Hummer Goes Green
From “rolling environmental disaster” to sustainable vehicle. By Sarah Parsons
The Hummer is famous for its woeful environmental reputation. According to the EPA’s 2006 Green Vehicle Guide, the H3 model gets a measly 17 miles to the gallon. The SUV also received an EPA air pollution score of 2, and a greenhouse gas score of 3 (scales range from 0 to 10, with 10 being the most environmentally-friendly).
But recently, General Motors has been trying to change the Hummer’s reputation from greenhouse gas emitter to just plain green.
At the annual Los Angeles Auto Show, which ended last week, GM announced plans to start making Hummers that run on biodiesel. The company also won the show’s sustainable design competition with its HUMMER 02. Though it only exists as a series of drawings right now, the HUMMER 02 has already turned a lot of heads in the car industry and environmental community.The vehicle is designed to imitate photosynthesis, so that its use will result in a net gain for the environment: HUMMER 02 won’t emit any CO2, but it will release oxygen into the air. Each of the car’s tires will be propelled by its own electric motor, which will generate power from a centralized hydrogen cell. The only byproduct from hydrogen power is water, which will be pumped into the car’s algae-filled phototropic body panels. Venting and exchange valves in these panels will draw in CO2 from the outside environment, and the algae will convert the CO2 into oxygen, which will then be released back into the air.
“So the car is acting as if you’d planted a tree,” says Steve Anderson, director of concept development and design at GM’s Advanced Design Studio, who helped create the HUMMER 02. “It’s actually converting carbon to pure oxygen.”
Another environmentally-friendly feature of the HUMMER 02 is what Anderson refers to as “Tread Lightest” tires. Instead of rubber, which can wreak havoc on delicate terrain and ecosystems, wheels will be made from many interlocking parts, much like the body of a centipede. These parts allow the tires to change shape to adapt to various environments, resulting in less damage to land surfaces.
But some environmentalists doubt that the Hummer line will ever be truly sustainable.
“To improve the fuel efficiency of the fleet, first you must reduce fuel demanded by your fleet,” says Roland Hwang, the vehicles policy director for National Resources Defense Council, an environmental nonprofit that often refers to the Hummer as a “rolling environmental disaster.” “Of all vehicles, Hummer’s going to have the hardest time achieving those [sustainable] goals.”
It’s true that despite its innovative design, the HUMMER 02 is now nothing more than a two-dimensional concept, and GM has no definite plans to actually manufacture the vehicle. To really appease environmentalists, GM must make some tangible and immediate changes.
“Right now, it’s so far out there,” says Hwang of the HUMMER 02 concept. “It’s George Jetson.”
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.plentymag.com/blog-mt1/mt-tb.cgi/934
