ICCT report estimates cost of introducing emissions reduction technologies for light-duty vehicles
Wed 13 June 2012
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A new report from the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) demonstrates that cost estimates for introducing emission reduction technologies for light duty vehicles are regularly overstated.
The report's authors say that this is largely because cost estimates used in setting early standards in the US and EU have never been updated to reflect actual experience and incorporate the substantial techology improvements and cost reductions that have occurred over time.
The report assesses costs in current terms, using both direct and indirect methods to account for technology changes, correct for inflation, and pull in feedback from manufacturers. Estimates are based on the U.S. and EU regulatory programs because detailed information for those programs is widely available, and since most other governments have modeled their own regulatory programs on these approaches, the technology steps are very similar and so the findings provide reasonable, conservative benchmarks.
Diesel and gasoline vehicles are assessed separately, and the cost of compliance differs significantly between them. Gasoline engine emissions can be reduced to very low levels through air-fuel control and catalytic aftertreatment—mature technologies with modest incremental costs. Controlling NOx and PM emissions from diesel engines is more complex and requires a combination of technologies for air management, fuel injection control, aftertreatment, and system integration, which impose higher costs relative to gasoline engine controls.
The findings of the ICCT report are echoed in an International Energy Agency (IEA) report which focuses on energy technologies adopted across a wide range of sectors. The report, Energy Technology Perspectives 2012, which will be published on July 9, says that with right policies, the shift to clean energy can more than pay for itself.
It says that a host of new technologies is ready to transform the energy system, offering the potential to drastically reduce carbon emissions, enhance energy security and generate a huge investment return.
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