{"id":331,"date":"2007-12-19T11:18:10","date_gmt":"2007-12-19T16:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/12\/19\/turn_off_your_engine\/"},"modified":"2013-11-21T13:34:33","modified_gmt":"2013-11-21T18:34:33","slug":"turn_off_your_engine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2007\/12\/19\/turn_off_your_engine\/","title":{"rendered":"Turn Off Your Engine!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MelThis post is by Mel Peffers<\/a>, Air Quality Project Manager at Environmental Defense.<\/i><\/p>\n

Many people idle their car engine in winter because they think it needs time to warm up. Not true! Today’s fuel-injected engines don’t need a warm-up period, and idling for long periods can lead to excessive engine wear.<\/p>\n

Worse, cars idling for over 10 seconds use more gas and create more global warming pollution than simply restarting the engine. Surprised? It’s true. The 10-second rule has been proven empirically.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The 10-second rule was originally published by the Canadian Office of Energy Efficiency – Idle-Free Zone<\/a>. Their results were replicated by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers<\/a>, which found that restarting uses the same amount of fuel as idling with the air conditioner on for 6 seconds.<\/p>\n

Besides contributing to global warming, diesel engine emissions can cause a whole host of health problems – asthma attacks, impaired lung function, heart problems, and even death. (See this CARB report on health effects<\/a> for details.)<\/p>\n

Idling is a significant problem in large cities like New York and Los Angeles where people are often stuck in traffic. A car in gridlock emits up to three times the pollution as one in free-flowing driving conditions.<\/p>\n

Environmental Defense is working with the City of New York on reducing traffic congestion (see allchokedup.org<\/a>). We’re also working with Mayor Bloomberg on tougher enforcement of the existing idling law, which has been in effect for five years. Plus we are working on a no-idling policy for school buses in Texas, and Truck Stop Electrification (TSE) expansion so truckers won’t need to idle overnight while sleeping. Our GreenFleet initiative<\/a> helps fleet owners reduce emissions.<\/p>\n

Avoiding pollution and engine wear aren’t the only benefits to not idling. You also can save gas and money. Here are some studies that demonstrate it:<\/p>\n

Edmonds.com<\/a> – "\u2026you can drastically improve your gas mileage."<\/p>\n

Homemade Hybrids<\/a> – "I kicked the idling habit and saved a gallon of gas per tank."<\/p>\n

With this Cost of Idling worksheet [PDF]<\/a> from Argonne National Laboratories, you can calculate the savings for your own vehicle. For more tips on clean driving, visit Car Talk’s "Driving Tips for Tree-huggers<\/a>".<\/p>\n

Not idling is good for the environment, good for your wallet, good for engines, and good for health. Everyone wins by simply shutting off an idling engine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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