Breathing Clean : Considering the Switch to Natural Gas Buses

In response to emerging epidemiological evidence of the toxicity of diesel vehicular emissions, there is growing interest in substituting conventional diesel with much cleaner natural gas in cities where ambient concentrations of particulate matter are markedly higher than what is internationally considered acceptable. This paper compares the performance of natural gas and conventional diesel buses, and outlines the barriers to the adoption of natural gas buses in developing countries. In the absence of emissions standards that effectively require natural gas, natural gas-fueled buses are unlikely to be adopted because they are more expensive to operate relative to diesel buses. The social case for replacing diesel with natural gas a fuel for buses rests on environmental grounds. If a local government decides that the reduction in air pollution associated with the substitution of conventional diesel with natural gas for use in buses is worth the cost, then it needs to adopt policies to encourage the switch to natural gas. These might include emissions standards for buses, or fuel and vehicle taxes that reflect marginal social costs. The contribution of exhaust emissions from buses to the ambient concentrations of harmful pollutants needs to be quantified so that associated health damage costs can be estimated.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Kojima, Masami
Language:	English en_US
Published:	Washington, DC: World Bank 2001-10
Subjects:	ADVANCED VEHICLE, AIR POLLUTION, AIR QUALITY IMPROVEMENTS, AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT, AIR RESOURCES, AIRBORNE PARTICLES, AIRBORNE TOXINS, ALTERNATIVE FUELS, AMBIENT AIR, AMBIENT AIR QUALITY, AMBIENT CONCENTRATIONS, ATMOSPHERE, ATMOSPHERIC GASES, AUTOMOTIVE DIESEL, BIOMASS, BLACK SMOKE, BUS FLEET, BUS INDUSTRY, BUS OPERATORS, CARBON, CARBON DIOXIDE, CHEMICAL COMPOSITION, CHOICE OF FUEL, CLEAN DIESEL, CLEAN WATER, COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS, COMPRESSION IGNITION, CONSTRUCTION, CONVENTIONAL DIESELS, DIESEL, DIESEL EMISSION STANDARDS, DIESEL EMISSIONS, DIESEL ENGINES, DIESEL PARTICULATE, DIESEL PARTICULATE EMISSIONS, DIESEL POWER, DIESEL VEHICLES, DISTRIBUTION PIPELINES, DUAL-FUEL BUSES, EMISSION REDUCTIONS, EMISSIONS, EMISSIONS REDUCTION, ENGINE, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, EXHAUST EMISSIONS, FINE PARTICLES, FOREST MANAGEMENT, FUEL, FUEL COMPOSITION, FUEL COST, FUEL COST SAVINGS, FUEL ECONOMY, FUEL OIL, FUEL PRICE, FUEL PRICES, FUEL PRICING, FUEL QUALITY, FUEL SWITCHING, FUEL TAX, FUEL TAXATION, GAS, GAS CYLINDERS, GAS DISTRIBUTION, GAS ENGINES, GAS INDUSTRY, GAS VEHICLES, GASEOUS FUEL, GASEOUS FUELS, GASOLINE, GASOLINE CAR, GASOLINE ENGINES, GASOLINE VEHICLES, GREENHOUSE, GREENHOUSE GAS, GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSION, GROSS EMITTERS, GROUNDWATER, HEAVY-DUTY VEHICLES, HIGH LEVELS, HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS, HYDROCARBONS, INTERNATIONAL NATURAL GAS, LIGHT-DUTY VEHICLES, LIQUID FUELS, LOWER EMISSIONS, METHANE, MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE, NATURAL GAS, NATURAL GAS BUS, NATURAL GAS BUSES, NATURAL GAS INDUSTRY, NATURAL GAS PIPELINE, NATURAL GAS VEHICLE, OCTANE, OIL, OXIDES OF NITROGEN, OXIDES OF SULFUR, OZONE, OZONE PRECURSOR, PARTICLE EMISSIONS, PARTICULATE EMISSIONS, PARTICULATE MATTER, PIPELINES, POLLUTANTS, POLLUTION CONTROL, POWER GENERATION, POWER PLANTS, PUBLIC HEALTH, PUBLIC TRANSPORT, REFINERY, TRAFFIC, TRANSPORT FUEL, TRANSPORT SECTOR, URBAN AREAS, VEHICLE EMISSIONS, VEHICLE EXHAUST,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/10/1652164/breathing-clean-considering-switch-natural-gas-buses https://hdl.handle.net/10986/14033
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