smwilliamson said:
The Toyota Prius is built in Japan (with Chinese-produced lithium in it's batteries), transported thousand of miles by diesel powered ships using heavy diesel oil, then get stored on the docks where they are later transferred to trains that take them to distant points only to be re-loaded onto trucks who finally deliver the to the dealers. My '84 Dodge truck is less harmful to the environment then the Prius IMHO.
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I think you are in denial regarding your Dodge but the origin and disposal of those batteries does make me wonder sometimes.
I should have made myself clearer... when you buy the Prius all these "bad things" happen... more pollution, more oil burned, more industrial, waste, etc... all because a new vehicle is being produced. (OK you save a little fuel when you drive it buy my Dodge gets 20 mpg on the hwy... the Prius maybe 40 on a good day...) All that "pollution" is over and done with my old cars... (right now I own a '33, a '54, a '56, an '83, an '84, a '95 and a '98). The only "bad" things now are the use of gasoline and oil used for the daily operation of the truck and any parts and tires I buy. But I would bet I use a lot less keeping my old beast alive than is used in building a new Prius and shipping it thousands of miles... plus I haul stuff in my pickup...how many trips to the pellet dealer would it take to haul a ton of pellets in a Prius? I do it in one trip. My Pete can haul 25 tons @6 MPG... I'd bet that computes to a lower carbon footprint than most any econo-box.
I've been in a conservation mode for years... I drive old cars because they are cheap... I shut the lights off when I leave a room... I keep the idle time on my Peterbilt down to about 3% of the total engine hours (the truck has 1,610,000 miles on it BTW), I drive a little slower 'cause I like the back roads... I do lots of stuff to save a buck. If that keeps my "carbon footprint down that's OK.
But I would think that burning a western softwood pellet that burns cleaner and makes more BTU's would offset the fuel neeeded to transport it across the continent. You'll burn fewer pellets keeping more trucks off the road... think about it.