The green credential of scooters, widely promoted as an environmentally-friendly alternative mode of transport has called into question.
According to Fox News, scooters do not have the sophisticated emissions control that most modern cars do and despite their ability to get double the mileage of a car and triple of a SUV.
“Because of the size and design of scooters, you can’t have the catalytic converters and emission controls that you can in a car,” the EPA’s Cathy Milbourn told Fox News. “Scooters produce fewer greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), but produce significantly more hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).”
According to current EPA standards, cars are allowed to emit 0.16 grams of HC and NOx per mile. Scooters can get away with emitting 1.3 grams per mile — more than eight times the amount of cars.
Although scooters would reduce CO2 emissions, they could cause ground-level ozone and smog. Some hydrocarbons are carcinogenic while ozone gases are linked to cardio-vascular diseases.
