Nitrogen oxides (NOx) and hydrocarbons are released into the air from petrol motor vehicle exhaust. They are the major ingredients of photochemical smog.
New national fuel and vehicle emission standards mean emissions from petrol vehicles will continue to improve. As a result of these standards, despite increasing numbers of vehicles and kilometres travelled, in Sydney between 2000 and 2010 it is predicted that:
- Total hydrocarbons will fall by 16 per cent.
- NOx will fall by 37 per cent.
- Carbon monoxide will fall by 40 per cent.
- PM10 (particles 10 microns or less in diameter) will fall by 23 per cent.
Tips to minimise emissions
The way you drive can make a big difference to the amount of pollution your car produces and the amount of fuel you use:
- Drive cleaner cars- when buying a new car information on the fuel consumption and emissions performance can be found in the Green Vehicles Guide
- Keep your vehicle tuned to the manufacturer’s specifications.
- Keep up with your scheduled services.
- Don't warm-up your car – it wastes fuel and is unnecessary.
- Don't fill the petrol tank past the first click -expansion of the fuel can result in increased emissions.
- Remove excess weight from your vehicle (eg sporting equipment in the boot).
- Keep windows closed to minimise air drag and improve fuel efficiency.
- Keep track of fuel economy – a loss in economy usually means an increase in emissions.
- Try to reduce idling time – idling for over 30 seconds uses more petrol than it takes to restart the engine.
- Avoid driving in congested peak hour traffic.
- Minimise trips and car use (walk, cycle, carpool, use public transport).
- Plan trips so that you have one linked trip rather than multiple trips.
- Avoid short trips – until your car is at normal operating temperature, it will emit excess pollution.
- Travel at moderate, steady speeds. Driving smoothly and avoiding excessive acceleration and braking will save fuel and reduce emissions.
Emissions testing
The RTA offers free emissions testing for petrol and LPG cars so that you can compare the emissions performance of your car with the standard it had to meet when new.
Properly maintained vehicles will have emissions that are close to the new vehicle standard. High emissions may indicate a problem that a tune-up or repairs could fix, with resulting savings in petrol consumption.
The RTA has laboratory grade emissions testing equipment (accredited by the National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA)) at Botany and Penrith Motor Registries. If you would like your vehicle tested, please call the RTA Customer Service Centre on 137 AIR (137 247) for a booking. Testing normally takes 20 to 30 minutes.
These facilities are also used to test modified vehicles, smoky vehicles and LPG vehicles. Since the introduction of light vehicle testing in 1998 in excess of 15,760 tests have been completed.
The Second National In-Service Emissions Study (NISE 2)
The RTA was commissioned by the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts on the 21 June 2007 to oversee the main phase of NISE 2. The purpose of NISE 2 is to source and test a sample of light duty petrol vehicles representative of those on Australian roads. Emissions tests are focussed on vehicles manufactured from 1994 to 2007 and will measure, in particular, emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), nitrous oxides (NOx) as well as particulates.
NISE 2 will provide an accurate measurement of aggregate emissions and fuel consumption performance of the test vehicles, as well as providing a comparison between in-service emission levels of vehicles and the emission standards that they were designed to comply with when new. This project will provide a better understanding of the effect of tougher emission standards and will provide data to enable more accurate modelling of the likely effect of various vehicle emission management strategies.
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