A new study jointly conducted by the American Lung Association of California and TIAX LLC, a consulting firm specializing in transportation and alternative fuels research, suggests that up to $142 billion could be saved by the year 2030 in just the state of California if its fleet were converted to zero emissions vehicles (ZEVs). The study also reports that California alone could "annually avoid 300 cases of premature death, over 260 cases of chronic bronchitis, over 7,000 asthma attacks and more than 18,000 cases of upper and lower respiratory symptoms."

This study's results will be discussed on March 27 when the California Air Resources Board (CARB) convenes to consider lowering their ZEV requirements. Obviously, the Lung Association will be pushing hard for no changes to be made, and they are planning to use these rather staggering monetary and health-related statistics to try and convince CARB not to lower their standards. More on the March 27 meeting here.

[Source: American Lung Association of California]

We genuinely like the Ford Escape Hybrid, which was the first true hybrid SUV. But, the fact that the F-150 is the best-selling vehicle in the world hurts Ford when it comes to the overall fleet fuel economy. Like every automaker, Ford is quick to tout its own green efforts, like when they installed a green roof on their Dearborn plant. Unfortunately, that plant produces the F-150 truck, so the vehicles coming out of the factory are hardly shining beacons of eco-friendliness. For this reason and a few others, Ford made it onto Condé Nast Portfolio's list of the "Toxic Ten" companies. These companies were not chosen simply based on their harmfulness to the environment, but also on what they could be doing, but aren't, to fix the problems that they do have.

[Source: Condé Nast Portfolio via Motor Authority and Grist]

There is a word in Chinese, mianzi, which could be translated as "shame" or "fear of being ashamed" and which is considered an important concept in Chinese culture. Using mianzi as a weapon for environmental defense, a Chinese environmental organization called IPEA (Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs) has decided to publish a list of the most polluting industries in the country, pointing a finger so they get ashamed and change their practises.

"Access to information is a necessary condition to obtain the people's support," said IPEA's president Ma Jun. Therefore the list has been made available online for everybody. The source? The Chinese government's own official reports on pollution and fines, which are usually kept private.

Most of these industries are placed in the south of the country and near the Yangtze. They include Sinopec (an oil company), Sina-Mars/APP Group (paper), BP, Honda, Toyota, Ford and Michelin. While the list might not be accurate and probably does not include everything that really happens, it gives a good idea of the the situation. As Ma Jun said, "Once exposed, these companies are forced to give explanations about their activities".

Up to 9,400 companies have appeared in this black list, and they won't be removed until an external auditor certifies that the problem has been solved. The website also includes more information such as water pollution levels and air quality in 115 cities.

[Source ABC News, Ecoticias]

Starting February, small cars will be exempt from the London congestion charge, a priviledge currently only accorded to electric, biofuel and hybrids. A study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research commissioned by Land Rover found this could result in more cars (up to 10,000 more) entering London and increased pollution in the city. You see, sales of small cars in the UK are increasing (up a third the last nine months) as people try to find ways to save the roughly £2,000 a year (£25 a day) it will cost to enter congestion zones. A Transport for London spokesman reminded everyone "one of the main aims behind the proposals is to encourage people to consider the effect of their car on the environment and to choose less-polluting vehicles." Dah!

[Source: This is London]

The question of whether or not people should be forced into driving smaller cars with engines that emit less pollutants is one that is likely to be debated for quite some time. Many believe that it is their "right" to drive whatever kind of car they want as long as they are willing to pay for it, while others believe that it is their "right" to breathe less polluted air. Granted, cars do not make up the majority of all pollution or greenhouse gases, but they do add to the problem. Obviously, sweeping changes have been and must continue to be made to all facets of the problem; cars, factories and the rest of the gang should all be treated equally. But, the results of the pollution that each of these industries contribute to the air we breathe is not in question.

Take for instance the town of Alvin, California. This is a quiet town with almost no pollution-generating factories and little in the way of traffic from its 15,000 residents. However, the area has the unlucky distinction of being downwind of several large metropolitan areas, and its surrounding mountains trap the air in place, giving this city the dubious honor of having the worst air quality of anywhere in the United States.

This story reminds me of the debate that is brought up regarding our environment. Are we ruining the earth for our grandchildren, just as others are seemingly ruining the air quality for the residents of Alvin?

[Source: Physorg]

British Petroleum (now known as simply BP) has found a way to dodge around a Great Lakes anti-pollution law. The law, written in 1970, set a limit on the amount of waste sludge and ammonia that could be dumped into Lake Michigan, as the level of pollution in the lake was getting way out of hand. A clause in the law stated that if a company was dumping at an amount under the limit, they could not increase their pollution, even if it was still under the primary limit.

Well, due to the extra-crude oil from Canada, BP is now processing at its Whiting, Indiana refinery, they don't know what to do with all the extra sludge (concentrated heavy metals) and ammonia (which causes algae blooms that kill fish). They therefore managed to get a water permit to pump 35 percent more sludge and 54 percent more ammonia into the lake, right up to the limit set by the '70s pollution law.

The refinery in question has had a large expansion added to handle the new process and needed capacity, though the original refinery - much of which is still in operation - was built in 1889 by the big man John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Co. Nifty as that is, the fact of the matter is that just three miles southeast of the Illinois/Indiana border, BP has a pipeline from the refinery to the lake 200 feet off shore, with an agitator at the bottom to mix the daily 1,584 pounds of ammonia and 4,925 pounds of sludge with the water. Is that worth the supposed 80 jobs this new permit has enabled BP to create, which supposedly is what justified the exemption? Sounds [dead] fishy to me.

[Source: Chicago Tribune]

A company called Casper's Electronics was selling electronic devices that sent a properly functioning emission control system to the car, even when the catalytic converter is missing or faulty. These "after-market" sensors are considered illegal "defeat devices" under the federal CAA and Casper's Electronics must now stop selling such devices and pay 74,000 USD in civil penalties.

This company had sold over 44,000 devices online since 2001. The EPA estimates that these devices might have allowed the emissions of 7,400 tons of hydrocarbons, 347,000 of CO and 6,000 tons of NOx. That's 44,000 cars polluting like half a million.

This device allowed the removal of malfunctioning catalytic converters and still pass the emission tests. Usually, when converters fail, they send a signal to the car ECU which illuminates the "Check engine" light. Casper's device overrode this warning but was sold as an "O2 sensor".

The EPA is currently investigating similar manufacturers and sellers that could be selling such kind of devices, although they might disguise under "off-road" or "performance" labels.

A simple search online can show similar devices, like gasoline additives that promise to make the car pass the emissions test, tricks on the timing that might cover engine defects, or tips like simply adding ethanol, which is not only illegal but immoral.

[Source: Department of Justice (warning: Read link is in pdf format)]

One of Beijing's problems for next year's Summer Olympic Games is the high levels of pollution. The levels are so alarming that the International Olympic Commitee has raised some concerns about this issue. As a solution, the Chinese Olympic Comitee is going to ban private cars traffic in the city for two weeks in August, as a test measure to check if the air quality improves. Should this measure work, no private driving would be allowed during the 2008 Games. Similar policies have been followed before in places such as México City and Italy (although not as drastic).

Other measures taken by the Chinese authorities to reduce pollution include the substitution of 1,600 coal-fuelled manufacturing facilities and power plants. The city will also replace 50,000 taxis and 10,000 buses with more modern, clean and efficient models.

Related

• Save the Earth some CO2, with Olympic spirit

[Source: Europa Press via Econoticias]

With a population now at over 1.1 billion people and a fast growing economy, India has the potential to be a huge growth market for car-makers from traditional markets where growth has been stagnant in recent years. Indian company Tata Motors has announced plans to build a $2,500 car to appeal to middle income Indians and Nissan and Renault have responded with their own proposal for a cheap car. Even with India's low car ownership rate of 7-8 cars per 1,000 people (compared to 300-500 per 1,000 people in western markets) the huge population means that the streets of cities like Delhi and Mumbai are already incredibly crowded and pollution is growing.

Selling large numbers of low cost cars to tens or hundreds of millions of Indian drivers would not only amplify the traffic but also the emissions of carbon dioxide and other noxious pollutants. At the same time that developed countries are trying to cut their carbon emissions and pressuring rising economies like India and China to do the same. While car-makers are proposing these low-cost cars the government is trying to get buses and taxis to switch from gasoline to natural gas and also promote improvements in mass transit. Clearly it would be unfair to limit the potential for economic growth in other countries. However given the issues that have already been created in industrialized countries for the past century and a half we need to work with up-and-comers to find a better way forward.

[Source: Reuters]

This is a pretty compelling picture as far as I am concerned. According to this site, which is where I got the information I'm relaying to you from, says that this balloon, which is attached to the tailpipe of a car in China, is filled with the exhaust from one day's worth of driving. That does not look like a very large displacement car, either, but I have to be honest and admit that I'm not familiar with that car.

If you get a chance to visit the site that was behind the picture, click here. I was interested in some of what they were promoting there, especially the idea of driving a vehicle with a smaller displacement engine. Americans have long been known to always purchase the largest engine available in any particular vehicle, whether they needed the extra power (and subsequent fuel mileage penalty) or not. What are the chances that will change any time soon?

P.S. Sometimes we can have fun with our categories... notice I labeled this one "Carbon Capture"... get it?

[Source: www.20to20.org via Frederik Samuel via Hugg]

A new European Environment Agency (EEA) report has been published that identifies transport as a major stumbling block for the European Union in trying to reach its Kyoto climate change targets. The report, 'Transport and Environment: on the way to a new common transport policy', calls for policy changes to address the massive increase in transport usage over the last twenty years. Passenger transport volumes have grown 20 percent in the EU between 1990 and 2003, and air transport volumes have virtually doubled in the same period. While other major economic sectors such as agriculture actually managed to reduce their emissions from 1990 to 2004, transport's emissions contribution has moved further into the red.

Emissions are not the only adverse effect of the surge in transport - noise pollution and air pollution related illness has also risen with the number of vehicles on European roads. In fact the report points out that almost four million life-years are lost each year due to high pollution levels.

Analysis: Extraordinary subsidies of over €100 billion per annum (US$131 billion) are paid to the road transport industry in Europe, leading to increased use of trucks and cars in favour of more efficient transport options. If such subsidies are phased, out the economic balance of efficiency should be restored which will also help the environment.

Related:

• Geneva Motor Show: Ford promises to expand ethanol/flexifuel lineup in Europe
• EU Commissioner for Science and Research likes the HyICE project's hydrogen ICE
• New European CO2 standards may force Porsche production out of the EU

[Source: Copenhagen EnviroNews]

An editorial on The Toronto Star website advises us to be worried about China. I know some who are worried that China is growing too fast. Which is in direct relation to what this article's writer is worried about is that the 1.3 million bicycle riders in China will abandon their bikes for cars. This is essentially what happened in the Unites States and Europe years ago, when the masses gave up their horses, carriages and bicycles for cars. This took place as soon as it became financially feasible. That opportunity may soon coming in China, with their economy expanding rapidly and their manufacturing capabilities growing seemingly every day. Malcolm Bricklin's Visionary Vehicles would like to tap those capabilities with his newest venture. And, Chinese carmakers are showing up in Detroit for the auto show. Chinese motorcycles can be had for next to nothing on eBay, will cars be next?

Some quotes from the article:

• "According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, car sales in China in the first half of 2006 climbed almost 50 per cent, year-on-year, to 1.8 million.
• "The gains come on the heels of 21.4 per cent growth in car sales for 2005, with sales of luxury cars doing particularly well. Before the 1980s China did not allow private citizens to purchase vehicles for private use and there were few automobiles on the roads. By 2005, there were 20 million cars in use. By 2020, it is estimated, there will be 140 million.
• "With China's new wealth come bigger houses, each requiring more energy, not only to build, but to heat in the winter and cool in the summer, producing additional climate warming gases. Last Nov. 22, the China Daily reported that in the first half of 2006, emissions of sulphur dioxide increased by 4.2 per cent, chemical oxygen demand, a major index of water pollution, grew by 3.7 per cent, compared to the same period in 2005."

So, emissions definitely seem to be a growing problem in China, just as they are in the States and the rest of the world. How bad will they get? At least the Chinese auto industry gets to start at a point when emissions are understood, and there is technology available today that can help. Let's hope it starts helping sooner rather than later.

[Source: The Toronto Star via Celsias.com]

This Chicago Tribune article almost slipped through the cracks, but thankfully Plenty Magazine caught it for the rest of the green blogosphere. The article reports that the Environmental Protection Agency will be relaxing pollution rules for new ethanol production plants by changing the way those plants are permitted to operate under the Clean Air Act.

Under existing rules, ethanol plants are considered major sources of air pollution if they emit more than 100 tons of toxic chemicals per year. It this is the case, they are subject to an intensive permit process as well as being forced to install pollution equipment that would eliminate up to 95 percent of their emissions. After the proposed changes take effect, new ethanol plants will not be subject to the stringent federal requirements unless they emit more than 250 tons of pollution per year. Michael Hawthorne, the author's article, adds that most new refineries are expected to emit just below the 250 ton limit. As a result, a plant that emits 200 tons of pollution per year could currently be required to reduce its emissions to 10 tons, while the proposed rule changes would require little or nothing be done by the polluting plant.

Some environmental groups believe that one of the primary motives behind the rule change is to allow a switch to coal for ethanol production. Coal is cheaper than the natural gas that is commonly used in ethanol production but more polluting.

Ethanol gets a lot of political play as its proponents promise to wean the red, white and blue off foreign oil. Whether or not it's a green or sustainable alternative is still up for debate as far as I can tell. It certainly doesn't help that the Bush administration is quietly pushing rule changes and dirtying our discourse.

[Source: Chicago Tribune via Plenty Magazine]

The busiest ports in the nation, Los Angeles and Long Beach, announced an aggressive air pollution control plan, which would make them the cleanest in the world. The $2-billion, five-year plan expects to reduce sooty diesel pollution from cargo ships, trains and trucks by more than 50%, which might result in some loss of business. The plan aims at reducing health risks to dockworkers and communities around the docks and loading facilities, and the region's congested freeways and railroads. The spokesman for the Port of Long Beach expects to lose some business to Mexico, but stated the port was no longer interested in companies which are not interested in cleaning up their pollution. The two ports hope to set the example for all the ports in the Pacific Rim. While 40% of all retail goods imported to the U.S. are shipped through the two ports, together they are also the single largest contributor to smog from diesel engines in the Los Angeles Basin. The plan calls for replacement of the aging short-haul diesel trucks, and will demand international cargo ships to run on low-sulfur fuel within 20 nautical miles of the harbor. Docks will be retrofitted with electrical power for unloading, instead of burning diesel fuel.

[Source: Los Angeles Times]

When you’re driving around in certain biodiesel vehicles, one of the strongest emissions is the smell of fried food. While biodiesel vehicles themselves don’t put out as many nasty pollutants as regular diesel or gasoline engines, the biodiesel production process is not as clean, as a large-scale biodiesel producer in Washington State discovered this week.
The Seattle Times reported that a company owned by Air Energy is operating a biodiesel-crushing plant in Creston, WA and has emitted methanol vapors without a permit and spilled vegetable oil or biodiesel on the ground. The plant’s landlord has ordered the plant to stop production.
It’s good that inspectors are cracking down on this plant. If producers want the publicity benefits of producing a more environmentally sound fuel, they need to operate using environmentally sound production standards. Thankfully, a vegetable oil spill is much tastier than a petroleum spill. [Source: Seattle Times]