ࡱ> MOLb +-jbjb $:+'```````     H:bdddddd,R`b``bbb``bbtD,````bbb``b< i? ^bb0bbbb`$    Gas Scooters Big Polluters Excerpts from:  HYPERLINK "http://daily.sightline.org/daily_score/archive/2008/10/06/scooter-ful" http://daily.sightline.org/daily_score/archive/2008/10/06/scooter-ful an estimated one-third of the worlds motorized vehicles are two-wheelers. Motor-scooter Pros: Motor scooters are impressively fuel efficient. Some gasoline-powered ones can go more than 100 miles per gallon. Their carbon footprints, while larger than bicycles, are small. Theyre affordable: imported Chinese models cost less than $1,000 online (although some of these models dont comply with air-quality rules in North America), and even the category-leading brands such as Vespa sell some of their models for under $4,000. Motor-scooter Cons: As you probably know, motorized two-wheelers are more dangerous for their passengers than just about any other form of personal transportation. Lots more dangerous. Id only want to ride one slowly and away from heavy trafficsort of like I ride my bicycle. What you may not know is that motor scooters, like motorcycles, are dramatically worse for local air quality than passenger cars, pick-ups, and SUVs. The problem is that pollution-control equipment is hard to fit on a small vehicle. The Idaho Statesman examined the issue in its August 8 article Is your scooter a polluter? (No link; its behind the Statesmans pay wall.) The cleanest scooter is still dirtier than a car," said John Swanton, air pollution specialist with the California Air Resources Board. Some motorcycles emit as much hydrocarbon in 10 miles as a car driven 850 miles, according to Environmental Protection Agency studies. Car engines use much more fuel and create more pollution than motorcycle engines, but sophisticated emission-control devices prevent much of a car's emissions from getting into the air, said Wayne Elson, environmental protection specialist with the EPA's Seattle office. When it comes to reducing fuel consumption and improving global climate conditions, a motorcycle or scooter is still the better choice, Swanton said. But when it comes to reducing smog and improving local air quality, "the Hummer is better than a small scooter because it has more sophisticated emission controls," he said. "Its emissions are pretty low relative to a motorcycle." Motorcycles and scooters that meet EPA emission standards are still more polluting than cars because the federal emission standards are more lenient for motorcycles. The maximum emission standard for motorcycle hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide is 2.25 grams per mile, compared with .098 for cars, meaning a motorcycle can emit 23 times more ozone-forming pollutants as a car does and still meet EPA standards. The carbon monoxide standard for motorcycles is about six times higher than a car's standard. EPAs air quality rules for new motorcycles and motor scooters are scheduled to tighten in 2010, but theyll remain far laxer than are the rules for four-wheelers. Thats why I dont so much want a motor scooter. For rural riding, where air quality isnt an issue, a scooter might be fine. But for city travel? I dont want the karma of six or twenty-three cars worth of hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, or carbon monoxide. Nope, I dont want a gasoline-powered motor scooter. Electric ones might be a different story, which is why I invited Jay to bring his bike over and show it off. Electric motor scooters cause no degradation of local air. Because of their smaller mass, their range and recharge speeds are much better than those of electric cars, which I worried about while test-driving a plug-in hybrid last fall. Electric scooters come in a variety of sizes and designs, but the Vectrix is one thats powerful enough to carry two. It can run at highway speeds (faster than Id want to go) and has a 50-mile range between charges The electric scooter is also a big winner for the climate, with emissions about a tenth as great as driving a Prius, and about a thirtieth as great as driving an SUV. I estimate that a Vectrix operating in Cascadia generates about 1/20th of a pound of CO2 per mileall of it coming from the power plants that charge its batteries. Looking at Sightlines chart of greenhouse impacts of different vehicles, I see that the Vectrix has a bigger carbon footprint than a bicycle. But its still exceptionally clean. Of course, electric scooters have disadvantages as well. Like all electric vehicles, their range is a fraction of liquid-fueled vehicles ranges. Three hours is a lot longer to refuel than the minute or so it takes to refill the tank of a gasoline scooter. Unlike gas scooters, electric ones employ new, glitch-prone technology, as you can see by skimming this website where owners of Vectrixes exchange technical tips. Last but not least, electric scooters cost more up front: about $8,800 for a new Vectrix, plus taxes and registration (plus helmets and protective clothing). The cost per mile, if you believe Vectrixs own numbers, is attractive: its cheaper than a gas scooter overall. Yep, if I had that kind of money lying aroundor access to an innovative energy-conservation loanI might just buy one. From Sacramento Transportation Management Association website  HYPERLINK "http://www.sacramento-tma.org/nwslttr_AirQuality.htm" http://www.sacramento-tma.org/nwslttr_AirQuality.htm The TMA is often asked if we advocate motor scooters (which can get up to 115 mpg) as a feasible alternative mode of transportation in the Sacramento area Motorcycles and emissions: The surprising facts, summarized from an article by Susan Carpenter, THROTTLE JOCKEY June 2008 in the Los Angeles Times Long story short: Motorcycles, even small ones, are more polluting than Hummers. . In fact, the average motorbike is about 10 times more polluting per mile than a passenger car, light truck or SUV, according to a California Air Resources Board comparison of emissions-compliant vehicles. If you want to make a difference, consider an electric two-wheeler for your next bike or a gas-powered model with fuel injection and a 3-way catalytic converter. A surprising level of emissions spew from on-road motorcycles and scooters. In California, such bikes make up 3.6% of registered vehicles and 1% of vehicle miles traveled, yet they account for 10% of passenger vehicles' smog-forming emissions in the state Here's a simplified explanation of the pollutants a gas-powered motorbike emits and why. Motorcycles and scooters are, on average, about twice as fuel efficient as cars. Compact and lightweight, their internal-combustion engines do a better job of converting fuel into energy that makes the vehicle move. But extracting more energy from the fuel has a downside. It produces greater amounts of a smog-forming emission called oxides of nitrogen. Oxides of nitrogen are one of three pollutants the Environmental Protection Agency and the Air Resources Board measure to see whether vehicles meet acceptable emissions levels and can be sold legally. Smog-forming hydrocarbons -- unburned compounds in fuel that escape through the tailpipe, fuel lines and gas tank -- are also measured, as is carbon monoxide. Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, isn't measured by either agency, but motorcycles are generally better than other vehicles in this regard since they use less fuel per mile. As with other passenger vehicles, there are technologies to offset motorcycle emissions, such as catalytic converters, but those technologies tend to be too big, too heavy or too hot to fit on a motorcycle and work as effectively as similar systems on larger, enclosed vehicles that have more space to accommodate them. That's why the EPA and the air board are more lenient on bikes than they are on other passenger vehicles. Emissions standards for motorcycles are already more forgiving than they are for cars, light trucks and SUVs. Not only are motorcycles allowed to emit more than cars, they are also tested at lower speeds, which pollutes less. And motorcycle manufacturers only have to ensure that their vehicles of 179 cc and above meet governmental emissions criteria for the first 18,600 miles of a bike's life, compared with 150,000 miles for cars. Five years ago, the EPA tightened its emissions standards for on-road motorcycles with a two-tier system, the first of which tightened requirements for the 2006 model year. The second, even stricter phase kicks in for 2010. California is the only state in the country with its own emissions standards, which are the same as the EPA standards except they've been fast-tracked to kick in two years earlier. In effect, the stricter standard has already been met for many of the on-highway motorcycles on the market because any 2008 model year bike that is sold in California already meets the EPA standard for 2010. Right now, there are no plans for the air board or the EPA to further tighten motorcycle emissions requirements because: * Motorcycles account for such a small portion of vehicle miles traveled. * There haven't been enough advances in motorcycle emissions technologies to enable further pollution reduction to any significant degree. * There are other, even bigger polluters to deal with, such as diesel trucks, construction equipment and non-emissions-compliant products from China. Noncompliant Chinese vehicles have become such a pollution issue in California, in fact, that the Air Resources Board has just added a new motorcycle emissions facility at its Haagen-Smit Lab in El Monte to test them. The board estimates as many as 20,000 all-terrain vehicles, dirt bikes and scooters are shipped into California from China each month, many of them with emissions that are at least 10 times higher than the state's requirements.  HYPERLINK "http://www.latimes.com/classified/automotive/highway1/la-hy-throttle11-2008jun11,0,3268856.story" http://www.latimes.com/classified/automotive/highway1/la-hy-throttle11-2008jun11,0,3268856.story ./*?Z q >Z!n6`abdOW,X,,񻴻߭ˢh;hpTU5jhpTUUjh;hpTUU h;hpTU hpTUhpTUhoIhpTU5hpTUhpTU5h>ShpTU0JjhpTUU hoIhpTUjhoIhpTUUhpTUhoIhpTU5CJ 5 l m 56!"!"gdpTU+-mnZ[5645abcNO &dPgdpTUlm ""$$F&G&''('((')()r)s)))**T,V,W,+- &dPgdpTU,,,(-)-*-+- h;hpTUhpTUh>ShpTU0Jjh;hpTUUjhpTUU":ppTU/ =!"#$%DyK yK http://daily.sightline.org/daily_score/archive/2008/10/06/scooter-fulDyK yK jhttp://www.sacramento-tma.org/nwslttr_AirQuality.htmDyK ahttp://www.latimes.com/classified/automotive/highway1/la-hy-throttle11-2008jun11,0,3268856.storyyK http://www.latimes.com/classified/automotive/highway1/la-hy-throttle11-2008jun11,0,3268856.story<@< NormalCJaJmH sH tH DA@D Default Paragraph FontRiR  Table Normal4 l4a (k(No List0U@0 oI Hyperlink>*B*+':!z z z z dC+'T>lm56! " ! 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