VietNam Society: emissions

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Testing center for vehicle emissions opens in Hanoi

Testing center for vehicle emissions opens in Hanoi A modern gas emission testing center was opened in Hanoi on Friday.

The center will test gas emissions from motorbikes, small cars, engines and test the evaporation of petrol in new vehicles. It’ll also give issue warnings on toxic content in gas from the vehicles.

AVL Group, the world’s largest independent company for vehicle emission test systems based in Austria, has equipped the center with modern equipment from Europe, enabling it to test up to 300 motorbikes and up to 200 cars a year.

The center, covering nearly 7,000 square meters, was built with more than ten million euros (US$14.09 million) in ODA (official development assistance) from the Austrian government.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Trinh Ngoc Giao, head of the Transport Ministry’s Registration Bureau, said the center will enable Vietnam to control gas emissions from vehicles according to European standards.

Vehicle makers and importers can test gas emissions for their vehicles at home instead of doing abroad and paying higher fees, Giao said.

Motorbikes are a major air polluter in Vietnam. Besides sulfur, benzene and aromatics in the fuel also cause health problems while metal and carbon dioxide contribute to the greenhouse effect.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Europe, Asia remain divided on carbon emissions

Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines have adopted important forest conservation measures

It’s no secret: international efforts to curb global warming continue to divide Asia and Europe.

European and Asian governments did not see eye to eye at the climate-change summit held in Copenhagen last December, and as preparations intensify for another international meeting on global warming – this time in Cancun, Mexico - at the end of the year, prospects for a credible and enforceable agreement remain elusive.

Europeans are demanding a legally binding global deal on curbing carbon dioxide emissions while key Asian nations, including China and India, oppose any move which they fear could slowdown economic growth and development.

Curbing greenhouse emissions is arguably the world’s key global governance challenge. And the results of the Copenhagen summit, namely a voluntary goal of limiting warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and a pledge from rich countries to give about 25 billion euros in aid from 2010 to 2012, are clearly not ambitious enough.

For all their differences and public spats, however, Asian and European governments face a shared challenge: keeping carbon emissions as low as possible to prevent further environmental damage while, at the same time, creating the growth necessary to raise living standards.

It is imperative therefore to shift the focus from confrontation on achieving climate change targets to cooperation on developing a low-carbon economy. Such collaboration could be based on crafting new economic, technological, and social systems of production and consumption which allow for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining economic and social development.

VietNam Society