A 15 per cent drop in average greenhouse gas emissions of new car models in Canada over the past 10 years is due mainly to regulatory restrictions and consumer demand, said David Worts, Executive Director of the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association of Canada. The data on vehicle emissions is provided by Natural Resources Canada, and shows a steady decline over the time period.
According to Worts, Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq’s recent announcement of new emissions standards for Canada, which will bring the nation’s regulations closer to those of the US, is par for the course. Canadian regulations have usually tended to align with the American ones, he added. For car manufacturers, that means lowering emissions even further.
“The standards that are being set in Washington are getting a lot tougher,” he said. “And so that’s, I think, what’s driving a lot of the reduction.”
Both the newly announced and current regulations are implemented in steps, Worts explained. This gives manufacturers time to adapt, and helps explains the steady decrease in emissions over the past 10 years.
While Environment Canada says lowering greenhouse gas emissions is the goal of the new regulations, Carleton University professor John Stone, co-author of the 2014 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report on climate change, cautions that better vehicle fuel economy may not result in much change in total emissions.
“When you make a machine more efficient, you actually tend to use it more,” said Stone. “So we have more efficient cars, but we tend to drive them further.”
This is supported by data from Environment Canada which shows that the nation’s total greenhouse gas emissions from transportation went down by less than two per cent from 2005 to 2012. Average new car emissions fell by over nine per cent during the same period.
Consumer demand also plays a role in the lowering of emission levels, said Worts. Surveys have shown that consumers are very interested in environmentally friendly vehicles, but it’s a tough balancing act between cost and fuel economy.
“The question is always what are the consumers willing to pay for,” he said. “Because a lot of these technologies, especially new technologies, are pretty expensive, consumers have shown some reluctance to pay a lot more for vehicles.”
Stephan Schott, Carleton professor and graduate supervisor of sustainable energy policy, believes increased consumer demand for more fuel efficient cars is partially driven by the perception that it’s cool.
“Celebrities, for example, now want to show that they are environmentally conscious,” said Schott. “So they all of sudden don’t drive Hummers anymore, but they drive hybrids or electric vehicles. So then people say, ‘Oh wow, that’s cool, that’s the new cool,’ and they copy that kind of behaviour.”
With regulations only set to get more restrictive in the future, Worts said automotive companies are increasingly focused on greener technologies.
“There’s various technologies that are being researched pretty heavily,” he said. “From hybrid gas electric technology, to pure electrics, to plug in hybrids.”
The biggest hurdle for these new innovations is cost and infrastructure. Driving an electric car is only feasible if you are travelling short distances, due to the lack of places to recharge, said Worts. Urban areas, where driving distances tend to be shorter and more regular, are really the only places they are feasible right now, he added. This worries manufacturers.
“Companies are being cautious, I think, in what they bring to the market and how they bring it to market,” said Worts. “Not everybody can afford a Tesla.”
Details of the new emissions regulations are set to published in parts one and two of the Canada Gazette, which will be available on Sept. 27 and Oct. 8 respectively.