i don't understand how my 50cc happy time that burns a liter of gas for every 50km pullutes more than a 2.5liter (50x the displacement) car that probably burns the same amount while parallel parking, can someone explain?
also 22million people riding ebikes means about the same number of batteries (realistically 3 or 4 batteries per person, maybe more), because they wear out every couple years and you gotta have the spares for a long trip, etc), consider how much pollution is created when making these batteries, creating the electricity to charge them, and then disposing of them when they wear out...
Sure. The HT engine puts out 80-100 times the emissions per cc of displacement than does the auto engine with emissions controls. This is in part due to the lack of emissions controls, and in part because the bike runs for at least twice as long per mile (at cruise.)
The CARBII/EPA emissions which our small engines must conform to are intended for weedeaters/generators, or other non-highway applications.
CARBII emissions are in units of grams per KW of output per hour. For two stroke engines, the limit is 50 grams (unburnt HC + NOx emissions) per KW Hour. (4-stroke engines are only 8 grams per KW per Hour!) A Happy time engine is about 3.5 HP per Grubee. Assuming a 3.5 HP (2.6KW) engine that just meets CARBII emissions and travels at a constant 30 MPH:
2.6KW * 50 grams equals 130 grams emissions per hour, for this motor.
You spread the 130 grams over 30 miles (1 hour at 30 MPH) and you
end up with 4.33 grams per mile emitted, for Hydrocarbons and nitrous oxides.
Now, 2-cycle Carbon Monoxide emissions are allowed to be about 500 grams per KW per hour. Following the same calculations as above for CO yields 43.3 grams of carbon monoxide per mile.
Per the EPA,
EPA said:
The current Federal certification standards for
exhaust emissions from cars are 0.25 gram per mile HC, 0.4 gram per mile NOx, and 3.4 grams per mile CO.
So, the hypothetical bike meeting CARBII standards emits 6.7 times more HC/NOx emissions per mile than the car which just meets the EPA emissions limit. (4.33/ (.25+.4))
In addition, the MB generates 12 times the carbon monoxide emissions per mile.
Even my much lower emission producing TLE43 two-stroke still emits about 3 times the HC/CO emissions as a car.
A 4-stroke motor, on the other hand, is about the same as an auto.