Welcome to the 2010 Fuel Efficiency Campaign’s information page.
Purpose of the Campaign
§ To promote eco-driving practices during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ and beyond.
§ To highlight the benefits of driving more efficiently in terms of reducing fuel consumption, fuel costs and vehicle emissions.
Why reduce our fuel use?
Transport consumes more energy than any single other activity or industry sector in Cape Town; it accounts for 55% of our total energy consumption, and for 28% of all carbon emissions. Emissions from the transport sector contribute significantly to the ambient air quality via toxic emissions as well as greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change on a global scale. Greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2), are produced when fuel is burned in a vehicle’s engine.
Driving a private vehicle is largely unsustainable. Moving a person over a given distance by public transport consumes, on average, about half the energy of moving a person the same distance by a private vehicle. In addition, the emissions per person are much lower on public transport than in a private vehicle as illustrated.
The City’s transport focus is therefore to promote alternative and more efficient modes of transport and to reduce the use and dependence on private vehicle trips. Various public transport, travel demand management and non-motorised transport projects, which aim to promote a modal shift to more sustainable modes, are currently underway.
The focus of this campaign however, is to encourage those of you who continue to use private vehicles to drive as efficiently as possible in order to reduce fuel consumption and your overall carbon footprint. Not only are bad driving practices a waste of energy but also a waste of money. Your money! You can save thousands of rands per year in fuel and maintenance costs by adopting fuel-efficient practices.
Why eco-driving?
There are many factors that affect emissions from vehicles, these include vehicle kilometres travelled, fuel economy, vehicle technology, maintenance practices and driving practices. The driving practices of the operator of a vehicle can have a very large influence on the amount of fuel consumed and emissions produced.
Your driving habits (when and where you drive, how often, the speed you travel, your aggressiveness on the road and other factors) affect your car’s vehicle consumption and costs. You can control the costs of operating your vehicle and minimize the emissions it produces by driving less and driving more efficiently.
What can you do?
Click here to view/ download the ecodriver poster.
10 eco-driving tips:
- Keep your car well serviced and check the fluid level regularly. Correctly maintained cars can operate more efficiently and help reduce CO2 emissions.
- Check your tyre pressure every month. Under-inflated tyres can increase fuel consumption by up to 40 %.
- Remove unnecessary weight from your boot or back seats. The heavier the car, the harder the engine has to work and the more fuel it consumes so lighten your load by carrying only what you need.
- Close your windows especially at higher speeds, and remove empty roof racks. This will reduce wind resistance and can lower your fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by up to 10 %.
- Use air conditioning only when really necessary. Due to the extra load on the engine, air conditioning can increase fuel consumption by 25 %.
- Reduce idling. If you are going to be parked for more than 60 seconds, except while in traffic, turn your engine off. This has minimal impact on the starter system, and idling for more than 10 seconds already uses more fuel than it takes to restart your car.
- Avoid speeding, and drive smoothly. Decreasing your speed from 120 km/h to 100km/h uses 20 % less fuel. Aggressive driving (speeding, quick acceleration and hard stops) can increase fuel consumption by 25 %. Driving smoother is safer and more fuel efficient.
- When accelerating change up gears early as possible. Higher gears are more economical in terms of fuel consumption.
- Try to anticipate traffic flow. Look at the traffic as far ahead as possible in order to avoid unnecessary stopping and starting within the flow of traffic.
- Walk, cycle, car pool or take public transport to your destination. Using these alternatives reduces congestion, your fuel costs and emissions.
More Information :
Greener travel options
Drive efficiently and you will save fuel, money and the environment!
For more information contact Niki Covary, Sustainable Transport Planning, Transport Department, City of Cape Town on (021) 400 4717 or email: niki.covary@capetown.gov.za.