What makes up car emissions

The hotter the day gets, the more emissions vehicles give off. Running loses are fumes given off by the gasoline when the car is running, while hot soak emissions occur after the engine has been turned off but is still warm. Whenever you put fuel in your vehicle, there are emissions that are given off into the atmosphere. If you watch closely as you fuel your vehicle, especially on hot days, you can see the emissions as they leave. These are the fumes given off after the engine has burned the gasoline in the course of operating the vehicle.

These are the emissions that are most evident and the ones that have been the subject of a variety of changes in laws over the years. The combustion process in a vehicle engine is actually designed to emit almost no emissions at all. However, the conditions that would allow no emissions exist only in a perfect world and are in stark contrast to the typical engine combustion process. In a perfect combustion scenario, oxygen in the atmosphere would combine with all of the hydrogen in the gasoline to create almost pure water.

The oxygen would then break down the carbon in the gasoline into carbon dioxide CO2 and leave the nitrogen in the air unaltered. Because of the significant amount of variables involved in the combustion process, it is impossible to get a perfect combustion scenario.

The reality is that the gasoline mixes with the atmosphere and produces hazardous emissions made from excess hydrocarbons added to the nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxides CO , carbon dioxides CO2 , and water. Please use our complaints and compliments online form to provide feedback about a service. Skip links and keyboard navigation Skip to content Skip to site navigation Skip to footer Use tab and cursor keys to move around the page more information.

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States may choose to follow either the federal or California standards. Smog pollution standards were initially different for cars and light duty trucks. In , the Tier 2 program established one set of standards for both cars and light duty trucks. Currently, Tier 3 standards are being phased in. The light duty smog regulations cover passenger vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating GVWR up to 10, pounds.

GVWR is different than just the weight of a vehicle. It also includes what the vehicle is safely able to carry i. This class includes small sedans e. Large pickup trucks and vans e. EPA first set greenhouse gas emission standards for vehicles in , which took effect in MY The standards were revised in , extending them beyond MY Learn more about the process here. EPA has lowered the amount of pollution light duty vehicles can emit multiple times since the first standards were set in Nearly all cars on the road today are held to either the current Tier 3 standards or the previous Tier 2 standards.

The oldest cars on the road model years or older are held to Tier 1 standards. The current Tier 3 standards are gradually being phased in starting in MY