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A greener way of getting there by car, T or plane

Posted by Beth Daley  April 29, 2009 06:35 AM
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Chances are you’ve seen more and more hybrid vehicles on the roads in recent years – and the increase is not your imagination. The state's Executive Office of Transportation recently released a list of green fun facts that are, well, green and fun. Here are some:

* There are currently 28,917 hybrid vehicles registered in Massachusetts - a 23% increase over Earth Day 2008.


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A Prius couple (Globe photo/Erik Jacobs)

* 48,319 motorists hold the three charity license plates that have provided $16,170,660.05 in donations to the Environmental Trust Fund since 1995.

* License plates returned to the RMV produced 90 tons of recycled aluminum in 2008.

* MassHighway has 390 vehicles using 10% ethanol gasoline, 251 using compressed natural gas (CNG), 30 bi-fuel using both gasoline and CNG, 42 hybrid vehicles, and 844 using ultra low sulfur diesel and biodiesel

* MassHighway uses 135 solar/battery powered variable message boards.

* The T has collected 2,279 tons of paper since 2006, when the T began placing recycling bins throughout the transit system. That is the equivalent of 38,740 trees.

* Boston Logan is the first airport in the nation to use a more environmentally friendly pavement.

* Massport spent $6.3 million repaving Runway 4R/22L with so-called “warm mix’’ asphalt which is heated to a lower temperature. This reduced carbon dioxide by nearly 2,000 tons, saved 200,000 gallons of diesel fuel, and produced energy savings of 26.4 billion BTUs.

For more facts, go to http://transportation.blog.state.ma.us/blog/2009/04/earth-day-2009-transportation-facts.html

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About the green blog

Helping Boston live a greener, more environmentally friendly life.

Contributors

Beth Daley covers environmental issues for the Globe.

Gideon Gil is the Globe's Health/Science editor.

Erin Ailworth covers energy and the business of the environment for the Globe.

Christopher Reidy covers business for the Globe.

Glenn Yoder produces Boston.com's Lifestyle pages.

Eric Bauer is site architect of Boston.com.

Bennie DiNardo is the Boston Globe's deputy managing editor/multimedia.

Dara Olmsted is a local sustainability professional focusing on green living.

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