We may be underestimating just how bad carbon-belching SUVs are for the climate – and for our health

Tue, 4 Oct 2022 11:18:05 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/we-may-be-underestimating-just-how-bad-carbon-belching-suvs-are-for-the-climate-and-for-our-health-190743>

"Australia’s love for fuel-hungry and fuel-inefficient SUVs is hampering our
ability to bring transport emissions down. SUVs make up half of all new car
sales last year, a National Transport Commission report revealed this week – up
from a quarter of all sales a decade ago.

As a result, the carbon emitted by all new cars sold in Australia dropped only
2% in 2021, the report found. Sales of battery electric vehicles tripled last
year, but still make up just 0.23% of all cars and light commercial vehicles on
our roads.

In internationally peer-reviewed research earlier this year, we measured the
emissions of five SUVs driving around Sydney, and our findings suggest the
situation may actually be worse than the new report finds.

The National Transport Commission’s numbers are based on the “New European
Drive Cycle” (NEDC) emissions test. Our research found the real-world emissions
of SUVs are, on average, about 30% higher than the NEDC values. This means we
are not reducing fleet average emissions by a few percent per year, but
actually probably increasing them by a few percent every year."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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