Green motoring.

The easiest way to cut your car’s emissions is simply to make fewer trips. Nearly a quarter of all car journeys are under 2 miles, so consider replacing your shorter trips with another form of transport. Cycling or walking those short journeys will cut your driving emissions and it’s a great way to fit some light exercise into your daily routine.

For those journeys where it’s not practical to use another form of transport – your commute to work, for example, or a longer school run – you can reduce your mileage by lift-sharing. This has the added bonus of reducing the amount of rush-hour driving you have to do, as well as saving on parking charges. If there is nobody you know who travels the same way as you at the same time, try a lift-sharing website like liftshare.com

Even on long trips like holidays it’s possible to cut down your mileage: for example, you could choose to hire a car at your destination rather than driving all the way there and back.

If your family has 2 or more cars or you only need a car occasionally, think about joining a car club  like Streetcar or citycarclub.

These clubs charge a one-off membership fee and then hire out cars by the hour: there are already services in many of the large towns and cities in the UK and more are planned for the future.

The hire cost usually includes fuel and other charges such as London’s Congestion Charge, so you could save money too – not to mention the cash you’ll save on tax, insurance and MOT for the car you’ve replaced.

The way you drive has a big impact on how efficient  your car is and therefore how much CO2 it pumps out. To increase your car’s fuel efficiency, save money and cut your CO2 emissions:

• accelerate and brake gradually, not suddenly
• stick to the 70mph speed limit on motorways
• use a higher gear than usual and change up sooner
• don’t carry excess weight in the boot or on the car
• check your tyre pressure regularly

Environmentally friendly cars have come on in leaps and bounds in the last decade, and if you’re looking for a new car that’s as green as possible then there are lots of options open to you. Quite apart from the environmental benefits, greener cars pay less car tax – right down to zero for the best performing vehicles.

The first question to ask is: is it better to buy new or second-hand? There’s considerable “embedded energy” involved in building any new car: things like assembly, raw materials and transport all have their own environmental costs.

On the other hand, environmental regulations have got stricter over the years, meaning a new car might be much greener to run and may also be more efficient.

Now that cars designed to be environmentally friendly have been around for a few years, there’s an active second-hand market – so a good compromise solution might be to buy a nearly-new hybrid or alternative fuel car.

The best-known green car is probably Toyota’s Prius, which is an example of a hybrid car. These cars have a battery and electric motor that drives the car whenever possible, but also have a conventional engine to provide greater range and performance. The battery is charged by driving, often using energy from the brakes.

Other manufacturers, including Honda and VW, also make hybrid cars of this type.

For short journeys around town or commuting, you could choose a fully electric car such as the Reva G-Wiz. Because this charges from your mains electricity supply and doesn’t burn petrol at all, there are no emissions apart from those used to generate the electricity.

Finally, you could choose to run your car on alternative fuels such as biodiesel or bioethanol. These fuels are made from fast-growing plants rather than fossil fuels – because plants absorb CO2, the emissions from burning the fuel are largely offset. Most diesel cars, even older ones, can run on biodiesel with very little modification – or even none – and biofuels are becoming more widely available at filling stations around the UK.

Compare CO2 emissions for different cars

Buy your car tax disc at the Post Office