Gas Vs. Electric Cars

28 Pages 6977 Words

ABSTRACT Pollution from automobile emissions has become over the past few decades an issue of great concern. With a growing number of motor vehicles on our roads great concern has been attributed to the effects of these emissions to our health and to the environment. Several of the gases emitted, which when present in certain concentrations in our atmosphere can be toxic, therefor these ultimate concentrations must never be achieved. Strict legislation as well as sophisticated control technology has been implemented in the automotive industry in order to limit the pollution caused. These aspects of automotive pollution shall be further discussed in this paper. KEYWORDS: Pollution, Car Pollution, Automotive emissions, Emission gases, Catalysts 1. INTRODUCTION The relationship between air pollution and automobile exhaust emissions has been established largely due to studies done in California. At first the problem was believed to be a combination of smoke and fog, which was similar to problems faced in London since the middle ages. In Los Angeles the severity of air pollution has caused vegetation damage, eye and throat irritation, a decrease in visibility as well as several other effects. Automobile and truck exhausts contain substances which can adversely affect human health when exposed to concentrations above ambient level. Emissions from automobiles usually consist of carbon monoxides, oxides from sulfur and nitrogen, unburned hydrocarbons, smog, and particulate matter, which includes smoke. Pollutant concentration and time of exposure are the two main factors which affect human health. Air emissions from automobiles can also have an overall effect on the environmental quality in several ways. Emissions from nitrogen oxides (NOx) can contribute to the acid deposition problem, combinations of NOx and hydrocarbons can help produce ozone and photochemical oxidants and lastly pollutants from automobiles and ozone formation can contribute...