Xmas trees on SUVs burn 53,000 gallons of gas

[Champ]

MONTPELIER, Vt. - Strapping that Christmas tree to the top of a sport utility vehicle can be a real drag.

A couple of engineers at the University of Vermont claim that sport utility vehicles topped with trees have 26 percent more aerodynamic drag than treeless SUVs.

Knowing the energy density of gasoline, typical engine efficiencies and the number of trees sold, they concluded that an extra 53,000 gallons of gas are used each year to retrieve trees.

And given high fuel costs, that translates to a nationwide a total of about $100,000.

"It's a modest impact per vehicle, but nonetheless when you add it all up the gross effect is not negligible," said Darren Hitt, associate professor of mechanical engineering at the university.
http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/1223Trees-SUVs-ON.html

[trotsky]

1. Fake tree for me.

The annual errand of getting the tree means going down to the basement and getting the box. No gas burned in that! Some may have been released in lifting it, I suppose, depending on what I had for lunch...

[Earth_First]

2. "Wait what, let me put my cell phone down first...

what was that you were saying?"

[skygazer]

3. And they're all driving past my house

There are about 2 dozen Christmas tree farms in the hills here where I live. On the day after Thanksgiving, the fun starts. A never ending stream of SUV's driving the narrow, winding country roads out here on a quest for the perfect tree.

Of course, none of these people drive anywhere but the highways and suburbs for the rest of the year - they don't seem to realize that their lane is just as wide as a lane on a freeway - there are just no shoulders. So they drive up the middle of the road and there is a constant noise of squealing brakes, honking horns and hollering and cursing (ah, the Christmas spirit) as they all jostle for position.

As the song says, it's the most wonderful time of the year. Yeah, right.