Green. Once nothing more than a colour with thousands of variations is now the buzzword for anything.

If you want to produce or market anything in the future, weather it be Latvian lava lamps or houses , it is mandatory to include the word “Green” in any description. Green implies sustainability and eco friendly, even if your product isn’t, it becomes Green merely by excessive use of the word.

The petrol engine is inefficient, roughly 35 percent of what you put in the tank is used to produce motive power and the balance exits the exhaust into the atmosphere. There’s no avoiding this as electronic controls can only do so much, the fault is in the design of turning liquid into gas in order for it to provide propulsion. In reaching this deadend of development and to please those who desire a two ton seven seat SUV that sips five litres per 100km manufacturers have now latched on to the concept of electric vehicles, which is nothing new as designs and prototypes have been available since the midst seventies.

Most of us are familiar with this faux environmentalism and eco warrier one upmanship, the irony of producing redundant tech using scarce materials is not lost on us , but if the public are convinced they are passively saving the environment then so be it.

It will be hard to switch for some, especially if you are able to form a bond with inanimate objects that burn, smoke and leak like a modern day dragon. Ever imagine going to a drag race whereby no noise is emitted from the entrants? Generations of us were raised on TV shows such as the Dukes of Hazard and The A Team whereby a seperate V8 soundtrack would be played over the action sequences, mismatched to the speeds of the vehicle but the aural need was not unnoticed by the film producers.

And? Guess what? Those same V8 engines used 35 years ago to provide backing soundtracks are probably still in use today, thier carbon footprint long since balanced with usage.

So much for being Green then.