Essay Example: Reason for the Regulation of Vehicle Emission by the Government

Emission standard is among the legal requirements that govern the amount of air pollutants released into the atmosphere. Emission standard postulates permissible quantitative limits regarding the specific pollutants of air which may be released into the atmosphere from particular sources over specified time frames. They are designed to help achieve air quality standards thereby protecting human health. In most cases, many emission standards emphasis on the regulation of pollutants that are released by cars and other power-driven vehicles (Kholod and Evans 2016, p.5). Others control emissions from the power plants, industry small equipments, generators that make use of diesel and other able causes of air contamination. The essay, therefore, seeks to illustrate the reasons as to why governments believe necessary to regulate vehicle emissions.

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The emission performance standard does the control of emissions (Gonzalez et al, 2015, p. 1490). The standard sets the threshold in which different types of emissions control technology can be needed. The emission performance standard in most cases has been utilized to dictate the limits for the conventional pollutants like nitrogen oxides and the sulfur oxides. Such regulatory techniques can be made use of in the regulation of greenhouse gasses specifically carbon dioxide. In the United States, it is measured in pounds of CO2 per megawatt-hour while elsewhere; it can be measured in kilograms CO2 per megawatt hour (Kholod and Evans 2016, p.5).

There are different ways of measuring emission that emanate from motor vehicle exhaust pipes. The methods include making use of the various models such as lumped parameter model, ALPHA, OMEGA, Gem (Greenhouse Gas Emission Model) and other models like MOVES, NONROAD and Mobile models (Gonzalez et al, 2015, p. 1492).

ALPHA is a physics-based automobile simulation tool that estimates the emissions of greenhouse gasses from different types of vehicles and other powertrain technologies that run over the user-defined driving cycles. EPAs Lumpered Parameter Model is a computer application which estimates the efficiency of different types of technology combinations in a manner which accounts for the synergies between the technologies. OMEGA estimates the cost of the technology for the automobile manufacturers to achieve the variable fleet-wide levels of the vehicles greenhouse gas emissions (Nagpure et al 2016, p 120).

GEM is a desktop application which estimates the GHG emissions and the fuel effectiveness performance of the specific heavy duty vehicle aspects. The documentation of the model provides information on how to use and install the model. The PDF file found in the application package contains the input records which were used in establishing the severity of the final GHG emissions standards with the fuel efficiency standards for the heavy and medium duty vehicles (Gonzalez et al, 2015, p. 1499).

The emission from the transport sector help provides information that aids the transportation agencies, researchers, the transport industry and the general public to understand better the connection that exists between the greenhouse gas emissions and the general transportation worldwide (Nagpure et al 2016, p 120). Each year in the United States, the estimates of the greenhouse gasses emissions are updated with the agencies tasked with the function of monitoring pollution (Lewis, Carslaw and Kelly 2015, p. 195).

It is of utmost importance to limit the amount of pollution caused by vehicles as there are many problems associated with air pollution. Vehicles release gasses from their exhaust pipes which are dangerous and are capable of causing diseases to the human population (Swanton et al 2016, p. 211). Gasses such as sulfur that are released from the exhaust pipes aggravate the existing heart diseases. The reaction of sulfur with other chemicals in the atmosphere form tiny sulfate particles (Nagpure et al 2016, p 120). The particles when they get into the human body system gather in the lungs causing difficulty in breathing and respiratory problems (Swanton et al 2016, p. 211).

The particles that are ejected for motor vehicles exhaust pipes also cause skin inflammation and blur the visibility on the roads (Han et al, 2015, p 814). In cases whereby vehicles produced large quantities of the particulate matter, there may be a hindrance of other road users as they cannot see the road clearly, therefore, causing accidents. The particles emitted by the vehicles are also not good for the eyes of animals and humans. With these, the eyes become dilated thereby causing eye problems (Lewis, Carslaw and Kelly 2015, p. 195).

A large amount of pollution by the motor vehicles produce smokes and gasses that smell in a bad way. Such a smell may cause changes to the body system as some people and as a result vomit (Swanton et al 2016, p. 211). Any changes to the human body as a result of pollution is not acceptable (Nagpure et al 2016, p 120). Pollution needs to be reduced to the lowest allowable levels possible.

The gasses produced by the vehicles escape to the atmosphere causing acid rain (Kholod and Evans 2016, p.5). When there it rains, the roofs of buildings get corroded thereby reducing the lifetime of the roofs of houses. For those houses made of completely iron sheets, there is a greater disadvantage as the most parts of the houses gets corroded. Acid rain is not health for the human skin as it causes inflammation in some people. To plants, the acid rain may make them wither depending on the type of soils in which the plants grows (Swanton et al 2016, p. 211).

When the greenhouse gasses escape to the atmosphere, they destroy the ozone layer thereby causing global warming (Han et al 2015, p 814). Global warming is responsible for sea level rise, excessive heat reaching the atmosphere and the ever-changing climatic conditions. The rise of the seal level is brought about by the increased expansion of the ocean waters and also the melting of glaciers in the mountains. The increase in sea level causes excessive flooding in the low-lying areas thereby destruction of property and loss of life (Kholod and Evans 2016, p.5).

The changing climatic condition brought about by the depletion of the ozone layer causes immense problems to the current generation (Lewis, Carslaw and Kelly 2015, p. 195). At present, the world has witnessed drastic changes in weather patterns that are extreme than never before. Such drastic changes have caused loss of life and property worth millions. The governments are spending millions of dollars preparing for any eventuality of the extreme weather. The money spent to combat the problems caused by the extremes in weather could otherwise be used elsewhere for the betterment of the economy.

Hot temperatures resulting from the depletion of the ozone layer have caused heat waves that have resulted in the death of many people throughout the world (Han et al 2015, p 814). All these eventualities are brought about by the increase in the levels of pollution. Pollution of any kind needs to be stopped if not minimized to the least levels that are allowable. With these, the governments are working hard to see that any pollution emanating for example for motor vehicles is minimized to the allowable level thereby the need for regulating vehicle emissions.

References

Gonzalez Palencia, J, Sakamaki, T, Araki, M, & Shiga, S 2015, 'Impact of powertrain electrification, vehicle size reduction and lightweight materials substitution on energy use, CO2 emissions and cost of a passenger light-duty vehicle fleet', Energy, 93, Part 2, pp. 1489-1504, ScienceDirect, EBSCOhost, viewed 27 June 2016.

Han, F, Cao, J, Peng, L, Bai, H, Hu, D, Mu, L, & Liu, X 2015, 'Characteristics of hopanoid hydrocarbons in ambient PM10 and motor vehicle emissions and coal ash in Taiyuan, China', Environmental Geochemistry And Health, 37, 5, pp. 813-829, MEDLINE, EBSCOhost, viewed 27 June 2016.

Kholod, N, & Evans, M 2016, 'Reducing black carbon emissions from diesel vehicles in Russia: An assessment and policy recommendations', Environmental Science And Policy, 56, pp. 1-8, ScienceDirect, EBSCOhost, viewed 27 June 2016.

Lewis, A, Carslaw, D, & Kelly, F 2015, 'Vehicle emissions: Diesel pollution long under-reported', Nature, 526, 7572, p. 195, MEDLINE, EBSCOhost, viewed 27 June 2016.

Nagpure, A, Gurjar, B, Kumar, V, & Kumar, P 2016, 'Estimation of exhaust and non-exhaust gaseous, particulate matter and air toxics emissions from on-road vehicles in Delhi', Atmospheric Environment, 127, pp. 118-124, ScienceDirect, EBSCOhost, viewed 27 June 2016.

Swanton, C, Boffetta, P, Peston, R, & Soria, J 2016, 'Environmental emissions, public health and lung cancer risk', Annals Of Oncology: Official Journal Of The European Society For Medical Oncology / ESMO, 27, 2, pp. 211-212, MEDLINE, EBSCOhost, viewed 27 June 2016.