Got a little OCD in you (and, yes, we understand if you think that should be CDO so it's in alphabetical order) and want to track your CO2 emissions while traveling around? Volvo's got you covered with a new mobile phone (i.e., iPhone) app/website called Commute Greener. The idea is that you tell the app or website how far you're going on a particular mode of transportation and it will tell you what your CO2 emissions will be for that trip. By switching the modes, the app recalculates the emissions, letting you figure out the cleanest/best way to get to where you're going. By the sound of it, the app is currently only geared to specific emissions in Volvo's home town: Gothenburg, Sweden, but we assume it's easy enough to apply the results to your own commute and green it up a bit.
[Source: Volvo]
PRESS RELEASE:
REDUCE YOUR CARBON EMISSIONS WITH THE VOLVO GROUP'S PERSONAL CO2 COUNTER - 'COMMUTE GREENER'
Reduce your carbon emissions – with the Volvo Group's personal CO2-counter 'Commute Greener'. 'Commute Greener' is accessed through a mobile phone or a web site on the internet, enabling the user quickly to see by how much carbon dioxide emissions are reduced or increased using different means of transportations, for example bus, car, car pooling or bike.
Now Volvo´s home town, the City of Gothenburg in Sweden, is the first city in the world to order the service for its employees.
We all generate carbon emissions when we commute to work, and by choosing the right means of transportation we can lower our personal carbon emissions. But to do that, we need an easy way to count and register how much CO2 we actually release into the atmosphere.
A commuter who downloads the application 'Commute Greener', from the iPhone App Store, for example, can use the mobile telephone to register the methods of transport that are used for commuting to and from work. The computer program calculates how much carbon dioxide is emitted when using different modes of transport, such as the car, train, bus, boat or bicycle.
The service also provides an online community for exchanging experience and for competitions between colleagues, friends and family members about the possible size of reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.
"Our tests have shown that individuals can quickly reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by more than 30 per cent using Commute Greener," says Magnus Holmqvist at Volvo IT.
'Commute Greener' has already been launched within the Volvo Group. The same tool will now make it possible for 2,000 employees within the City of Gothenburg to understand the most efficient and environmentally sound way to commute in any given scenario, and change their commuting habits.
"Commute Greener is a tool which the employees within the City of Gothenburg can use to set a good example regarding the fulfilment of the City's environmental objectives," says Eva Rhodin at the City's traffic office, who is in charge of increasing the demand for sustainable transport.
'Commute Greener' is also an important part of the Volvo Group's overall environmental programme.
"Volvo has been working with environmental care since 1972. We now regard it as an important task to involve individuals," says Niklas Gustavsson, Vice President Environmental and Public Affairs, AB Volvo.
The technology behind 'Commute Greener' is in line with the UN´s climate change initiative.
"The UN has made it very clear that innovation and technology play an important part. Regulations and agreements are also important. However, at the end of the day, it is the choices that you and I make that can really make a difference," says Niklas Gustavsson.
At present, individuals can download 'Commute Greener' as an application for the iPhone. To download the application to other mobile phones, a city, company or organisation must first order access to the application for its inhabitants, customers or employees.
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