Stats Canada studyHere is an article on a recent Stats Canada Study on the contribution of transportation to pollution in Canada. This type of info would bode well for companies like Azure to use in their marketing to gov't and industry, particularly with respect to adoption incentives that gov't could initiate. After all this was a gov't funded study. Azure should be sticking this study in the face of Rona Ambrose (federal environment minister) at every oppportunity. The full text of the study can be found on the Government of Canada site under Stats Canada studies.
"Canadians more dependent on their cars despite focus on pollution
Carly Weeks
CanWest News Service
Thursday, November 09, 2006
CREDIT: Larry Wong/Edmonton Journal
A typical rush-hour scene on Whitemud Drive.
OTTAWA -- Canadians are more attached to their gas guzzling, polluting cars today than in the 1950s, despite the fact driving and other forms of transportation are to blame for more than one-quarter of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions, reveals a new Statistics Canada study.
The study shows that various modes of transportation are a major source of pollutants that cause poor air quality in urban areas. In 2004, transportation created more than 25 per cent of the country’s harmful greenhouse gas emissions and caused emissions to grow nearly 30 per cent from 1990 to 2004.
For instance, more than 50 per cent of all harmful nitrogen oxides and one-quarter of volatile organic compounds were created by various modes of transportation in Canada in 2004, the study shows.
The study's release coincides with a United Nations conference on climate change, which Environment Minister Rona Ambrose will arrive at early next week. Despite the worldwide attention on the damaging effects of vehicles and other transportation modes, the study shows Canadians are more dependent on their cars today than they were in the 1950s.
While there were nearly five people for every registered vehicle in 1951, that dropped to less than two people per vehicle in the mid-1980s and has remained at that level ever since, according to Statistics Canada.
However, the study also shows the release of some of the most damaging pollutants has declined, thanks to the introduction of cleaner burning fuels and catalytic converters. Nitrogen oxide emissions dropped nearly 20 per cent from 1990 to 2004, while carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds -- key components of smog -- each dropped nearly 40 per cent in the same time.
Not surprisingly, tractor-trailers and other large vehicles created more than one-quarter of transportation’s nitrogen oxide emissions in 2004. Meanwhile, SUVs, vans and pickup trucks were to blame for nearly one-third of carbon monoxide emissions created by transportation.
While gas-guzzling SUVs and other forms of transportation may emit fewer harmful pollutants than they were several years ago, the emissions are still a concern because of their potential harm on the environment and human health, according to Statistics Canada.
Trucking is on the rise, thanks to the demand for fast delivery from freight services, according to the study. That, combined with the increased use of SUVs, vans and pickups to transport people are curbing the decline of smog-forming pollutants and adding to the problem of greenhouse gas emissions, says Statistics Canada.
There were about 30 per cent more registered tractor trailers in 2005 compared to 2000, according to Statistics Canada."