Analyzing the CO2 Emissions and Fuel Consumption of Light-Duty Vehicles

Abstract

On-road emissions data for different types of vehicles are needed for estimating the CO2 emissions and fuel consumption which can affect the car-buying behavior of the citizens with the goal of helping to mitigate the consequences of global warming and achieving sustainable development. The Government of Canada presents a dataset that provides model-specific fuel consumption ratings and estimated carbon dioxide emissions for new lightduty vehicles for retail sale in Canada. Citizens can check the vehicles with the best fuel consumption ratings and lowest estimated annual fuel cost to save money and help to enhance the carbon emission issues. The data covers all the vehicle models from 1995 to 2022, including more than 1000 models from more than 50 companies. This paper focuses on the vehicle classes prevalent in the market (such as SUV, Compact, and Two-seater) to analyze their emissions factor and fuel consumption considering the average performance of the vehicle classes during previous years. The output shows that in different vehicle classes, the range of the carbon emissions varies significantly. The new vehicle models presented to the market do not necessarily have a better performance in sustainability aspects and car buyers should pay more attention to the scores of the vehicles considering various environmental indexes.