Dishing the dirt on cars

QUESTION Is it true that more than 90 per cent of the pollution caused by a car during its lifetime is created during its manufacture?

A system’s carbon footprint measures pollution, but ignores other pollutants such as nitrous oxide — a mistake the Blair government made when promoting diesel vehicles.

manufacturing a car begins with raw materials being extracted from the ground, then refined and converted into vehicle parts.

Other components have to be brought together: rubber tyres, plastic dashboards, paint and so on. this involves global transport to the assembly line.

even firms that design car parts or organise logistics contribute to the carbon footprint. each step of the process uses energy that must be allocated proportionately to each car.

Author mike Berners-Lee has calculated the carbon footprint of manufacturing various types of cars. He found that for a mid-range model, such as a Ford mondeo, it was 17 tons.

If you drive 10,000 miles per year and have an average polluting car — 260g/mile of carbon emissions — then every year it will emit 2.6 tons of CO2.

With an assumed 100,000-mile lifespan, it puts out 26 tons of CO2. therefore, manufacturing accounts for 40 per cent of the car’s emissions.

K. Warren, Glasgow.

QUESTION Is Eric Clapton the last living member of The Intro And The Outro list of personalities by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band?

FurtHer to earlier answers, years ago, I asked band member Neil Innes how the song’s line-up was chosen. He said Vivian stanshall and the rest of the Bonzos sat in a circle and submitted the names of everyone they knew.

the song’s music was used by Vivian in the hilarious Cadbury’s Creme egg adverts.

Philip Brannon, London SE25.