To launch the animation, use the cursers to define your vehicle. The bar graph will then show the environmental impact of your choices.

Ecological balance: from the local ecosystem to the planet

The survival of the natural environment depends on maintaining a delicate balance between fauna, flora and mankind. Today, this balance is imperiled by human activities: population growth, economic growth and consumption habits. For example:

• the growing global consumption of water, oil and gas dangerously reduces the natural resources that will be available to future generations, since these resources cannot be renewed in the proportions in which they are consumed;
• the chemical substances discharged into the atmosphere may, in some cases:  
  - accentuate the problem of acid rain, which is harmful to flora; 
  - contribute to global warming; 
  - contribute to the formation of polluting ozone; 
  - lead to the excessive proliferation of algae, which smother the aquatic habitat. This process is referred to as eutrophication.                  

Cars have an impact on the ecological balance. For example:

• natural resources are consumed for vehicle production and use;
• automotive carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions increase the greenhouse effect responsible for global warming;
• automotive sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) contribute to the acidification of rain and soil;
• vehicles raise noise levels in the urban environment. 

Renault's approach to protecting the ecological balance

Renault is committed to making strategic and commercial choices that protect the ecological balance. As part of this effort, it makes complex trade-offs between a full range of variables (materials, vehicle size, aerodynamics, engines, energy type, etc) right from the vehicle design stage. Replacing a steel fender by a plastic fender, for example, will make the vehicle lighter and less fuel-hungry. However, it will also create more waste and make the car noisier, because steel has better insulating qualities than plastic.

To make these trade-offs between different environmental impacts while also respecting other fundamental requirements (selling price, safety, etc), Renault has adopted a life cycle approach. This approach considers all the environmental impacts of a vehicle right from the design phase and throughout its service life.