Costs vehicle emissions control

For these reasons, CEC and DOE concluded that the only cost-effective method of getting alcohol fueled vehicles would be from original equipment manufacturers (OEM). Vehicles produced on the assembly line would have lower unit costs. The OEM could design and ensure the success and durabihty of the emission control equipment. 

In the United States, regulation of emissions from new automotive vehicles has followed the prototype-replicate route. The argument for routine annual automobile inspection is that cars should be regularly inspected for safety (brakes, lights, steering, and tires) and that the additional time and cost required to check the car s emission control system during the same inspection will be minimal. Such an inspection certainly pinpoints cars whose emission control system has been removed, altered, damaged, or deteriorated and force such defects to be remedied. The question is whether... 

The buyers of motor vehicles have been substantially positive concerning the need to have cleaner running vehicles. Although the required emission control devices and other mandated safety equipment have increased the cost of new motor vehicles, sales have not been significantly effected. The current environmental awareness and concern are evidence of the general population s new found knowledge and acceptance of both mobile and stationary source emission controls. 

As time and cost constraints make it impossible to use a fleet test as the test procedure in the development of emission control catalysts, several simplified durability tests have been developed. In order of decreasing complexity, these tests are a vehicle driven on the road according to a well defined driving schedule, a vehicle mounted on a vehicle dynamometer driven according to a well defined procedure by robots, tests with an engine mounted on an engine dynamometer, and tests in a laboratory furnace (Table 19). 

In general, requirements must be so framed that they do not prevent innovation they must not present unrealistic or arbitrary standards. It must be borne in mind that however necessary the control of motor vehicle emissions and noise may be - and no one would deny the necessity - there are other considerations, such as safety, cost, reliability, which also have to be balanced. 

Very approximately it is estimated that some 30-50% reduction in emissions from new boilers and 70% of existing boilers in the EEC can be achieved at total annual average costs between 0.1-0.4 X 10 per annum by the year 2000. This level of emissions control on static emitters would reduce total availability of in the atmosphere by some 9-12%. In urban and industrial areas, the reduction in local ambient NO concentrations would probably be substantially more, perhaps 15-25%, assuming vehicle NO emissions were also reduced in line with the current programme. Fitting flue gas scrubbers to control SO2 emissions would also reduce NO emissions substantially (70-80% removal), so that the two sets of costs should not be considered additive. 

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