Study the current status of emissions from motorbikes in Hanoi and propose control solutions

Abstract

The study randomly measured the emissions of 5,240 motorbikes that have been in use from 1966 until now. The results indicate that motorbikes begin to show a trend of exceeding allowable emission limits (TCVN 6438:2018) after 7 years of use, with motorbikes older than 12 years exceeding standards by up to 51% based on at least one parameter, either CO or volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The study also shows that vehicle maintenance not only has a great significance for reducing pollutant emissions when the percentage of vehicles exceeding the standard is reduced from 40.28 to 10.38%, but also reduces about 7% of the vehicle's fuel consumption. It was found that most vehicle owners (86%) supported the application of motorcycle emission control solutions with a frequency of once a year and a cost of 30,000-50,000 VND per measurement. 55% supported the stopping use of motorbikes that exceed emission standards. Overall, the costs of controlling motorbike emissions can be offset by fuel savings due to routine inspection and maintenance. The greater value when applying this policy is expected to reduce the amount of CO and VOCs emitted into the environment by 35.6-40.0% reduction compared to current emissions, and 48.4-58.1% reduction when no reductions were implemented, respectively.