Mar 26, 2008

Denver to Host Internet-Based Greenhouse Gas Initiative

The Mile-High City is known for its environmentalism. Now, a new program called Driving Change allows drivers in the city and county of Denver to track driving behaviors that increase vehicular GHG emissions, such as idling, speeding and fast starts and stops. The system, designed by Enviance, combines proprietary software with vehicle diagnostic and telemetric capabilities to power what is being called the nation’s first vehicular-based greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction initiative.

Each participant in the program has secure access to an Internet site, where their driving behavior is analyzed to show the individual driving behaviors that contribute to GHG emissions and how the individual driver compares with fellow program participants. By providing drivers with real-time information on how their daily driving habits affect the environment, Driving Change and Enviance allow cities, municipalities, organizations and companies a unique, new way to measure and begin to manage carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Carbon dioxide is the principal purported greenhouse gas generated from personal vehicles, corporate and trucking fleets. Despite published reports, however, the jury is still out on whether CO2 emissions are actually contributing to the recent trend in warming or if increased carbon dioxide buildup in the atmosphere is being caused by the apparent warming trend.