TH Forums Highlights: Hybrid Car Misconceptions, How Green are Cities + More

1) Forums user Its_not_easy_being_green wants to address some common misconceptions about hybrid cars, and hopefully clear the air (no pun intended) about what the electric motor really does, what the best way to reduce carbon emissions, and best practices for getting the maximum gas mileage. Everybody isn't on the same page in this thread, though, as there are some disparate views, when it gets down to the nitty-gritty; whose side are you on?

2) User Doug (the original) wants to know: are cities really more efficient? In response to our post about 19.20.21, a new project studying the growth of cities, Doug says, "Many love to say how much more energy-efficient it is to live densly in a city. You'll never convince me that all that pumping, trucking, wiring, blowing and the embodied energy in all that concrete is more efficient than living on 2 acres in the country in a wood-framed/hay-bale/packed-earth house". City fans, care to rebut?

3) Forums user greenjourn is doing a little research (for a magazine article) about talking the talk and walking the walk: "I am looking at whether the green lifestlye is popular in mainstream cultures or if it still remains in the fringe. I also want to see how much people are willing to spend to go green, and if it is purposely marketed to the upper middle class only. Do you live the green lifestyle? Why or why not?" Where do you draw the green line?