Carbon Footprints in Ecuador: Case of Riobamba city’s Bus Stations

Abstract

Analysis of carbon footprint and its environmental impact remains one of the most critical topics in air pollution research. Likewise, the effect of the transportation sector to emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases is a growing concern in developing countries, but, it is more complicated in undeveloped countries because of the lousy quality of fuels, exhaust technology and non-regulations of government control agencies. In the city of Riobamba, Ecuador, the growing population associated with the massive use of public transportation have all resulted in significant air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, emissions were obtained with the Bacharach ECA 450 analyzer and used to calculate the emission factor of carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide in kg/TJ. It was found that value of the emission factor of CO2 was 57690, 13 kg CO2/TJ. All Riobamba city bus stations contribute significantly to the carbon footprint. The factors that influenced the increase in the generation of greenhouse gases were: technology, the operation of buses and characteristics of fuel (diesel).