alternative-technology vehicles since 1960. After a prolong research and on road vehicle experiment for over four decades, it brought out in 2004 the first hybrid pick ups and the following year Opel Astra diesel hybrid concept vehicle. It is the first hybrid passenger car in in automobile history.
Hybrid cars are those wihch runs on electric battery and gasoline. The rechargeable battery takes less fuel per mileage creating less smog. It is estimated that hybrid vehicles reduce pollution by ninety per cent than ordinary or conventional vehicles. Carbon monoxides and carbon dioxides are the two major air pollutants created by conventional vehicles. Hybrid vehicles are free from such emissions since they depend on batteries than gasoline while accelerating.
Hybrid vehicles are in conformity to Greenpeace rules. Carbon dioxide causes global warming. Hybrid vehicles, since do not emit such gas is a major environment friendly transport.
The number of cars are not increasing proportionate to the increase of the population. Since 1970, The population of the United States increased by 40 per cent, while the number of cars increased by 125 per cent. This disproportionate increase in car number is a major threat to the environment. Vehicles not only causes air pollution, they also cause ground pollution and noise pollution too.
Since till now the majority of cars are not hybrid cars, the emission pollution looms large on the face of the earth. However, the people' craze for more mileage on a little fuel contributes to the flourishing market of hybrid vehicles. Hybrid vehicles' fuel efficiency is much better than than conventional cars. The extra fuel means the extra mileages with additional speed. Hence people's desire for extra mileage gives rise to the popularity of hybrid cars which in many ways protect the environment.
But hybrid vehicles have their turn of polluting the environment too. The nickel metal of hybrid batteries are toxic and create a health hazards. The used hybrid batteries are the waste material of hybrid cars. These wastes, if not recycled, may pose a major environment pollutants. The hybrid vehicle then would be a hybrid utopia.
