About GreenCars.za.net
For as long as I can remember I’ve been a car nut, and like most car nuts out there I’ve always had a fascination with cars that are faster, bigger or better off-road than their predecessors. Lately, however, I’ve become increasingly unable to reconcile my passion for motoring with an increasing awareness of the environmental issues that threaten our planet.
The mainstream South African motoring media is still very much within the traditional “petrol head” paradigm, where the most desirable attributes of a car are typically speed and performance. When environmentally friendly automotive technologies are covered in most of South Africa’s car publications, they’re either mentioned with an underlying tone of resentment (”green” developments are perceived as taking away from the fun factor of cars) or they’re praised for their benefits in terms of consumer costs savings. Fuel efficiency, for example, is typically given positive attention not for its environmental benefits, but for its cost effectiveness.
This blog is an attempt to re-evaluate my priorities with regards to what makes a motor vehicle desirable. For an ex-petrol head like myself this is a difficult process, and old habits tend to be very hard to shake off - I must confess that when I got my first look of the new 4.8 litre BMW X5 on the road last week, my first reaction was one of great admiration, followed shortly thereafter by a rather guilty realisation that I was coveting one of the most un-green cars on the road.
GreenCars is also aimed at providing the South African motorist with informative and relevant information that might help him or her to achieve greater environmental friendliness on our roads. This is of critical importance to Africans, as were are likely to be hardest hit by the effects of global warming.
I’m neither an environmental expert or a technical wiz kid, but rather an average joe who’s concerned about the impact that his motoring habits have on our planet. Please join me on this journey of discovery into a world of cars where minimal environmental impact is the most valued asset. I invite you all to provide feedback, to correct me where I’m wrong and help steer GreenCars in the most environmentally responsible direction possible.
Wishing you much happy and informative reading at GreenCars.za.net .
Cheers
Carl Nienaber
May 2007
