RSSDriving
What is driving?
Canadians use personal vehicles on a regular basis to drive to and from work, to run errands and to travel short and long distances for recreational purposes. This act of moving yourself or your family in a personal vehicle, such as a car, truck or van, is considered transportation in the residential sector.
In this section, the Centre for Energy defines transportation as domestic travel, that is, passenger travel by car, light truck and motorcycle.
How much energy is used?
The ability to move from place to place quickly and comfortably in a vehicle is a much used technology in Canadian homes. Transportation systems account for almost half of the energy used in an average Canadian home, which makes it the second largest energy expense for most homeowners after heating and cooling systems.
Transportation accounts for about 42 percent of the energy used in the residential sector. Of this, gasoline provides almost 98 per cent of the energy used. The other two per cent of energy used accounts for new technologies and hybrid vehicles which include the use of electricity, biomass energy and fuel cells.
New technologies
New technologies that mitigate potentially harmful emissions and reduce environmental footprint are available in the transportation industry. These technologies help reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with transportation.
When automobiles were first being developed, internal combustion engines, steam engines and electric motors competed for market share. Over time the internal combustion engine became the standard. In recent years, however, concern over the environment has led to the demand for cleaner, more fuel efficient vehicles.
The two most common options are clean diesel cars and hybrid cars. Diesel has long been considered a ‘dirty’ fuel, but recent advances have created clean diesel technology, a combination of cleaner diesel fuel, including biodiesel, more efficient engines and more effective emissions control equipment.
Hybrid cars combine two power sources. A variety of hybrid technology is currently available with the most common being internal combustion/electric. Basically, when the car is idling, the internal combustion engine shuts off. While the car is moving, a computer determines how much power the internal combustion engine will provide and how much, if any, the electric motor will provide. When the car is braking, the electric motor acts to slow the car and to recharge the battery.
Biofuels
By 2010 all fuel sold at the pump must have an average five per cent biofuel content. Biodiesel is derived from animal fats, waste vegetable oils, and crops such as soybean, canola, corn and sunflowers. It is most often blended with conventional diesel fuel to reduce vehicle emissions.
According to Natural Resources Canada, Office of Energy Efficiency, all cars built since the 1970s are fully compatible with up to 10 per cent ethanol (E-10) in the fuel mixture. North American manufacturers approve the use of E-10 blends and warrant their vehicles for this fuel. In terms of vehicle performance and fuel consumption, low-level ethanol fuel blends are indistinguishable from gasoline. Ethanol is also blended with gasoline because of its high oxygen content and octane properties.
There are currently about 1,400 retail outlets in Canada selling ethanol-blended gasoline, with ethanol sales totaling about 245 million litres per year. As well, several Canadian government departments fuel their fleets with E85 – a blend of 85 per cent ethanol and 15 per cent gasoline.
The Canadian Renewable Fuels Association advises that ethanol, like other alcohols, is an effective solvent for many compounds. Therefore, deposits which have built up over time with conventional gasoline may break free after using ethanol-blended gasoline. Filters are installed at gas pumps and blenders to remove such impurities. However, car fuel filters may need to be changed after the first few tanks of ethanol-blended gasoline. The ethanol blend will then maintain a clean system.
On a life cycle basis, Natural Resources Canada reports that the use of a litre of E-10 fuel instead of a litre of ordinary gasoline can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by three to four per cent if ethanol is produced from grain, or six to eight percent if it is produced from cellulose.
Gasoline has been targeted as a major contributor to climate change. According to Environment Canada, vehicle transportation accounted for 25 per cent of Canadian greenhouse gas emissions in 2000. Because ethanol contains 35 per cent oxygen, adding it to gasoline results in more complete fuel combustion and a subsequent reduction in harmful tailpipe emissions. Natural Resources Canada’s CANMET Technology Centre estimates that replacing a litre gasoline with a litre of biomass ethanol reduces the accumulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide (a harmful greenhouse gas) by up to 70 per cent.
The Canadian Renewable Fuels Association suggests that gasoline containing a 10 per cent ethanol blend will reduce smog-generating emissions like carbon monoxide, particulate matter and volatile organic compounds. Ethanol can also be used in place of harmful aromatics like benzene, a known carcinogen and the most toxic component of gasoline.
Reducing emissions
Most carbon dioxide is captured from large final emitters such as coal or natural gas fired power plants, oil and natural gas processing facilities, chemical and fertilizer plants and other industrial users of hydrocarbon fuels such as plants which produce hydrogen for use in upgrading. However, in the residential sector, transportation accounts for the majority of greenhouse has emissions.
Approximately 35 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions are due to transportation.
Because greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have a significant impact on climate change, reducing those emissions is a necessary step toward curbing global warming. The amount of GHGs released into the atmosphere depends upon the type of fossil fuel consumed.
| Pollutant | Natural Gas | Oil | Coal |
| (kilograms per thousand GJ energy produced) | |||
| Carbon Dioxide | 50,324 | 70,539 | 89,464 |
| Carbon Monoxide | 17 | 14 | 89 |
| Nitrogen Oxides | 40 | 193 | 197 |
| Sulphur Dioxide | 0 | 489 | 1,114 |
| Particulates | 3 | 36 | 1,180 |
| Mercury | 0.000 | 0.003 | 0.007 |
Due to the environmental cost and the monetary cost of driving domestic vehicles, many people are searching for ways to become more energy efficient when driving.
