Motorcycle emissions and fuel consumption in urban and rural driving conditions

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 312; no. 1; pp. 113 - 122
• Main Authors: Chen, K.S, Wang, W.C, Chen, H.M, Lin, C.F, Hsu, H.C, Kao, J.H, Hu, M.T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier B.V 01.08.2003; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Air Pollutants - analysis; Applied sciences; Atmospheric pollution; Automobile Driving; Exact sciences and technology; Fuel consumption; Humans; Motor Vehicles; Motorcycle emission factors; On-road driving cycle; Pollution; Pollution sources. Measurement results; Rural Population; Transports; Urban Population; Vehicle Emissions - analysis; Asia; Taiwan; On-road driving cycle; Motorcycle emission factors; Fuel consumption; Nitrogen oxide; Hydrocarbon; Carbon dioxide; Emission content; Motor cycle; Motor vehicle; Urban area; Pollutant emission; Rural area; Air pollution; Exhaust gas; Road traffic; Carbon monoxide; Motor fuel consumption; Comparative study
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/S0048-9697(03)00196-7

This work reports sampling of motorcycle on-road driving cycles in actual urban and rural environments and the development of representative driving cycles using the principle of least total variance in individual regions. Based on the representative driving cycles in individual regions, emission factors for carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), nitrogen oxides (NO x =NO+NO 2) and carbon dioxide (CO 2), as well as fuel consumption, were determined using a chassis dynamometer. The measurement results show that the representative driving cycles are almost identical in the three largest cities in Taiwan, but they differ significantly from the rural driving cycle. Irrespective of driving conditions, emission factors differ insignificantly between the urban and rural regions at a 95% confidence level. However, the fuel consumption in urban centers is approximately 30% higher than in the rural regions, with driving conditions in the former usually poor compared to the latter. Two-stroke motorcycles generally have considerably higher HC emissions and quite lower NO x emissions than those of four-stroke motorcycles. Comparisons with other studies suggest that factors such as road characteristics, traffic volume, vehicle type, driving conditions and driver behavior may affect motorcycle emission levels in real traffic situations.