Do heavy-duty and passenger vehicle emissions standards reduce per capita emissions of oxides of nitrogen? Evidence from Europe.

ABSTRACT

Oxides of nitrogen are among the most dangerous emissions to human health and to the environment. In European nations, road transportation contributes to approximately 40% of emissions of oxides of nitrogen with the dominant share coming from passenger and freight transport. To help mitigate emissions of oxides of nitrogen, the European Union (EU) has implemented vehicular emissions standards. This paper studies the effect of EU vehicular emissions standards on per capita emissions of oxides of nitrogen in European nations during the period 2000 to 2017, both for on-road vehicular emissions and at the economy level. To do this, pollution is modelled as a byproduct of economic production. After controlling for economic growth, historical per capita levels of emissions of oxides of nitrogen, and a series of geographic and technological factors, it is determined that the vehicular emissions standards put in place by the EU decrease per capita levels of emissions of oxides of nitrogen. More precisely, reducing the heavy duty emissions standard by 1 g/kWh leads to as much as a 7% reduction in per capita on-road emissions of oxides of nitrogen. Reducing the passenger vehicle emissions standards for both diesel and gasoline engines enhances this effect, resulting in an even greater reduction in per capita emissions of oxides of nitrogen. These results further suggest that any rebound effect taking place is outweighed by the reduction in emissions of oxides of nitrogen from lowering emissions standards.