Cars That Dramatically Reduced Environmental Pollution

About 100 years ago, Time magazine named “horse manure” on city streets as the number one concern for the world 100 years into the future. The prediction was that as more horse-drawn carriages filled the roads, cities would be overwhelmed by manure. It must have been horrifying even to imagine future cities overflowing with pollutants. It is a fresh reminder that high heels were supposedly invented so people could walk through filthy streets.

But what about now, 100 years later? You can hardly find horse manure in cities. Nor do you see news reports about people suffering from infectious diseases caused by horse manure. So how was this form of environmental pollution solved?

One simple answer would be to reject carriages and refuse to ride them, much like environmentalists who reject the development of civilization. But telling people not to ride carriages solves nothing. The real answer lies in technological innovation and economic growth driven by advances in science. People’s self-interest in seeking better lives produced the benefits of civilization. Automobiles were invented, and airplanes emerged as well. Roads that made travel more convenient also improved significantly in quality, and such social infrastructure dramatically raised the quality of life. Science, technology, and greater affluence made cities and streets cleaner.

In the past, the main means of transportation was the horse; today, it is the automobile. To give a specific example, the latest model of Korea’s representative compact car, the Morning, has 100 horsepower, and one horsepower means the amount of work one horse can do in one minute. One Morning replaced 100 horses, and with that it also solved the waste problem created by 100 horses. Considering that there are not only Morning cars but also many other vehicles with even higher horsepower, automobiles have in fact replaced horses, drastically reduced environmental pollution, and made cities cleaner despite population movement on a massive scale.

Many people say automobiles pollute the environment because of tire dust and exhaust emissions. Here again, we should think about the link between economic growth and technological progress. Over time, automobile performance has continued to improve, and pollution caused by cars has steadily declined. Tires too are becoming more eco-friendly, producing less particulate dust than in the past.

What about fuel efficiency? In the past, low fuel efficiency meant greater emissions relative to distance traveled, but today fuel economy has improved greatly, making it possible to travel farther while emitting less exhaust. In the future, the world will likely reach a point where we no longer have to worry about environmental problems caused by exhaust fumes.

Look at the streets of advanced countries. They are clean. This is the result of economic development, which has enabled them to devote greater resources to environmental maintenance and beautification. By contrast, developing countries not only lag in environmental technology but also struggle to allocate resources to environmental upkeep. As a result, they endure urban environments that are relatively more polluted and dirty than those of advanced countries.

Just as our living environment becomes cleaner alongside economic growth, energy problems too are gradually being resolved. There were many predictions that humanity would face crisis due to the depletion of resources such as wood, coal, and oil. But what is the situation now? We have become able to do more with fewer resources, and technological development is solving energy problems. Rather than merely worrying about resource depletion, humanity has improved quality of life through economic growth, cultivated human creativity, and achieved these results by moving down the path of innovation.

When people conserve resources and use them sparingly, they reduce waste and improve daily life. Efforts to use resources efficiently and improve energy efficiency are, of course, necessary. But that alone is not enough. Economic growth is needed. Growth is inherently environmentally friendly, because it enables us to enjoy green nature and a clean living environment as its outcome.

Sung-no Choi

Vice President, Center for Free Enterprise (CFE)

---

Original title: 환경오염을 획기적으로 줄인 자동차

Author: Sung-no Choi

Date: 2017-07-26

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=press&pn=27&idx=23150