The global community's effort to curb the global warming problem is increasing with automakers doing their share. Automobiles produce the most greenhouse gas which is the main contributor to global warming. Thus automakers are looking for ways to produce vehicles which produces little or no greenhouse gas at all.
Toyota is leading the charge with the Prius. The said model is a gas-electric hybrid meaning it has an internal combustion engine and an electric motor. These provide the power needed by the car.
Although gas-electric hybrid vehicles produce very little greenhouse gas due to the fact that it does not need to burn petroleum fuel all the time, it is still not the perfect solution to cutting down greenhouse gas production. Automakers are also experimenting with other technology like cleaner diesel engines.
Today, European automakers are the ones more focused on the development of clean diesel engines. Volkswagen went as far as launching the Dieselution Tour to promote diesel-engined vehicles to American consumers. The said tour aims to educate people of the virtues of new diesel engines.
In Beijing though, the government is still implementing its ban on light diesel vehicles. The Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau is the responsible department for the ban and the position of the bureau is not favorable to automakers manufacturing diesel vehicles.
Du Shaozhong, deputy director of the bureau pointed out diesel engines produces more greenhouse gas than vehicles equipped with gasoline engines. "Currently pollutants produced by diesel vehicles pose more serious environmental problems in Beijing than those produced by gasoline engine vehicles," said the government official.
Diesel engines come with bad reputations because the diesel engines of the 70s produced black soot for emission and are very noisy during operation. The emission of earlier diesel engines indeed poses a stronger threat than gasoline engine exhaust. Apparently, the Chinese government is still affected by the said facts and of course the result of their studies on diesel engines.
The Chinese bureau pointed out that the ban on diesel vehicles in Beijing will only be lifted once diesel engines have become as clean as gasoline engines. "We will consider removing the ban once light diesel vehicles can meet the same emission standards as light petrol vehicles," said Du.
"About one third of the major pollutants in Beijing's air -- nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and inhalant particulate matter -- come from vehicle exhaust emissions. Tougher standards will help relieve the situation," continued Du according to The Auto Channel. With this stance, it would take more than an to lift the ban on diesel engines in Beijing.
