Trucking, JIT, a major GHG contributor: Study

OTTAWA – Transport trucks are being blamed for much of this country’s smog and pollution, according to a new federal government study on the environment.

According to the Statistics Canada report, about a quarter of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2004 were produced from transport trucks and SUVs. “These two trends have put upward pressure on GHG emissions and limited the decline of smog-forming pollutants,” Statscan states.

“More than one-half of all nitrogen oxides, a quarter of volatile organic compounds and upwards of 17 percent of fine particulate matter came from transportation activities in 2004,” said the Human Activity and the Environment report. “The nation’s transportation activities are emitting less and less of these smog-forming pollutants as time goes on, thanks in large part to catalytic converters and cleaner burning fuels. But these emissions continue to be a concern because of their potential impact on human health and the environment.”

Just-in-time delivery, an important supply chain system relied on by major manufacturing industries such as auto, was cited as a major factor. “Just-in-time delivery helps companies compete by reducing the expense of carrying large inventories. However, it means that trucks are making more trips,” states the report.

Smog and pollution levels have increased with the number of vehicles on
the road. But this January, new trucks should all but eliminate NOx and PM

Growth in cross-border trade has also pushed up demand for trucking, says Statscan. Between 1990 and 2003, truck traffic across the Canada-US border grew five times faster than domestic traffic and about 32 percent more tractor-trailers were registered in 2005 than in 2000, according to the Canadian Vehicle Survey. The number of straight trucks was up 12 percent.

However, the study doesn’t seem to take into account the increasing number of EPA-mandated low emission engines that began hitting the highways in 2002. That year, the EPA required manufacturers to market trucks with engines that drastically reduced nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate emissions.

This coming January an even more stringent set of engine emission rules takes effect. On-highway diesels sold will be allowed to emit no more than 0.20 g/hp-hr (grams per horsepower-hour) of NOx, which is a whopping 90-percent drop from lowered 2002 levels. PM emissions will also be cut by a drastic 90 percent to 0.01 g/hp-hr. By 2010, yet another round of rules will require NOx levels to be almost non-existent.

Furthermore, this year sulfur levels in all diesel fuel was reduced from 500 parts per million (ppm) to 15 ppm.

No other commercial transport sector is subject to comparable engine and fuel emission rules.

Overall, transportation in general consumed nearly one-third (31%) of all energy used in Canada in 2004, the second largest user after industry. Greenhouse gases emitted by transportation include carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.

While transportation’s GHG emissions have been on the rise, its output of major air pollutants has declined over time. The introduction of catalytic converters and cleaner burning fuels have contributed to the decrease.
For example, emissions of nitrogen oxides from transportation were 19 percent lower in 2004 than they were in 1990. During the same period, emissions of carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds each dropped 37 percent.

Reductions in these emissions are welcome because they are all of concern for their potential impact on the environment and human health.

Canada’s minority Conservative government recently tabled sweeping environmental legislation to replace the controversial Kyoto Accord signed by the former Liberal government. The proposals have drawn harsh criticism by NDP MPs and environmental groups, who argue the measures don’t take the environment seriously enough.

The Conservatives would develop new regulations for vehicle fuel consumption by 2011, harmonize vehicle emissions standards with those of the U.S. over the next year and, and come up with measures to reduce GHG between 45 and 65 percent from 2003 levels in the next 50 years.