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B.C. Air Quality

Vehicle Emissions in British Columbia — Statistics

Vehicle emissions are also known as mobile emissions. The mobile emission sector includes emissions from:

  • on-road vehicles (any vehicle capable of being licensed for travel on public roads);
  • off-road vehicles (recreational, agricultural, construction, industrial, marine;)
  • aviation (all types of aircraft);
  • commercial marine activities; and
  • rail engines.

Emissions from on-road vehicles are estimated using a model called MOBILE6.2C that takes into account the fleet make-up (including the types and weights of vehicles, age, and engine technology), average usage (distance travelled, types of roads, average speeds and duty cycles), and meteorological data.

Emissions from the other sub-sectors are estimated using an average emission amount for a given activity. For example, a known amount of pollutants is emitted from a certain type of aircraft during one landing and takeoff cycle. Multiplying that number by the number of registered aircraft, and the number of landings and takeoffs in a year, results in the annual emissions for that type of aircraft.

The following table contains estimates of the mobile emissions from each transportation type in British Columbia for the year 2005 (in tonnes).

Mobile Emissions in British Columbia (2005)
Transportation Total PM PM10 PM2.5 SOx NOx VOCs CO NH3
Air Transportation 202 202 197 1,031 15,730 1,658 11,028 8
Heavy-duty diesel vehicles 802 802 741 559 30,510 1,201 6,381 80
Heavy-duty gasoline trucks 116 113 92 22 7,540 2,546 37,231 68
Light-duty diesel trucks 20 20 18 9 167 81 146 1
Light-duty diesel vehicles 20 20 19 9 165 59 215 1
Light-duty gasoline trucks 101 98 78 78 14,236 17,300 264,132 964
Light-duty gasoline vehicles 59 57 52 70 13,761 17,670 238,024 1,212
Marine Transportation 2,622 2,527 2,297 17,713 31,477 914 2,598 33
Motor cycles 3 3 2 0 199 633 2,497 2
Off-road use of diesel 2,594 2,594 2,516 1,300 29,602 3,001 14,524 21
Off-road use of gasoline 1,051 1,051 968 11 6,037 29,399 301,301 10
Rail Transportation 905 905 833 1,164 26,327 667 3,596 22
Tire wear & Brake lining 596 590 206          
TOTAL TRANSPORTATION 9,091 10,412 9,473 18,509 206,116 84,773 915,069 2,422

Follow the links below for graphs of mobile emissions in British Columbia:

Percentage of B.C. Air Pollutant Emissions from Mobile Sources: PM2.5: 15.7%, SOx: 22.6%, NOx: 63.3%, VOCs: 35.3% and CO: 65% Percentage of B.C. Air Pollutant Emissions from Mobile Sources

PM2.5 Emissions from Mobile Sources: Air: 2.5%, On-Road Gasoline: 2.9%, On-Road Diesel: 10%, Off-Road Diesel: 32.2%, Off-Road Gasoline: 12.4%, Marine: 29.4%, Rail: 10.7% PM2.5 Emissions from Mobile Sources

SOx Emissions from Mobile Sources: Air: 4.7%, On-Road Gasoline: 0.8%, On-Road Diesel: 2.6%, Off-Road Diesel: 5.9%, Off-Road Gasoline: 0.1%, Marine: 80.6%, Rail: 5.3% SOx Emissions from Mobile Sources

NOx Emissions from Mobile Sources: Air: 9%, On-Road Gasoline: 20.3%, On-Road Diesel: 17.5%, Off-Road Diesel: 16.8%, Off-Road Gasoline: 3.4%, Marine: 17.9%, Rail: 15% NOx Emissions from Mobile Sources

VOC Emissions from Mobile Sources: Air: 2.2%, On-Road Gasoline: 50.8%, On-Road Diesel: 1.8%, Off-Road Diesel: 4%, Off-Road Gasoline: 39.1%, Marine: 1.2%, Rail: 0.9% VOC Emissions from Mobile Sources

CO Emissions from Mobile Sources: Air: 1.3%, On-Road Gasoline: 61.5 On-Road Diesel: 0.8%, Off-Road Diesel: 1.6%, Off-Road Gasoline: 34.2%, Marine: 0.3%, Rail: 0.4% CO Emissions from Mobile Sources

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