A typical passenger vehicle emits around 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. This assumes that the average gasoline vehicle on the highway today has a fuel economy of approximately 22.0 miles per gallon and drives around 11,500 miles per year. Each gallon of gasoline burned generates around 8,887 grams of CO2.An official website of the United States government, Gov A, belongs to an official government organization in the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is addressing climate change by taking the following steps to reduce GHG emissions from the transportation sector: many of these programs have benefits beyond reducing carbon emissions.
For example, lower fuel consumption can reduce our dependence on foreign oil and save consumers money at gas stations. The EPA and Department of Transportation (DOT) issued joint regulations establishing GHG emissions and fuel economy standards for major sources of transportation greenhouse gases, including cars, light trucks, and heavy trucks. Congress created the Renewable Fuel Standards program in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and expand the country's renewable fuel sector, while reducing dependence on oil. Renewable fuels are produced from plants, crops and other biomass, and can reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to burning the fossil fuels they replace.
The EPA, together with the Federal Aviation Agency of the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization, have developed international carbon dioxide emission standards for aircraft. EPA is also working on the process of potentially establishing national regulations under the Clean Air Act that address GHG emissions from certain classes of engines used in aircraft. SmartWay helps freight transport industry improve supply chain efficiency, reduce greenhouse gases, and save fuel costs for participating companies. Through SmartWay, the EPA and its partners are making significant strides in the efficiency of the way our country moves goods, helping to address air quality challenges, improving public health and reducing the contribution of freight to climate change.
Since the mid-1970s, the EPA has required automakers to label new cars and light trucks with information on fuel economy and fuel costs. Current car labels also include ratings for greenhouse gases and smog-forming pollutants. EPA provides online resources, such as the Green Vehicle Guide and the joint EPA and Department of Energy (DOE) fueleconomy.gov website, to help consumers identify vehicles that can save them money at the pump and reduce their transportation-related emissions. EPA's SmartWay light duty program goes further and identifies the highest-performing vehicles in terms of fuel economy and emissions to help consumers make an environmentally friendly purchase.
For information on emission reduction strategies, national policies and regulations, voluntary and incentive-based programs, funding sources, calculators, transportation compliance, and other assistance to help states and local areas achieve their air quality objectives and transport decarbonization goals. While transportation continues to contribute a large percentage of U. S. emissions, there are many opportunities for the sector to offer greenhouse gas reductions.
Low-carbon fuels, new and improved vehicle technologies, strategies to reduce the number of miles traveled by vehicles and operate vehicles more efficiently are approaches to reducing transportation greenhouse gases. For many people, the commute to and from work is the bookend of the daily routine - but how we choose to travel to the office or even go to stores is also one of the most important climate decisions we face on a day-to-day basis. Road transport accounts for approximately one fifth of EU emissions - our personal vehicles are one of the main causes of global warming. Taken together, cars and trucks account for nearly one-fifth of all U.
emissions, emitting about 24 pounds of carbon dioxide and other gases that heat up Earth for every gallon of gas - approximately five pounds come from extraction, production and delivery of fuel while most heat-trapping emissions (more than 19 pounds per gallon) come directly from a car's exhaust pipe. The number of electric vehicles on world's roads is increasing - reaching a record number last year - which would seem to be good news as world is trying to set aside fossil fuels that are ruining global climate. But as electric cars become more popular some are wondering how environmentally friendly they are - experts generally agree that electric vehicles generate a lower carbon footprint over their useful life than cars and trucks using traditional internal combustion engines. Last year researchers at universities of Cambridge Exeter & Nijmegen in Netherlands found that in 95% of world driving an electric car is better for environment than driving gasoline car - power grids in most parts of world are still powered by fossil fuels such as coal or oil & electric vehicles rely on that energy to charge - on other hand production of batteries for electric vehicles is still a process.
A study by Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Energy Initiative found that producing batteries & fuel for electric vehicle generates higher emissions than manufacturing car - but those higher environmental costs are offset by superior energy efficiency of electric vehicles throughout - in summary total emissions per mile of battery-powered cars are lower than those of comparable cars with internal combustion engines. Paltsev explained that full benefits of electric vehicles will be realized only after electricity sources become renewable & it could take several decades for that to happen. China currently dominates battery production with 93 gigafactories producing lithium-ion battery cells compared to just four in U. S.
Batteries manufactured in older gigafactories in China generally run on fossil fuels because that. Decarbonization is process of reducing greenhouse gas emissions produced by burning fossil fuels - efforts to reduce pollution in several industries are expected to further reduce environmental impact of electric vehicle production & charging over time. Gigafactories are installations that produce batteries for electric vehicles on large scale - these higher production emissions figures are considered initial investment which pays off fairly quickly due to reduced emissions over useful life.
