Morris Minor - CO2 Emissions?

[kas279n]

This may be a stupid question, but I'm sure there will be some opinions...

I've been out and about in CC today and got the usual amount of 'My dad used to have one of these' people coming up and admiring. I then had the one miserable old (person) say 'There's only one problem with them ... polluting'.

My understanding is that driving a moggy is more environmentally friendly than a new car in the fact that there is so much pollution from simple construction of a new car (I think I read a while back that the Toyota Prius caused more pollution than it saved in its construction ... but stand to be corrected on this).

Does anyone know if there is a CO2 emissions figure for a standard Morris Minor? I've trawled the web, but couldn't find anything.

[paulhumphries]

I'd expect the emmissions to be the same as any other car with the 1098 engine - Mini, early Marina van & Allegro. I think unfair to compare to Metro though as different carb set up.
You should point out the most emmissions are produce during manufacture so the longer a car exists / is used then then it's overall lifespan "carbon footprint" is going to be less than say a Prius with a sub 10 year life span.

Paul H.

[dalebrignall]

the car does not need an emissions test for the mot ,only a visual one.ie not chucking blue smoke out when running.they are a very green car,when you think of all the energy used to produce cars that last less than 10 years.the moggy can be recycled and contuinually used .

[pao7psb]

This is an interesting question, and one which I have pondered myself a few times...

For those of us lucky enough to have a Moggie as a hobby car rather than as everyday transport, the "better than making a new one" argument doesn't really stack...especially if you throw the use of a support car into the equation .

So it would be really interesting to know if anyone has any ideas. I would expect a modern 1.1 litre car to spew out around 120g/km, I would imagine the Morris would be significantly higher as I am guessing that a lot of new cars have particulate filters and other clever technology.

[Longdog]

My car always passes the emissions test as my chap always tests it "just to see what sort of reading it produces"(See my other post to your question under Mechanical)

[MGFmad]

This may be a stupid question, but I'm sure there will be some opinions...

I've been out and about in CC today and got the usual amount of 'My dad used to have one of these' people coming up and admiring. I then had the one miserable old (person) say 'There's only one problem with them ... polluting'.

.

Just tell him that you don't care

[d_harris]

just for interest longdog, what kind of reading does it produce?

[Longdog]

From memory it's around 5% which is optimum for efficient combustion.This also is the figure produced by most natural gas boilers.The A series when set up correctly is an efficient user of fuel.

[Longdog]

While I'm on my soap box if anybody wants to save the planet the best way to do it is to grow your own food.The largest user of fossil fuels is agriculture.With modern inefficient farming methods it take 10 calories of fuel to make 1 calorie of food.97% of the world's co2 comes from natural sources, Volcanoes, rotting vegetation and other carbon based life-forms.As BMC says co2 is not the problem and as it is outside our control why worry?
Governments would love you to go out and buy another car because each time you do they get a big slab of V.A.T for the coffers.They only really care about the next four years.When they talk of climate change they quote 2020 as a target.If the issue was that big they would start tommorow.t the end of the day we have been on a destructive course since the industrial revolution only now we have a situation where more population growth is likely to be unsustainable.I always remember that scientists predicted another ice age in the late seventies.Your Minor is lighter by a considerable margin than modern boxes so that is what makes it fuel efficient.40 mpg is a figure that I would say is average or slightly above average these days.The Minor represents the zenith of re-cycling values and I am proud to own a British icon that really has stood the test of time.Next time one of these armchair enviromentalists pipes up either quote the above, ignore him because you know better or ask him why he is bothered.I guess if you were a 5' 10" skinhead such as myself he would have just said 'Nice Car".There I have said my piece.

[chrisd87]

There's no arguing that from the point of view of atmospheric pollution, any old non-catalyst car is going to pump out considerably more nasties than a modern car. Levels of stuff like carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen are going to be higher. However the points to consider are these -

a) There are relatively few such cars on the road as even the youngest non-catalyst petrol cars are now almost 17 years old, meaning their contribution towards overall pollution levels is minimal.

b) The tailpipe emissions are only part of the story, as the environmental cost of manufacturing needs to be included in any overall calculation, as does the cost of replacing a vehicle more frequently due to modern cars being more difficult and costly to repair.

On the CO2 front, as others have said it's not really pollution anyway. However I'm sure I read somewhere that CO2 output is more or less directly related to fuel consumption, and as Minors have relatively low fuel consumption it's fair to assume their CO2 output is fairly low too, if anyone is especially bothered!

[mike.perry]

I was taught at school that animals breathed in oxygen and breathed out carbon dioxide(CO2) Trees absorbed CO2 and produced oxygen.
Simple. Plant more trees. More for the tree huggers as well.
Also on the subject. Melting icebergs, rising sea levels. Doesn't Archimedes Principle take care of that one?

[tonym911]

I'm sure I read somewhere that CO2 output is more or less directly related to fuel consumption, and as Minors have relatively low fuel consumption it's fair to assume their CO2 output is fairly low too, if anyone is especially bothered!

That's correct