16% of CO2 Emissions Come from Vehicles

11:18, September 27, 2022

Transition to environmental standard for car production does not save from climate change

The transition to the environmental standard Euro-5, which regulates the content of harmful substances in car exhaust gases, helps to reduce the poisonous substances dangerous to the human body, but does not reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. This is one of the reasons for the overall increase in carbon emissions and, consequently, climate change. Approximately 16% of the total amount of carbon dioxide that pollutes the atmosphere comes from vehicles: more than half of it from cars, the rest is produced by heavy vehicles. Konstantin Gribanov, a Leading Researcher at the UrFU Climate and Environmental Physics Laboratory, told about it at a press conference in TASS, dedicated to the World Car Free Day.

"The impact of transportation on climate change remains high, despite the transition to more eco-friendly cars. Emissions reduce the content of, for example, formaldehyde, which is dangerous for humans, but there is carbon dioxide, which is the main driver of climate problems. The best way out in this situation would therefore be to switch to cars with electric or hydrogen engines. At the same time we have to remember that the battery in an electric car can also be charged with electricity, which is obtained by burning fossil fuels, which is also harmful to the atmosphere. However, in any case public consciousness should be turned towards cleaner modes of transport," says Konstantin Gribanov.

According to him, if the number of motor vehicles does not decrease, then the only way to protect the atmosphere from emissions will be to use more serious methods and technologies. One of them is emission compensation, methods of which are being developed, for example, by the Ural Federal University Carbon Polygon. Scientists study methods of calculating how much carbon is sequestered by growing trees and they also develop recommendations for the use of wood in long-life products so that burning and rotting of wood does not release sequestered carbon back into the atmosphere.

"The easiest technology to use for compensation is to plant trees, and then take care to dispose of them properly, burying them along with the carbon they have been holding in them. If we develop this technology correctly, calculate how much carbon the trees are able to absorb, then we can not only compensate for our emissions, but even sequester more carbon than was emitted in a certain period of time," Gribanov adds.

The news article was translated by UrFU International Marketing Office
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