emissions Archives

MIT: vehicle emissions cause 53,000 extra deaths a year

Filed under: Etc., EV/Plug-in, MPG, USA

Winter Weather

53,000 early deaths are attributed to exhaust from cars and trucks, annually.

And now for some not-so-uplifting news for your Labor Day weekend, especially if it involves a long road trip. Emissions from electric-power generation, industrial operations, commercial and residential sources and transportation (road, marine and rail) sources cause about 200,000 premature deaths in the US each year, Green Car Congress says, citing a study from MIT’s Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment. The key point for us in the automotive world: road transportation alone accounts for “53,000 early deaths per year attributed to exhaust from the tailpipes of cars and trucks.” EV advocates shouldn’t gloat too much, as early deaths from electricity generation came in at 52,000, mostly in the Midwest where coal is still the main source of juice. The data MIT used came from the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Emissions Inventory from 2005, the most recent available.

MIT somehow calculates that pollution-related deaths essentially occur about a decade before that person would’ve otherwise passed away. As far as geography is concerned, California alone accounts for about 21,000 of those 200,000 premature deaths, and fans of The Wire might be interested to know that Baltimore is the US city with the highest number of emissions-related deaths per capita. Amid all this negativity, there is some good news. Pollution-related deaths from rail operations were “relatively slight.” So we have that going for us.

MIT: vehicle emissions cause 53,000 extra deaths a year originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sat, 31 Aug 2013 14:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: GM execs fired over fraudulent India emissions testing

Filed under: SUV, Recalls, Chevrolet, GM, India

Chevy Tavera Neo3 - front three-quarter view

General Motors hadn’t had a recall in India since 1995. That changed when it was discovered that certain employees were playing tricks with local emissions testing in order to ensure passing grades for engines. More than ten GM Powertrain employees in India and the US have been let go over the ensuing emissions flap, including Sam Winegarden, VP of global engine engineering, a man who has been with the company since 1969, leading development of some marquee powerplants.

According to Automotive News, an internal investigation revealed that employees “violated testing procedures,” sometimes swapping specially prepared low-emissions engines during testing regimes for the Chevrolet Tavera SUV equipped with the 2.0-liter and 2.5-liter engines. Employees were also manipulating weights in order to get vehicles placed into different emissions categories. The discovery has led to GM recall the 114,000 Taveras produced over an eight-year period and halting their production and sale.

The Economic Times of India reports that the issue is due to “a faulty component.” GM has developed a solution to the issue, and once it is validated in testing and approved by the Indian authorities, the recalled vehicles will be fixed at dealers and production will resume.

GM execs fired over fraudulent India emissions testing originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 29 Jul 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Official: Renault-Nissan zero-emissions car sales whir past 100,000 [w/video]

Filed under: Car Buying, Nissan, Renault, Electric

2013 Nissan Leaf - maroon - front three-quarter view

The electric vehicle has gone gold at Renault-Nissan, clocking 100,000 sales in a three-year period that began with the first Nissan Leaf being sold in Silicon Valley, California in 2010. Since then, the Leaf has become the EV champion of the world, selling more than 71,000 units so far, the majority of those in the US. The 100,000th EV sold by the Alliance was also a Leaf and also sold in the US, but on the other side of the country, in Georgia.

By comparison, Renault has sold 30,000 electric vehicles since late 2011, looking after other segments of the EV market with the Kangoo Z.E., Zoe, Twizy and Fluence Z.E. The alliance estimates that its efforts have been driven 5.2 million ion-powered miles and saved 14 million gallons of oil since they appeared. For a bit of sobering context, the US averaged 18.83 million barrels of oil per day in 2011, which is almost 791 million gallons. Per day.

So we’re getting there, albeit slowly. Quietly. There’s a press release and a video below with more details on the achievement.

Continue reading Renault-Nissan zero-emissions car sales whir past 100,000 [w/video]

Renault-Nissan zero-emissions car sales whir past 100,000 [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 23 Jul 2013 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: House panel attempting to block EPA from regulating tailpipe emissions

Filed under: Government/Legal

greenhouse gas tailpipe emissions

The Clean Air Act of 2007 gave the Environmental Protection Agency the right to regulate tailpipe emissions due to their dangers to public health. The law also gave states like California the right to set their own emissions policies; a move that could force automakers to meet several different standards in the U.S. alone. That led the federal government to essentially adopt California’s standard, resulting in a mandate of 34.1 miles per gallon by 2016.

The Detroit News reports that Fred Upton, R-MI and Ed Whitfield, R-KY have sponsored a bill in the House Energy and Commerce Committee that would overturn the Clean Air Act. The proposed measure would remove emissions regulations authority from the EPA and individual states, with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration instead having sole authority to set corporate average fuel economy standards. “We feel it is not right that California should be dictating standards for the rest of the country,” said Whitfield.

The move may be well-received by automakers, since the current regulations in place will cost OEMs billions of dollars. In fact, experts claim the stiff regulations currently on the books will cost automakers up to $52 billion over the next five years. That’s a lot of cabbage, but the Obama Administration claims fuel economy improvements will save 1.8 billion barrels of oil and save car owners up to $3,000 over the life of the vehicle.

The sponsored bill has been given the go-ahead by the Energy and Power subcommittee, and The Detroit News claims house Republicans plan to fast-track the bill through Congress.

[Source: The Detroit News | Image: Clinton Steeds – C.C. 2.0]

Report: House panel attempting to block EPA from regulating tailpipe emissions originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 11 Mar 2011 18:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toyota: Prius exhaust less harmful than sheep emissions

Filed under: Hybrid, Marketing/Advertising, Hatchback, Toyota

Toyota Prius fart advertisement

Toyota Prius versus sheep – Click above to enlarge

The flatus of the Toyota Prius is less harmful than the flatus of a sheep. Who knew? Apparently, Toyota’s Israeli arm, that’s who.

As you can see from the advertisement above, the methane gas produced by livestock can indeed be worse for the environment (animal gas, including that from humans, is in fact a greenhouse gas) than the emissions from the ass end of an automobile, depending on what you’re trying to define – and that goes for any automobile, not just one that’s as popular in squeaky clean circles as the Prius hybrid.

We think this is a pretty funny and effective ad, though something tells us it might never see the light of day in the United States. Sadly.

[Source: Copyranter via Jalopnik]

Toyota: Prius exhaust less harmful than sheep emissions originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 18:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EPA issues first-ever fuel efficiency and emissions standard proposal for heavy-duty vehicles

Filed under: Truck, Government/Legal, Work, Specialty, Diesel

semi truck

As expected, the EPA has released its first-ever proposal for greenhouse gas and fuel efficiency standards for heavy-duty vehicles. The proposal, and that’s all it is at this point, would create three new categories for heavy trucks: combination tractors, heavy-duty pickups and vans, and vocational vehicles. The rules will cover on-road vehicles with a gross vehicle weight at or above 8,500 pounds, unless these vehicles are already covered under CAFE. All of these proposals would start with the 2014 model year and make some big improvements relatively soon. The EPA is working with the DOT and NHTSA on the joint standards, which will have two types of metrics.

For pick-ups and vans, the metric will be gram per mile (and gallon per 100-miles) based on payload.
For vocational vehicles and combination tractors, the standards are gram per ton-mile (and gallon per 1,000 ton-mile).

Each of the three categories has different targets.

Combination tractors (commonly known as semi trucks) would get new engine and vehicle standards and, according to the EPA, “achieve up to a 20 percent reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and fuel consumption by 2018 model year,” compared to a 2010 baseline.
Heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans would fall under emissions rules that are similar to the rules that govern light-duty trucks and passenger cars. There would be separate gasoline and diesel standards that would, “achieve up to a 10 percent reduction for gasoline vehicles and 15 percent reduction for diesel vehicles by 2018 model year (12 and 17 percent respectively if accounting for air conditioning leakage).”
For vocational vehicles, the proposed standards would reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions up to 10 percent by 2018 model year.

(This post continues after the jump.)

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EPA issues first-ever fuel efficiency and emissions standard proposal for heavy-duty vehicles originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 25 Oct 2010 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: EPA poised to outline medium- and heavy-duty truck emissions standards

Filed under: Truck, Government/Legal, Technology, Diesel

18-wheeler on the move

The EPA appears to be close to releasing its proposal for medium and heavy-duty truck fuel economy standards. As you may remember, the Obama Administration called for the first-ever standards for large work vehicles earlier this year. According to The New York Times, a spokesperson with the EPA has said that the initial proposal will be out soon. Analysts had expected the numbers to show up this week, but that’s looking less and less likely by the hour.

Surprisingly enough, heavy truck manufacturers don’t seem to be up in arms over the thought of new fuel economy standards. The New York Times says that the EPA has a history of working closely with big truck makers to reduce emissions, and that this is the next logical step. The EPA and truckmakers say agree that today’s diesel rigs crank out 60 times less particulate matter than similar equipment did in 1988. That’s thanks in no small part to the EPA’s clean trucks program, which is geared toward promoting clean-diesel technology.

The new fuel economy standards are expected to show up in a climate bill that already regulates fuel consumption for passenger cars, light-duty trucks and stationary devices like generators.

[Source: The New York Times | Image: Ethan Miller/Getty]

Report: EPA poised to outline medium- and heavy-duty truck emissions standards originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 22 Oct 2010 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Emissions regs to kill Honda Civic Type-R in most of Europe at end of 2010

Filed under: Performance, Europe, Hatchback, Honda

Honda Civic Type-R – Click above for high-res image gallery

Honda Europe has announced that sales of the Civic Type-R throughout most of the Continent will cease by the end of 2010. The 2.0-liter, 198-horsepower hatch debuted as a production model in late 2006, and in its current form the engine doesn’t meet the new Euro-V emissions standards which apply throughout the European Union.

The Type-R is only produced at Honda’s Swindon factory in the UK and production will continue for other markets, including Japan, where it went on sale earlier this year after production of the Type-R sedan ended. If you’re in the market for that rapidly vanishing species known as the hot Honda, you’ll have to move fast.

Gallery: Honda Civic Type-R

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Emissions regs to kill Honda Civic Type-R in most of Europe at end of 2010 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 12:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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