CU-Boulder ECON 4545 - Mobile Source Pollution-Intro

Unformatted text preview:

1 Cars, Minivans, SUVs, Light Trucks, Snow-mobiles, ATV, etc.mobilesourcepollution.tex Dec 1, 2013. We have the basic theory inplace for evaluating mobile-source pollution from an e¢ ciency, equity and policyperspectives. All we need to do is plug in the relevant facts about mobile sourcepollution, making it a di¢ cult task.1.1 “Stylized Facts about mobile sources”as we go through this list, think about the implications of each for the marketallocation and policies to make the allocation of pollution more e¢ cient and/orequitable.1. Mobile sources are only produced by a small number of …rms.2. Mobile sources are numereous and ubiquitous: there are millions of them.3. Mobile sources are mostly operated by amateurs - exceptions are trains,buses, commerical trucks and commercial airplanes.4. Since vehicles are durable, new ones make up only a small proportion ofthe total ‡eetVehicle emission (5 through 12)5. Vehicles produce emissions: some of which are CO2(carbon dioxide), N O2(nitrogen dioxide), CO (carbon oxide), SOx(sulfer oxides), particulatematter, and HC (hydro-carbons)6. Vehicles used to emit signi…cant amounts of lead: In the U.S., gas hasbeen lead free for many years. Lead from gas is still a big problem insome developing countries.7. No single vehicle, except my old snowmobile, has a signi…cant impact onair quality levels, but collectively they signi…cantly a¤ect air quality inurban areas8. CO2and N O2are green-house (heat trapping) gases9. Practically, there is no way to reduce the CO2emissions per gallon ofgasoline of burned.1So, the only way to reduce CO2emissions from vehi-cles is to increase miles per gallon and/or decrease miles driven. Vehiclesare one the main sources of CO2 emissions.1As some of my past students have poi nted ou t to me is is possible, in th eor y, to sequesterCO2, for example, in the ground or in the oc ean, or in trees.110. The SOx emissions result from sulfur in gasoline. In addition to injuringpeople and stu¤, the sulfur in gasoline damages pollution-control devices.11. Diesel engines, relatively speaking, generate more particulate matter thando gasoline engines.12. Hydrocarbons (HC ) and Nitrogen Dioxide (N O2) are precursors of ozone.N O2is the main cause of smog.U.S. regulations on mobile-source pollution (13 through 20)13. The U.S. has ambient air quality standards for a number of pollutantsincluding SOx, CO, N O2, lead (P b), ozone, and particulate matter.14. These standards are set to protect the health of the most sensitive mem-bers of society. The Health Standard (the primary standard) is set with-out any consideration of bene…ts and costs, so is not an e¢ ciency-drivenstandard.15. EPA has resp onsibility for setting the standards but the states have pri-mary responsibility for insuring the standards are met: SIPs (state imple-mentation plans)16. Mobile Sources are responsible for a signi…cant proportion of 3 criteriapollutants: CO, N O2and ozone.17. There are emissions standards on new vehicles. These are Uniform acrossU.S. (except CA) . Standards are “set" to achieve ambient air quality stan-dards (not with bene…ts or costs in mind). The EPA sets these standards(authority under 1990 Amend to CAA).18. There is an emissions standard on nitrogen oxides (N Ox)19. There are standards on sulfer content in gasoline. Get current numbers.20. The U.S. has CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards. E.g.new Ford cars and small trucks have to have a ‡eet average m.p.g. belowthe standard. CAFE was motivated by the energy crisis in the 70’s, not bypollution concerns per sec. The standards doubled between 1979 and 1984.After staying at the same level for many years, fuel-e¢ ciency strandardswere just made more stringent. Fuel e¢ ciency standard a¤ect emissionsbut are not pollution standards. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_Average_Fuel_Economy21. There are di¤erent standards for "trucks;" they are more lack. And mostSUVs are o¢ cially trucks._________________________22. Vehicles miles traveled has almost tripled in the last 30 years.223. Old cars pollute a lot more per-mile than new cars. There are two reasonfor this. Emission standards for new vehicles have gotten stricter overtime, and emissions rates increase as the vehicle ages and is not main-tained.24. The cars that pollute the most per mile are typically driven by poor peo-ple.225. Colorado (the front range only) and many other urban areas have emis-sions testing.26. Driving in rural areas has little impact on ambient air quality, except forCO2emissions.27. Driving in urban areas impacts air quality.28. Congestion slows tra¢ c and increases pollution.29. Commuting clusters emissions in the morning and evening rush hours.Sunlight is a necessary ingredient in the production of ozone, so an im-portant consideration is whether rush hours occur when it is dark.30. Natural gas is cheaper and cleaner than gasoline but requires larger tanks–expensive to convert. Natural gas is good for ‡eets in urban areas. Weare starting to see conversion. Last time I checked the U.S. Postal Servicehas 7400 natural-gas vans and UPS has approximately 1000. Some taxi‡eets are all natural gas.31. Hybrid vehicles (gas and electrical) are becoming increasingly available.The momentum of the car is used, for example in braking, to charge thebattery.32. Electric only vehicles are not common, but are becoming available. Theyhave limited range and lengthy recharge times, but there performance isstarting to dramatically improve.33. Producing electricity to drive electric cars produces CO2 and other pollu-tants. See RFF article.34. The Bush Administration pushed the development of cars that will run onhydrogen fuel cells. Such vehicles are not currently economically viable.There is also the issue of where the hydrogen will come from. I have notheard much about hydrogen fuel cells in the last couple of year.35. Pollution from vehicles is typically horri…c in large cities in developingcountries. These conditions are caused by a combination of congestion,no standards, old clunkers, 2-stroke engines and leaded gas.2There are exceptions. For example, rich guys who drive around in vintage muscle cars.336. Its is cheaper to pro duce cars that all have the same pollution controlequipments: economies of scale (but how signi…cant?). This is the industryargument for why it would be bad if emissions standards varied from Stateto State.37. Gasoline is very cheap in the U.S.


View Full Document

CU-Boulder ECON 4545 - Mobile Source Pollution-Intro

Download Mobile Source Pollution-Intro
Our administrator received your request to download this document. We will send you the file to your email shortly.
Loading Unlocking...
Login

Join to view Mobile Source Pollution-Intro and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or
We will never post anything without your permission.
Don't have an account?
Sign Up

Join to view Mobile Source Pollution-Intro 2 2 and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or

By creating an account you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use

Already a member?