Alternative Fuels / Mobile Source Programs

For an overview of information on current alternative fuels/mobile source programs at the City, please go to the following links:

Background Information on Mobile Source (Vehicle) Emissions:

Vehicle emissions contribute to environmental problems such as smog, air toxics, and global warming.

The power to move a vehicle comes from burning fuel in an engine. Pollution from cars and trucks comes from by-products of this combustion process (exhaust) and from evaporation of the fuel itself. The major pollutants emitted directly from mobile sources or formed in the atmosphere from direct emissions include hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and ozone. These pollutants cause serious human health effects, such as damage to the heart and circulatory system and the lungs and respiratory system which can lead to discomfort, illness, cancer or death.

Emissions from an individual car are generally low, relative to the smokestack image many people associate with air pollution. But, in many cases, the personal automobile is the single greatest category of polluter, as emissions from millions of vehicles on the road add up. In the South Coast Air Basin of southern California, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) reports in the 1997 Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP) that total mobile source emissions account for approximately 60 percent of the hydrocarbons, more than 98 percent of carbon monoxide, and nearly 90 percent of the nitrogen oxide emissions for the 1993 emission inventory. Driving a car is probably a typical citizen’s most “polluting” daily activity.

Control of mobile source emissions includes efforts at the federal, state, and local levels. Strict automotive engine and fuel standards help to reduce pollution. Other laws and programs require or encourage the use of alternative fuel vehicles such as those that run on electricity, compressed or liquefied natural gas, propane, methanol, and fuel cells or bicycles.

Individual driving habits make a big difference in the amount of pollution a car produces. Three easy things you can do to help keep emissions as low as possible are: avoid unnecessary driving, maintain your car properly, and drive your car wisely. By combining these strategies, you can very effectively reduce the amount your car pollutes. And, there are additional benefits – your car will last longer and you will save money.

Adapted from U.S. EPA Fact Sheet OMS-5 and OMS-18 and SCAQMD 1997 AQMP.

For more information on EAD's Air Quality Division, click on the AQD homepage here, or to return to the Environmental Affairs Department's homepage, click EAD homepage.