Vehicle emissions
You are viewing the archived 2015 report.
Key finding
Emissions from motor vehicles are a function of many factors, but most importantly total travel, fleet mix and emission control technology and driving behaviour.
Motor vehicles are a major source of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions around the world. The close proximity of motor vehicles to the general population makes this a particularly relevant source from an exposure and health perspective.
Emission estimates have been generated for 226 vehicle classes, 116 pollutants and different types of emissions (hot running, cold start, evaporative, non-exhaust), using the Computer Programme to calculate Emissions from Road Transport (COPERT) Australia software.
Ambient air pollution is a complex and dynamic mixture of thousands of specific air pollutants in the outdoor air, which can occur in gaseous or particulate form. Following is the total annual emission estimates for selected air pollutants for Queensland in 2010:
- CO: 159,239 tonne/annum
- VOCs: 20,844 tonne/annum
- NOx: 68,141 tonne/annum
- PM2.5: 2,546 tonne/annum
- PM10: 3,108 tonne/annum
- Benzene: 750 tonne/annum
- Toluene: 1,540 tonne/annum
- Xylenes: 1,595 tonne/annum
- Formaldehyde: 390 tonne/annum
- Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (Benzo(a)pyrene-equivalents): 0.3 tonne/annum
More information:
Indicator: Annual vehicle emissions
Estimate of annual vehicle emissions for selected air pollutants from the 2010 base year.