Is building a car bad for the environment?

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Is building a car bad for the environment?

Unfortunately, the manufacturing process involved in building cars is damaging to the environment. Cars are amongst the most complex and large-scale widespread consumer products in the world. This CarFinance.co.uk guide illustrates the manufacturing and assembly process and suggests ways in which it could be made more environmentally friendly.

Raw Materials for building cars

The raw materials that are used to build cars require considerable energy to extract and process them. They include iron ore, coal and crude oil. These processes can pollute the land, air and water, and may also destroy natural habitats. Vehicles that are lighter and smaller require less energy expenditure to produce. In the future, the possibility of building cars from materials that can be recycled is likely.

Manufacturing materials to build cars

Throughout the world, hundreds of manufacturing companies convert the raw materials extracted from the earth into component parts of a car. These include the engine, the chassis, and the interior. This stage is also environmentally damaging, and will remain so as long as it is conducted entirely on a cost basis.

Assembling components into cars

Assembly plants, from the original factory conceived by Ford through to the enormous, multi-national car plants of today, are the final part of the car manufacturing process. At this stage, the environment is still being affected by air emissions.