If you're a head of state, you surely can't make a grand entrance at the United Nations Climate Convention Change Conference in Copenhagen this week and next if you're forced to travel by a conventional cab or limo. And, well, public transportation has security risks. Fortunately, BMW, Honda, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo are keen to see to your safety.
Among the limos waiting in the line for dignitaries will be the BMW Hydrogen 7; the Honda FCX Clarity and Insight; the Mercedes-Benz B-Class Fuel Cell, S400 Hybrid and a natural-gas Sprinter (and more practically, an E250 CDI, E350 CDI and S420 CDI Guard); and a Volvo S80 running on E85. On the official Web site for the summit, the estimated carbon dioxide output per kilometer driven (on the European test cycle, we imagine) is posted.
The Danish ministry offers this statement on the Web site: "Without compromising on the paramount security requirements, seen together the sponsored vehicles constitute a less environmentally impacting solution for participating Heads of State and Government, than at previous comparable meetings."
In total, though, a Bloomberg report estimates that the 17,000 attendees at the summit will have a CO2 footprint equivalent to running 200,000 passenger cars for the 14 days they're in Copenhagen.
Green Car Advisor: Attendees of Global-Warming Talks to Emit as Much CO2 as 200,000 Passenger Cars
mixim says:
08:39 AM, 12/ 7/09
Cool, I actually thought saw the FCX clarity here in Malmö, Sweden (40km from Copenhagen) a couple of days ago. Now I know maybe I wasn't so crazy after all =)
jriz says:
08:51 AM, 12/ 7/09
I'm guessing our president will stick to his 8,000 armored Cadillac.
cwc1 says:
05:54 PM, 12/ 7/09
What a scam and a charade this whole conference is. It's composed of a bunch of people who are hostile to the founding principles of the U.S., including the President, scheming about their continuing strategy to con Americans into giving up more of their economoic freedoms and personal liberties.