Clean Air Program Reports
Search
•
RSS Feed
Executive Summary
As the new home of RIPIRG's environmental work, Environment Rhode Island can be contacted regarding this report.
Despite tighter automobile
emission standards over the last three decades, Rhode Island continues to face
significant automobile-related air pollution problems. Increasing the use of
advanced-technology vehicles—those that use cleaner, alternative fuels
or new technological advances to achieve dramatically improved environmental
performance—could alleviate the state’s air pollution problems while reducing
Rhode Island’s contribution to global warming and enhancing the state’s energy
security.
Policies such as the Zero-Emission
Vehicle program (part of the Low-Emission Vehicle II emission standards adopted
by California, Massachusetts, New York and other states) can help bring increased
numbers of advanced-technology vehicles to Rhode Island.
Emissions from inefficient,
polluting gasoline-powered vehicles pose serious threats to Rhode Island’s environment
and economy.
• Smog: During the
summer of 2002, air pollution monitors in Rhode Island registered 29 exceedences
of EPA health standards for smog on 17 separate days. Light-duty vehicles such
as cars, pick-up trucks, minivans and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are responsible
for about one-fifth of all emissions of nitrogen oxides and one-quarter of all
emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to the air nationally. Nitrogen
oxides and VOCs are the chemical components of smog.
• Global warming:
Transportation is responsible for about 31 percent of Rhode Island’s emissions
of greenhouse gases, which cause global warming. The majority of transportation
sector emissions come from the burning of gasoline to power cars and light trucks.
Global warming poses severe potential threats to coastal and forest ecosystems
and public health in the state. Rhode Island has joined with other New England
states and eastern Canadian provinces in committing to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions to 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, with further reductions in
decades to come. These goals, however, cannot be met without reducing emissions
from the transportation sector.
• Energy security:
Rhode Island’s overreliance on inefficient gasoline-powered cars leaves the
state susceptible to oil price spikes and supply disruptions. These problems
will become more severe over the next several decades as global petroleum supplies
tighten.
Advanced-technology vehicles
can alleviate many of these problems.
• Reduced air pollution:
Advanced-technology vehicles can significantly reduce emissions of smog-forming
pollutants and air toxics from Rhode Island cars and light trucks. The current
generation of hybrid-electric vehicles—such as the Toyota Prius and Honda
Civic —are approximately 90 percent cleaner than the average vehicle on
sale in Rhode Island today. Clean conventional vehicles with state-of-the-art
emission-reduction technology are now being manufactured that attain similar
pollution reductions.
• Lower greenhouse gas
emissions: Advanced-technology vehicles can also reduce Rhode Island’s emissions
of greenhouse gases, which cause global warming. Vehicles that take advantage
of the benefits of hybrid-electric technology can produce about half as much
global warming-inducing carbon dioxide per mile as conventional vehicles.
• Improved energy security:
Many advanced-technology vehicles also enhance Rhode Island’s energy security
by improving fuel efficiency or using alternative fuels such as natural gas,
electric power or hydrogen.
Several types of advanced-technology
vehicles are "ready to roll," yet availability of these vehicles in
Rhode Island is limited.
• Hybrid-electric vehicles:
More than 65,000 hybrid-electric vehicles have been sold in the U.S. since 1999.
As many as 60 percent of potential vehicle buyers in a recent survey stated
that they would consider buying a hybrid, yet only three models of hybrid vehicles
are currently available to Rhode Island consumers.
• Natural gas vehicles:
More than 120,000 natural gas vehicles are currently on American roads in a
variety of styles and configurations. Yet, only one automaker is thus far offering
them for sale to the general public. Lack of refueling opportunities has hindered
the further spread of these vehicles, and limitations in the supply of natural
gas make them unsuitable as a long-term alternative.
• Clean conventional
vehicles: Seven automakers now manufacture vehicles that meet California’s
rigorous partial Zero-Emission Vehicle (PZEV) emission standards. However, most
of these vehicles have only been made available to consumers in states that
have adopted Zero-Emission Vehicle programs, and are not available to Rhode
Island consumers.
• Battery-electric vehicles:
Automakers have sold more than 10,000 zero-emission battery-electric vehicles
to consumers in California and other states over the last decade. However, no
major automaker is currently selling battery-electric vehicles to consumers.
• Other types of vehicles—such
as “plug-in” hybrids and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles—also show the potential
for significant environmental benefits, but will require further research and
development before they become commercially feasible.
The Zero-Emission Vehicle
(ZEV) program would put tens of thousands of advanced-technology vehicles on
Rhode Island’s roads by the end of the decade, at minimal cost to automakers
and potential net benefits to consumers.
• More clean cars:
The ZEV program would require automakers to sell approximately 14,400 hybrid-electric
vehicles and 78,700 clean conventional vehicles in Rhode Island between 2007
and 2011, with the numbers increasing over time.
• Low cost: Installing
the technology to meet these targets would cost automakers approximately $3.65
million in 2007, increasing to $6.36 million in 2011. The incremental cost of
the program in 2007 represents about 0.2 percent of sales by Rhode Island new-car
dealers in 2001 and 0.0005 percent of the annual gross revenue of the six major
automakers. Offsetting financial benefits stemming from technology improvements
that can be exported to other vehicle lines, assistance in complying with other
regulatory standards, and consumers’ willingness to pay more for some ZEV-compliant
vehicles will reduce these costs further.
• Consumer benefits:
Consumers are unlikely to be negatively affected by the ZEV program. Most automakers
have chosen not to pass on the additional cost of conforming with PZEV emission
standards. Should the cost of hybrid-electric vehicles decrease (as is anticipated),
and gas prices rise, many consumers will see a net financial benefit from purchasing
more efficient hybrid-electric vehicles.
Adoption of the combined
Low-Emission Vehicle II and Zero-Emission Vehicle programs is essential to getting
clean, advanced-technology vehicles onto Rhode Island’s roads.
• The ZEV program would
ensure a consistent supply of clean vehicles for Rhode Island consumers, create
economies of scale necessary to allow the construction of alternative-fuel infrastructure,
set high standards for vehicle technology, and help guide the development of
even cleaner automotive technologies in the years to come.
The goals of a ZEV requirement
in Rhode Island are attainable, and achieving them would be beneficial to the
state. To ensure successful implementation of the program, the state should
take a leadership role in coordinating the expansion of alternative-fuel infrastructure
and educating the public about clean cars, and work to secure resources to support
those efforts.
|
