This Report prepared by Northeast States Center for a Clean Air Future (NESCCAF) dated September 2004 this study provides an assessment of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions that could be achieved in new, light-duty motor vehicles through the application of currently available and advanced motor vehicle technologies in the 2009-2015 time frame. Results were obtained from original cost and technology analyses conducted for this study, together with information obtained from other available reports. Relative to other sectors of the economy, motor vehicles account for a particularly large share – 20 to 25 percent – of total anthropogenic GHG emissions in the Northeast.
Because total vehicle miles traveled are predicted to rise steadily in coming decades, motor vehicles also represent the fastest growing portion of the region’s overall GHG inventory. As such, the Northeast states – all of which, individually or as a region, are committed to reducing emissions that contribute to the risk of future climate change – have a keen interest in addressing the emissions contribution of the light-duty vehicle fleet. Further impetus for this assessment comes from California’s recent action – as required by Assembly Bill 1493 – to develop regulations aimed at achieving maximum feasible and cost-effective reductions in GHG emissions from light-duty vehicles beginning in model year 2009.
In recent years, numerous technologies that could substantially reduce motor vehicle GHG emissions have been developed and brought into production. For the most part, however, recent technology advances have been used to boost vehicle performance rather than to reduce emissions. With more aggressive deployment of these technologies and greater emphasis on their application in ways that reduce emissions, this study finds that average GHG emissions from new vehicles could be substantially reduced over the next decade.
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