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  • Author Author: xever
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Carbon Footprint Monitoring - Calculating Car Emissions

xever

The other major contributor to Carbon dioxide footprint is transportation accounting for the 13% of global emissions in 2004.

GlobalGHGEmissionsBySource.png

For a typical household, transportation would be the second main contributor for carbon footprint and part of this system is to quantify and monitor how carbon dioxide we are emitting from our daily routines.

 

Measuring Carbon Dioxide

 

There are a number of ways to determine the amount of CO2 emissions, from simple approximations to actual measurements.  The simplest I found is just a multiplier of the vehicles' CO2 emission rating, usually in gram/km.  For my specific case, I am driving a Toyota Blade, and has a rating of 191 gram/km.  However, I am not quite satisfied about this method since the car can be idling most of the time, resulting in a shorter distance travelled but would actually emit more CO2 than a car travelling long distance but with minimal idle time.

 

Alternatively, but still using the vehicle information, this time labelled as L/100km, or the amount of fuel used (in Litters) per 100kms.  My car has this rating specified to be approximately 3.8L/100km or 26.3157 km per Litter of petrol used.  These values are mostly likely measured in controlled conditions and does not reflect the car's actual efficiency.  In reality, the efficiency is just 12.5 km/l as shown in my dashboard.

 

image

 

This link has a scientific method to calculate the theoretical value of how much CO2 is emitted during combustion arriving at 2.22 kg of CO2 per liter of Petrol.  By using actual vehicle efficiency of 12.5km/l and 2.22 kg of CO2 per liter of Petrol, we can resolve how much CO2 per distance travelled (in km), and call this as the CO2 emission factor:

 

CO2 Emission Factor = 2.22 kg/l ÷ 12.5 km/l = 0.1776 kg of CO2 per kilomter or 177.6 gram/km.

 

Carbon Footprint and Idling

idle.jpg

 

The infographic on the left illustrates the effects of idling into the carbon emission formula.  For the proposed system, we will measure how long we have been idling for each trip, and attempt to translate this into tangible savings.

 

CO2 Concentration to CO2 Emission

Using CO2 sensors, such as the MQ135, can measure the amount of CO2 in ppm.  I initially thought of using the collected data to determine carbon footprint.  However the relationship between the two metrics is inconclusive at this stage and further research is required.

 

Conclusion

Better estimation of CO2 emission is through measuring amount of Petrol consumed than distance traveled.  To determine actual fuel consumption per trip, one must install a digital fuel gauge (for older vehicles) or tap into CAN bus and listen for fuel gauge value as reported by the vehicle MCU.

 

The next post will be about the implementation of a mobile application using the information gathered in this research.

 

References:

Global Emissions | Climate Change | US EPA

TOYOTA BLADE [IMPORT] (2005-2011) - Search Cars and Vehicles Ratings by RightCar NZ

CO2 Emission Ratings for your Car provided by RightCar NZ

Toyota Auris - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://www.epa.gov/oms/consumer/f98014.pdf

http://ecowatch.com/2013/12/12/stop-idling-car-cut-emissions/

 

Parents

  • Nice poster written by someone who has little idea of the other bits of a car.

    image

     

    Unfortunately they have failed to take into account the starter motor, the wear on it and the charging system.

     

    Some newer vehicles are designed for shutting down during extended idling and automate the process.

    Obviously these have suitably designed parts.

     

    If the government is so worried by the figures, then you'd think they would be looking at ways to reduce that in the transport efficiency area.

    Evena 10% improvement would make a difference.

     

    Mark

  • in reply to mcb1

    I don't know much about cars as well, and it was also my immediate reaction.  Vehicles these days are fuel efficient and have better starter mechanism.  The other argument though is what is the percentage of these newer vehicles that are on the roads compared to the less efficient ones?  If traffic is major contribution to air pollution, how can it be resolved efficiently?  Is it build more roads or promote remote offices instead, i.e. embrace working from home.  I don't know any valid answer, as it all depends on the individuals perspective.

     

    A few links I'd like to share:

    http://greenactioncentre.ca/living-green-living-well/myth-2-its-better-to-idle-your-car-than-shut-it-off/

    http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/blog/index.php/2012/01/24/just-bone-idle-should-you-leave-your-engine-running-or-not-the-green-piece/

  • in reply to xever

    Christever

    The links are  ... well links.

    They are written by journalists with no actual references to the studies they use to support their arguments.

    They are designed to fill column space.

     

    As I said above  ... continual stopping and starting will have an effect on other parts of the vehicle.

    The wear on the engine (greatest wear is during COLD startup) and modern electronics is not the issue.

     

    I do know that all electric vehicles in some countries will not fix the pollution ... it will just transfer it to another source.

     

    You'd be surprised at how fuel inefficent newer cars are compared to some older cars.

    Sure newer cars are cleaner for other emissions, but the reality is as we've added more weight, and more creature comforts, the engine size has increased along with the horsepower.

     

    Driving technique can have a much greater impact than idling, but like the climate debate there are always two sides to the story ,,, with a very grey area inbetween.

     

     

    Mark

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  • in reply to xever

    Christever

    The links are  ... well links.

    They are written by journalists with no actual references to the studies they use to support their arguments.

    They are designed to fill column space.

     

    As I said above  ... continual stopping and starting will have an effect on other parts of the vehicle.

    The wear on the engine (greatest wear is during COLD startup) and modern electronics is not the issue.

     

    I do know that all electric vehicles in some countries will not fix the pollution ... it will just transfer it to another source.

     

    You'd be surprised at how fuel inefficent newer cars are compared to some older cars.

    Sure newer cars are cleaner for other emissions, but the reality is as we've added more weight, and more creature comforts, the engine size has increased along with the horsepower.

     

    Driving technique can have a much greater impact than idling, but like the climate debate there are always two sides to the story ,,, with a very grey area inbetween.

     

     

    Mark

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