organization:international council on clean transportation

U.N. group agrees to aircraft standards to cut CO2 emissions
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-aviation-idUSKCN0VH1XA

The standards, agreed to after six years of talks, must still be approved by the International Civil Aviation Organization’s governing council later this year. The standards would become mandatory for national aviation authorities around the world.

[...]

Estimates for carbon emission reductions from applying the new standards vary widely. The White House said in a fact sheet it would reduce 650 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions between 2020 and 2040.

Environmental group Transport and Environment, however, estimated reductions closer to 300 million tonnes over the same period, while the International Council on Clean Transportation projected even fewer emission cuts.

“The proposal will only require CO2 reductions from new aircraft of 4 percent over 12 years, when market forces alone are predicted to achieve more than a 10 percent efficiency gain in the same time frame,” Drew Kodjak, ICCT executive director said in a statement.

[...]

Commercial aircraft account for 11 percent of carbon emissions from transportation worldwide.

#climat #aviation #transport_aérien

Wide range of cars emit more pollution in realistic driving tests, data shows | Environment | The Guardian
▻http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/30/wide-range-of-cars-emit-more-pollution-in-real-driving-conditions-tests (30/09/15)

New diesel cars from Renault, Nissan, Hyundai, Citroen, Fiat, Volvo and other manufacturers have been found to emit substantially higher levels of pollution when tested in more realistic driving conditions, according to new data seen by the Guardian.

Research compiled by Adac, Europe’s largest motoring organisation, shows that some of the diesel cars it examined released over 10 times more #NOx than revealed by existing EU tests, using an alternative standard due to be introduced later this decade.

Adac put the diesel cars through the EU’s existing lab-based regulatory test (NEDC) and then compared the results with a second, UN-developed test (WLTC) which, while still lab-based, is longer and is believed to better represent real driving conditions. The WLTC is currently due to be introduced by the EU in 2017.

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/thzogc37nssbw52/20150930ADAC_NOx.jpg

The factor shown is how many times greater the WLTC test emissions were than the NEDC test. Vehicles with the biggest factor would be expected to emit significantly more NOx on the road than regulatory tests suggest.

Peter Mock, one of the team at the International Council on Clean Transportation who exposed the VW diesel scandal, said the Adac test centre was “_absolutely trustworthy”.

But Mock said the high profile now being given to the issue of misleading emissions data left him with mixed feelings. “I feel happy, but I also feel sad because there was enough data and people knew for a long time. The emissions in cities have not gone down like we expected and they could have been reduced a long time ago.”

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/gsy35rg1m7q1r3t/20150930UE_NOx.jpg

#secret_de_polichinelle

Accusé de tricherie Volkswagen est menacé de sanctions aux Etats-Unis
▻http://www.lemonde.fr/automobile/article/2015/09/20/accuse-de-tricherie-volkswagen-est-menace-de-sanctions-financieres-aux-etats

Les Etats-Unis et l’Etat de Californie accusent Volkswagen (VW) d’avoir délibérément contourné les règles en vigueur en matière de lutte contre la pollution atmosphérique. L’Agence fédérale de protection de l’environnement (EPA) affirme que VW a équipé ses modèles diesel Volkswagen et Audi des années 2009 à 2015 d’un logiciel permettant de contourner les tests d’émission de certains polluants atmosphériques.

Ce petit logiciel espion enclenchait – a priori à l’insu des conducteurs – un mécanisme interne de limitation des gaz polluants permettant au véhicule de passer le test sans encombres et de se voir décerner un certificat de bonne conduite écologique. Toutefois, une fois le test fini, le mécanisme anti-pollution se désactivait et le véhicule libérait alors dans l’atmosphère davantage de gaz polluants et notamment du dioxyde d’azote, lié à de graves maladies respiratoires dont l’asthme.

La notification de non-respect de la réglementation Notification of Violation (NOV) par l’EPA
▻http://www3.epa.gov/otaq/cert/documents/vw-nov-caa-09-18-15.pdf

Each vehicle identified by the table below has AECDs that were not described in the application for the COC that purportedly covers the vehicle. Specifically, VW manufactured and installed software in the electronic control module (ECM) of these vehicles that sensed when the vehicle was being tested for compliance with EPA emission standards. For ease of reference, the EPA is calling this the #switch. The “switch” senses whether the vehicle is being test or not based on various inputs including the position of the steering wheel, vehicle speed, the duration of engine’s operation, and barometric pressure. These inputs precisely track the parameters of the federal test procedure used for emission testing for EPA certification purposes. During EPA emission testing, the vehicles’ ECM ran software which produced compliant emission results under an ECM calibration that VW referred to as the “dyno calibration” (referring to the equipment used in emissions testing, called dynamometer). At all other times during normal vehicle operation, the “switch” was activated and the vehicle ECM software ran a separate “road calibration” which reduced the effectiveness of the emission control system (specifically the selective catalytic reduction of the lean NOx trap). As a result, emissions of NOx increased by a factor of 10 to 40 times above the EPA compliant levels, depending on the type of drive cycle (e.g. city, highway).

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/9q5yl884thvvxuz/20150918EPA_VW.jpg

Dans le communiqué de presse

09/18/2015 : EPA, California Notify Volkswagen of Clean Air Act Violations
▻http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/d0cf6618525a9efb85257359003fb69d/dfc8e33b5ab162b985257ec40057813b!opendocument

The allegations cover roughly 482,000 diesel passenger cars sold in the United States since 2008.

Affected diesel models include:
• Jetta (Model Years 2009 – 2015)
• Beetle (Model Years 2009 – 2015)
• Audi A3 (Model Years 2009 – 2015)
• Golf (Model Years 2009 – 2015)
• Passat (Model Years 2014-2015)

Arctic melting opens sea route to more pollution - Climate News Network

▻http://www.climatenewsnetwork.net/arctic-melting-opens-sea-route-pollution

By Alex Kirby

Increasing loss of Arctic sea ice is likely soon to mean more ships being able to use the polar passage – affecting climate, health and air quality.

http://www.climatenewsnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/CROP-northwest-passage-marinebugs.jpg

LONDON, 14 February, 2015 − As Arctic sea ice continues to melt at an alarming rate, maritime traffic is set to increase − and with it the pollution emitted by ships’ engines.

A paper published by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) says emissions of pollutants from vessels in the US area of the high Arctic could increase by between 150% and 600% by 2025.

Ships typically burn bunker fuel with a high sulphur content. As well as various greenhouse gases (GHGs), the engines also emit soot, or black carbon. And when this covers snow and ice, it reduces their ability to reflect sunlight away from the Earth, and so raises temperatures.

#arctic #transport_maritime #pollution #air

What is “Arctic shipping,” anyway? | International Council on Clean Transportation

▻http://www.theicct.org/blogs/staff/what-%E2%80%9Carctic-shipping%E2%80%9D-anyway

The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Environmental Protection Agency v. EME Homer City Generation, upholding the EPA’s authority to regulate cross-boundary pollution from power plants, got me thinking about other instances of air pollution crossing boundaries – specifically in the Arctic, where the problem is complicated by the fact that there’s not even general agreement on where the supposed “boundary” should be drawn.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/Arctic_circle.svg/500px-Arctic_circle.svg.png

The issue before the Supreme Court was whether EPA could regulate emissions from power plants in states that “contribute significantly” to air problems in other states. This finding is based on the Good Neighbor provision (section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I)) of the Clean Air Act and gives EPA the authority to regulate interstate pollution that interferes with the ability to achieve attainment of national air quality standards, which protect public heath.

#transport_maritime #arctique