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I've been looking into the carbon emitted in the use of our car. In 2010 we did a fairly modest 3,500 miles a year (5,600km) in a 1995 1.4 litre  Astra which I'm guessing emits about 180g/km.  That equates to just over 1 tonne of CO2.

Installing Solar PV panels would, I think, reduce the carbon value of the electricity we use by about 0.6 tonne. So I'm thinking that reducing the miles travelled by car or changing to a car with carbon emissions less than 100g/km would significantly reduce our carbon footprint. I suppose selling the car for someone else to use wouldn't overall reduce the carbon footprint of society - so better to wait until the car becomes uneconomic to repair, and also make more of an effort to reduce mileage. Aparently the carbon footprint of manufacture of a basic small Citroen is about 6 tonnes, so I won't rush to buy a new car just yet - even if I had the cash - which I don't!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2010/sep/23/carbon-footprint-new-car

Jon,

This is a very interesting article, it makes you think again if you are looking into buying a new car!

I came across the article below on the Energy Savings Trust website. It looks like allot of the main car manufacturers may club together to fund research into new technologies. You never know perhaps these new cars would produce allot less out put of carbon on running which would cancel out the production emmissions?

Another option is for us all to cycle....or take public transport. In the summer I cycle to work 3 times a week, mounting up to 45 miles a week!

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Resources/Energy-saving-news/Cleaner-Cars/Low-emission-cars-future-of-motoring-industry-say-execs

Have you thought about an electric vehicle?  Now that you have PV installed, it may well be something worth considering for the future (as you said you're waiting a while)?  I'm certainly no expert, but I've spotted some exciting developments on the horizon and all of the major car manufacturers are heading in that direction!

Out of town, I expect it will be difficult for a while due to limited charging points, but in and around London is getting itself geared up already. I spotted this on london.gov: https://www.sourcelondon.net/ 

No doubt EV's will have a hefty price tag for a while yet, but I'm sure the cost per mile will be very attractive especially if the price of petrol keeps heading in the same direction! 

One for my longer term 'wish list' I think!

Hi Tracy ,Oh yes, I've thought about it, and for a while was a fully paid up member of the Battery Vehicle Society, receiving their magazine "Plugged In". There are already a few battery cars around Kingston and Richmond already (perhaps most notably Bamber Gasgoine has one).

Problem is that the solar array won't even generate enough power to cover all the electricity we use in the house let alone any to spare. And we don't have a driveway or garage in which to park a car. New cars always depreciate massively. Bought our last car in 2006 for £700 and I guess  we've had our money's worth but it's hardly depreciated - well it can't really! I can't spend £20,000 on a car, even if it is electric.

I think to reduce the carbon footprint we're best off walking and cycling, using public transport and minimising car use - sometimes I go a fortnight without using the car. Our annual mileage is someting less than 5,000. Maybe we could make more use of a Car Club, but the thing that stops me getting rid of our car and using a StreetCar is convenience - oh, and using the car on holidays in the UK.

http://www.batteryvehiclesociety.org.uk/portal/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1532382/Your-starter-for-10.-.-.-is-this-car-the-future.html