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Ford's green focus: What one of the world's biggest car companies is doing to address climate changeEnvironmentally friendly must be one of the most oft-used phrases of this century. While its incessant appearance may make the most cynical among us sigh heavily, green issues do have a place in our society. Most of us will try to be greener if we think doing so can save us putting our hands in our pockets or make our lives easier. Driving an environmentally friendly car will do both. While car manufacturers continue to face the challenge of cutting emissions targets, progress has most definitely been made. New cars now produce ninety-eight-per-cent less CO2 compared with those built in 1985. In fact, it would take 200 of today’s Ford Focuses to create the same emissions as a Ford Anglia did in 1960. But with government targets of reducing emissions to Euro 5 standard by 2009 and Euro 6 standards by 2013, there is still work to be done, and car-makers are cleaning up their act in terms of diesel power and are offering hybrids and bio-fuel alternatives. Many experts believe that once the problems of production, storage and distribution have been worked out, hydrogen will be our primary vehicle- fuel source in the long term. What is new at Ford Lewis Booth, Ford executive vice president for Ford of PAG, called on business, consumers, the government and car manufacturers to fulfil their responsibility to future generations and act on climate change. “The car industry has to play its part,” he said as he announced that Ford in the UK is to spend at least £1bn developing a range of global environmental technologies. These will yield more than 100 models and derivatives that offer improved emissions or fuel economy performance, including a version of the Ford Focus, UK’s top-selling car, capable of more than seventy miles per-gallon and emitting less than 100g of CO2 per kilometre. The Ford Focus and C-Max Flexi-fuel vehicles were Britain’s first bio-fuel cars capable of running on bio-ethanol E85 (a blend of 85-per-cent bio-ethanol and 15-per-cent petrol) and petrol. Owners can enjoy an insurance discount of at least 15-per-cent over equivalent petrol-only models. Automatic for the people Now in its second generation, with more than 1.1m sold in the UK, the Focus success story is entering another phase. The new Focus launched in early 2008, continuing the kinetic design approach seen in the S-Max and, more recently, the Mondeo. The new car will include an all-new automated gearbox. Jointly made by Ford and transmission will provide seamless gear-change with the benefits of lower CO2 emissions and a cut in fuel consumption by around ten-per-cent. Another new development is the Ford Focus ‘ECO-netic; powered by a 1.6-litre Duratorq TDCi. Average consumption is a frugal 65mpg and CO2 emissions are a class-leading 115g/km. As a direct result of the Ford ECO-netic initiatives, all Focus 1.6-litre TDCi variants will achieve 119mpg/km CO2. The Flexi-fuel version of the 1.8-litre Duratec petrol four-cylinder engine can be fuelled with bio-fuelled with bio-ethanol E85 fuel as an alternative to conventional unleaded petrol-or any mix of both. The Ford Focus range also includes CNG (compressed natural gas) and LPG(liquid petroleum gas) derivatives, both based on the 2.0 litre Duratec petrol engine. Ford is also trying to become more environmentally friendly off the road. Its flagship technical centre at Dunton, the UK’s largest automotive research facility, is researching Fuel Cell Vehicles, which run on electricity generated from a fuel cell stack. Ford also installed two wind turbines to power its Dagenham plant; this saves 6,500 tonnes of CO2 a year. Ford Dagenham’s other eco-efficient processes prevented more than 12,600 tonnes of waste being sent to landfill for disposal. There is still work to be done, but with forward-looking changes like theses and others, cars will soon be not part of the problem, but part of the solution.# If you want to find out how 'green' your car is, provides the ultimate car guide to buying the most eco-friendly see a new website: |
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» Energy news: The Prime Minister said the price of petrol at the pumps should be coming down faster » Friends of the Earth: Making life better for people by inspiring solutions to environmental problems » Ford's green focus: What one of the world's biggest car companies is doing to address climate change » Upfront
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