Book excerpt: Did you know that the carbon impact of producing ten cheeseburgers is the same as one passenger travelling 167 miles on a London bus? Or that high levels of air pollution lead to over 40,000 premature deaths and 6 million sick days each year? But maybe the future isn’t as bleak as it seems. What if we told you that by turning down your thermostat by one degree, you could save 320 kg of carbon dioxide annually? And that renewables are already generating a sizeable amount of energy around the world each year? In The Fully Charged Guide to Electric Vehicles & Clean Energy, experts from around the globe explore how sustainable technology – everything from solar panels to wind turbines and electric vehicles – is getting cheaper, more effective and more available, and how by making everyday changes, we could see the ‘big switch’ in the coming decade. Presenting the latest innovations in the renewable energy and automotive industries, this book busts myths, provides suggestions and solutions for how to go green, explores how countries around the world are already improving the quality of life of their residents, and looks at where clean energy will take us next.