Abstract
A large proportion of local pollutants originating from the road transport sector is generated during the so-called cold-start phase of driving, that is, the first few minutes of driving after a car has stood inactive for several hours. Drawing on data from the German Mobility Panel (MOP), this paper analyzes the factors that affect the frequency of cold starts, approximated here by the number of car tours that a household takes over the course of a week. Based on fixed-effects panel estimations, we find a negative and statistically significant effect of fuel prices on the number of tours and, hence, cold starts. Using our estimates to explore the spatial implications arising from fuel price increases stipulated under Germany’s Climate Programme 2030, we find substantial impacts on the number of avoided tours even for modest fuel price increases of 20 cents per liter, particularly in urban areas. This outcome lends support to using carbon pricing as a means to improve both global climate and local air quality, pointing to a co-benefit of climate policy.
Highlights
Local air pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), and other nonmethane organic gases (NMOG), mainly originate from the road transport sector and pose a major health hazard, accounting for over 70,000 premature deaths in Germany annually (EEA, 2019, p. 68)
Drawing on data from the German Mobility Panel (MOP), this paper analyzes the factors that affect the frequency of cold starts, approximated here by the number of car tours that a household takes over the course of a week
While global pollutants from vehicles have dropped in recent years, in part owing to regulatory limits on CO2 (Frondel et al, 2011), cold starts continue to be an important source of local pollutants, including particulate matter (PM), uncombusted hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) (Reiter and Kockelman, 2016)
Summary
Local air pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), and other nonmethane organic gases (NMOG), mainly originate from the road transport sector and pose a major health hazard, accounting for over 70,000 premature deaths in Germany annually (EEA, 2019, p. 68). The frequency with which motorists initiate a cold start has important implications for air quality and human health, in urban areas This is all the more relevant given that some 50% of car trips in the EU are shorter than five kilometers (Hooftman et al, 2018). Based on fixed-effects panel estimations, we find a negative and statistically significant effect of fuel prices on the number of tours One implication of these results is that fuel taxes will have heterogenous distributional consequences across geography owing to the fact that car transport has higher external costs in urban settings, where the density of cars is high (Creutzig et al, 2020).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
