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June 19, 2009

Greasy Rider

What is the greenest rental car?

— The Editors
Santa Fe, New Mexico

greasy rider answer

Grasshopper, the greenest rental car is one that is never rented. This is my sage opinion. Besides, haven't you ever heard of public transportation? Just about every major airport in the country is connected to a subway, light rail, or bus system—or all three. If you want to be as environmentally friendly as possible, opt for this route.

But if you absolutely must know what the greenest rental car is, I'd say it's one of the diesel Volkswagons and Jeeps offered by Bio-Beetle in Maui. The 100-percent biodiesel fuel that's pumped into them comes from waste vegetable oil, and the company uses only earth-conscious coolant and synthetic motor oil under the hood. The cost per day starts around $50.

Do you have a question of your
own?

In Reykjavik, you can rent a hydrogen-powered car from Hertz, but it's extremely pricey, and there are only a few available. If, on the off chance, you're traveling to somewhere besides Hawaii or Iceland, most of the major rental car companies now offer Toyota Priuses and other hybrids--but from my experience they're almost impossible to actually get due to the relatively low supply and huge demand. Your best option might simply be to forgo the luxury sedan and choose the high-mileage, low-cost compact instead. If you decide not to take the train instead, that is.

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Eco Adventurer
Greg Melville is the author of Greasy Rider, a new book in which he drives across the country in a fry-oil-powered car investigating the future of green technology. A journalist who has written for Outside, The New York Times, and Popular Mechanics, Melville blogs about all things eco at greasyriderbook.blogspot.com. He lives with his wife, kids, and dog in Asheville North Carolina.