Climate and Environmental Protection - Decreasing Fuel Consumption and Exhaust Gas Emissions in Transportation - page 226

Fig. 15.3 CO 2 emission
limits of cars in the EU

250

limits

200

150

130 g*km

-1

100

50

0

500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000

vehicle weight [kg]

Emissions of pollutants can be mainly decreased by increasing the efficiency of
engines, the gears and reducing the weight of vehicles. Installing solar cells on top
of cars can moderately decrease emissions by 7 g km -1 (0.247 oz km -1 , i.e.

0.397 oz mi -1 ). Further expected innovations will decrease emissions by

10 g km -1 (0.353 oz km -1 or 0.568 oz mi -1 ) by 2015; see Fig. 15.3 .
In 20 years, the number of cars on the world is expected to go from one to two
billion and the amount of energy used for transport will also double by 2050. The
goal of the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) is to protect
public health, minimize climate change and improve quality of life for billions of
people as the world's transportation infrastructure grows. ICCT consists of about
30 government officials and policymakers from the 10 largest motor vehicle
markets—which together account for 85% of the world's new car and truck
sales—and providing them and other interested parties with accurate information
about research, best practices, and technical resources for improving the efficiency
and environmental performance of cars, trucks and other vehicles, so ICCT helps
accelerate an urgently needed transition to sustainable transportation [ 20 ].

15.4 Climate Impact of Aviation

The environmental aim of flight profile, airspace and airway optimization is to
minimize climate changing emissions. However, up to now, flight altitudes and
routes are optimized according to the weather conditions, the traffic situation and
safety aspects, fuel consumption and costs, and not climate protection. Normally,
the formation of condensation trails and cirrus clouds can be avoided by not flying
through cloud and vapor saturated air masses. This is important for lessening
greenhouse effects. Altitude and route optimization is frequently restricted by
severe weather phenomenon. Aircraft adaptation to this phenomenon would bring
more penalties than gains [ 21 ].