Environmental Impact of Automobile Manufacturing - Research Paper Example

Environmental Impact of Automobile Manufacturing Introduction In current scenario human activities are a major reason behind climate change. This is most probably the greatest challenge which is being faced by wider society. Automobile manufacturers located across the globe are trying to design innovative solution for this challenge. The main focus of this study is to outline sustainable business development approach. Business operations of a firm can have serious environmental impact. It is important for firms to adopt sustainable business practices so as to lessen impact. Green or sustainable business has minimum impact on local or global environment. This kind of business has less impact on environment, economy, community or society. Sustainable business adopts all possible measures in order to meet the aspect of triple bottom line. Human rights and environmental policies are well maintained by sustainable business. A business can be stated as sustainable or green only if it is able to implement sustainability principles, supplies products or services that are environmental friendly, it is expected to be greener in comparison to traditional competition, and has a strong commitment towards environmental policies. Green activities is not only associated with reducing consumption of natural resources but it is simultaneously reflected in other processes, manufacturing activities and product formation. Over the years automobiles has been denoted as a major source that creates environmental pollution. There are efforts made by manufacturers to lower level of pollution. The sustainability aspect is not only highlighted in manufacturing activities but is even reflected in overall approach of corporate social responsibility. Companies are expected to contribute positively towards the society. This is achieved through implementing sustainable business policies. Carbon dioxide is considered to be a harmful pollutant that affects human beings to a great extent. It is generated when any form of fuel which is carbon-based is burnt. This kind of activity is mostly observed in automobile manufacturing process. Sustainability process is not limited to manufacturing operations but it has to be followed even when product reaches customer. As per data of 1970, vehicle manufacturers are able to reduce pollutant percentage to a desirable extent. In this study other factors will be thoroughly discussed such as impact on environment due to automobile manufacturing, ways in which environmental impact can be mitigated, and different roles of environmental regulation or technological innovation in context of sustainable practices. The study would be centred towards analyzing various technologies that are utilized for reducing overall environmental impact. Discussion Environmental impact of automobile manufacturing Automobiles manufactured are resulting into a drastic impact on environment. Carbon dioxide is a natural component present in the atmosphere and hence cannot be stated as harmful. Product lifecycle is an issue that needs to be taken into consideration while determining environmental impact. There are raw materials being reprocessed almost every time and it needs to pass through huge manufacturing facility (Anderson, 2006). Large amount of electric energy is required for manufacturing even a single car. Utilization of huge amount of energy indicates burning fossil fuels such as coal or oil (Markus and Ela, 2014). This in turn causes higher degree of pollution. After vehicles are manufactured they are then transported to their owners and this in turn also have an impact on environment. During lifecycle of a car, it basically utilizes fluids like oil and fuel, which in turn increases pollution level (Becker, 2008). On the other hand, if car parts have to be replaced it results into consumption of more energy and raw materials. Hence product lifecycle approach can be stated as a medium for creating environmental impact (Judd, 2009). Carbon dioxide results due to burning of carbon based fuel. Renewable fuels help to eradicate this type of pollutant from atmosphere. There are other greenhouse gases that greatly affect atmospheric conditions. Apart from carbon dioxide there are significant greenhouse gases which are depleting ozone layer (Matthew, 2010). These gases are also responsible for climatic change occurring across the globe. Greenhouse gases are related to production of automobiles and have its existence from manufacturing to delivery. Carbon dioxide emissions play a vital role in disrupting natural balance of Earth (Penfield, 2008). 16% of carbon dioxide emission which are made globally comes mainly from automobiles. This basically represents 13% of overall greenhouse gases. Automobiles cannot be regarded as the biggest contributor of carbon dioxide but it is undoubtedly a significant element. The demand for purchasing a vehicle is increasing in recent years mostly in emerging countries (Pratima and DesJardine, 2014). A demand for good mobility is increasing production capacity of such automobiles. All of the industrial sectors contribute towards environmental pollution. Across all the sectors carbon dioxide reduction can be a major area of concern. There are different departments involved in automobile manufacturing process. Each of these departments contribute significant amount of carbon dioxide. This has been further elaborated in figure1. Figure 1: Carbon dioxide emission from automobiles (Source: Rennie, 2008) Automobile is often stated as an indicative that helps to improve quality of life. The mobility factor facilitates possibilities of health, employment, education, leisure and social activities. One critical factor that is taken into account by automobile manufacturer is to sustain overall benefits of automobiles. They are supposed to give assurance to customers and governing authorities that their products are creating negligible impact on environment. Automakers have to produce product line within affordable range as well as maintain environmental standards. They are constantly trying to reduce overall environmental impact and focuses on preserving automobile diversity. Electricity generation and heating in automobile manufacturing results into higher percentage of carbon dioxide. Due to such activities natural resources are being depleted and are at an alarming situation. Fuel combustion is responsible for emitting maximum greenhouse gases. This particular step cannot be eliminated from manufacturing process and it causes environmental impact. These greenhouse gases emitted from different manufacturing process warms up lower atmosphere and surface area. Production or consumption data of automobile manufacturing Figure 2 Production of automobiles (Source: OICA, 2015b.) The figure above shows the no. of cars that were manufactured in each country in 2014. As seen from the figures total no. of vehicles manufactured in the quarter 4 of 2014 was 45,212,616. The production of a car involves the use of raw materials. For manufacturing a car raw materials have to be obtained (OECD, 2001). The raw materials have to be mined melted or processed through some other methods. After the raw materials have been extracted it has to be transported through various transportation systems to the different plants. Transportation by any means requires the use of fuel and other oils as transportation drivers (Mikler, 2009). Once in a production area more raw materials and resources would be required to create parts and then eventually create the finished product. Even after the car has been used and its lifetime has finished, the car has to be recycled. Recycling is a major component in these days and the advantages of recycling is praised in high pitch but the question that remains to be answered in this context is how much material should be recycled and the energy used in the recycling process. Associated with these two concerns is the topic of how much emission is generated from the recycling process and what the by-products of recycling process are. Now a day there is greater emphasis on the use of electric vehicles and hybrid cars (UNEP, 2011). However it should be remembered that even electric vehicles or hybrid cars also use raw materials and have an environmental impact no matter how negligible it is. Figure 3Raam materials in a car (Source: ERT, 2013) Figure 4 Sources of raw material for electric car (Source: ERT, 2013) Production process Cars using different technology use different kinds of raw materials. Different cars use different types of propulsion technologies and different technology to drive them. Accordingly the materials used for their manufacture also vary according to the use (Bentley, 2005). Whereas there are certain materials like tyres, glasses for the windows, paint, body construction materials which is almost similar for different verities with certain minor differences; there are certain items like nickel and lead which varies widely in usage amongst different cars. Whereas traditional cars using gasoline based internal combustion engines use lead as the main component of battery newer versions such as hybrid and electric cars use lithium based batteries (Juettner, 2010). If one looks at the raw material side then production of lead based batteries produces 9kgc or CO2 and production of nickel produces 24-30 kgc of CO2 and the production of co2 is as high as 215 kgc in case of cars which are strictly electric. Figure 5Raw materials used in car manufacturing process (Source: WPI, 2010) The above table lists the various raw materials that are used in the manufacture of different forms of cars and the amount of C02 emissions (kgc) generated in producing each of the raw materials. Figure 4 Recyclable Raw materials used in car manufacturing process (Source: WPI, 2010) In case of car manufacturing that uses recyclable materials the different secondary materials used for the car manufacture are manufactured through various processes generates different amount of co2 as shown in the above figure. Carbon dioxide represents as not the only by product of the manufacturing process but there are other by products that are generated out of the manufacturing process. Other pollutants that are generated from the manufacturing process are painting, fibre glass, moulding and cleaning parts (OECD, 2002). These other processes are fairly similar for different cars and so the amount of emissions generated in these processes are fairly constant across different types of manufactured vehicles. In addition to the above impacts it is to be noted that whatever materials be used for the manufacturing of cars, all the raw materials required utilize energy to produce them and so has an environmental impact that cannot be neglected. The main problem with different raw materials is not their scarcity but challenges of price rise, increased demand from developing countries and supply chain management. How can environmental impact mitigated In view of the environmental impact of the different automobiles, the automobile manufacturers have taken different initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of automobile manufacturing processes and the environmental impact of the cars. Manufacturing process for the manufacturing of different automobiles is being cleaned up and a special attention is being put to reduce emission and material wastage (OECD, 2008). In this respect the automobile manufacturers are investing heavily in R& D department (Chainet, 2012). In Europe for example 12 automotive companies are among the top 50 companies investing in R&D. The automotive industry spends up to 85billion € on R&D. The different processes are aimed at developing procedures that are aimed at reducing waste and maximum utilization of the waste. GM for example has the goal of being the first company in the world to introduce greener vehicles and the vehicles which are zero emissions. Another initiative that is taken by different vehicle manufacturers is to use more and more recycle materials (UNDP, 2002). In current scenario the major emphasis is on developing technologies that facilitates recycling of materials. For better handling of manufacturing process and end of life management and automobile manufacturers of USA and Europe have build up partnerships with specialized companies in these sectors to build infrastructure that aids in recycling. The facilities would help in building disassembly facilities and manuals to aid in dissembling of vehicles. Another area where the automobile manufacturers are putting emphasis on is to use greener and cleaner sources of energy in order to power their plant and production facilities. Using clean and greener energy sources refers to the use of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind or hydel power (Ryan and Turton, 2008). The facilities are trying to use such lighting sources which consume lesser energy to light up the interiors. The different energy efficient light sources used are Compact florescent lights and Light emitting diode. Some automobile manufacturers have defined specific targets that are aimed at producing and manufacturing vehicles that give out zero emissions. New regulations are being set up that include enforcing the companies to adhere to carbon credit policies. This policy states that the companies must try to achieve to be carbon negative or zero carbon emission status. Carbon negative means that the companies should try to generate more carbon capturing measures to offset the amount of carbon that it generates. Some of the other techniques that the automotive companies may use to mitigate environmental impact due to manufacturing processes are to use environment friendly measures in manufacturing, using environmental friendly components as materials for the body and other parts of the cars. Other mechanisms may involve using electrostatic precipitators to capture any emergent gases or exit emissions. Various components used in the manufacture of vehicles have different level of impact on the environment. Steps need to be taken to control the impact of each of these components individually. Brake debris and tyre particles The toxic effects that can arise out of the brake debris that falls from the car manufacturing proceeds needs to be effectively taken care of. The mixing of tyre particles with soil contaminates nearby soil levels and may cause lung cancer. Such tyres should be manufactures which undergoes less wear and tear. Painting Paints accounts for 62% of the pollution during the process of vehicle manufacture (EPA, 2015). Several techniques can be used to mitigate the environmental impact of this process of vehicle manufacturing. Techniques like in-mould painting and advancement in painting and coating technology is likely to reduce environmental impact of painting. Stake holders involved in the process When it comes to automobiles and environment the first topic that comes in mind is that one needs to reduce co2 emissions. However it must be noted that Co2 emission represents only part of the problem and in order to fully resolve the issue of pollution in respect of automobile manufacturing and the automobiles as a whole a holistic approach needs to be taken in order to involve all the related stakeholders in the field. The different approaches that the automobile manufacturers may implement to appease different stakeholders are Vehicle technology- Use and implement newer technologies in cars and trucks which reduce C02 emissions of the vehicles (OICA, 2015a.). Newer technologies are being developed by the companies that manufactures vehicles that either emit less or use hybrid vehicles or electric vehicles. Alternative fuels- Develop infrastructure facilities that facilitate the development and production of sustainable and alternate fuels that facilitate lower emissions (Ishida and Furukawa, 2013). The various alternative fuels are using bio fuels or other propulsion systems that uses fuels such as hydrogen. Driver behaviour- The drivers should be educated so that they drive the vehicles in a way which reduces fuel consumption and Co2 emissions. This actually helps in improving road safety. The drivers should be taught in workshops on how to utilize lesser fuels. A new driver manual focuses on the use of gears and clutch and special driving behaviour in order to reduce fuel consumption. Infrastructure measures- Proper planning and road infrastructure should be developed. Future technology developments would focus on building better roads and signalling system. The intelligent traffic management systems should result in lesser traffic congestion on the roads. Lesser traffic on road will translate to lesser pollution (Hein, 2009). Future infrastructure building will focus on building on smarter cities. These cities will use better system of over bridges and signalling systems that facilitate better movement of vehicles. CO2 related taxation- The government can introduce taxation and other forcible measures that compel the manufactures and the peoples to buy vehicles that emit less Co2 gases. The manufacturers may be incentivised to manufacture vehicles that emit less co2 or use processes that pollute the environment to a lesser effect. Other stakeholders related to the process of automobile manufacturing are the customers and government. The customers would like to take on those cars that are more environments friendly. The government would obviously make initiatives to incentivise manufacturers to manufacture cars that produce less damage to the environment. Other stakeholders interested in automobile manufacturing and promotions of sustainable technologies to promote automobile manufacturers are environmental groups. As per the Kyoto protocol the different countries had resolved to reduce carbon emission. After the Kyoto protocol the different countries and the automobile manufacturers of different countries are forced to reduce emissions in the different manufacturing process. Accordingly the automobile manufacturers of different countries have put greater research on R&D facilities. The research by different companies focuses on implementing such manufacturing processes which uses lesser energy or produces lesser emissions. The protocol required that the company either produces 0 emissions or negative emission. The 0 emission refers to the companies generating 0 carbons. The 0 carbon emission refers to the companies producing that amount of carbon emission which will be negated by the green initiatives taken up by the company. Sometimes the companies may go for negative emissions. Negative emission here refers to the companies generating less amount of carbon. Role of technological innovation in sustainable practices Vehicle manufacturers are taking effective measures in terms of designing a solution that can mitigate environmental impact. The highest research and development activities are performed by automobile manufacturers. This particular industry spends a lump sum amount towards manufacturing fuel efficient, safer and cleaner automobiles. All these initiatives are inclined towards improving environmental conditions. Billions of Euros are being invested in improving and refining petroleum burning engines. This kind of investment is also done to initiate improvements in context of valve timing, fuel injection control and air flow. There are wide array of improvements in terms of automatic and optimized manual transmissions from low friction materials. In current scenario regenerative braking is being eradicated and focus is on low-energy lighting and electric power-steering. The percentage of clean diesel cars is being increased and this in turn is enhancing fuel efficiency. New technologies and new fuels are utilized so as to reduce overall environmental impact. Huge resources are spent by manufacturers in order to design carbon dioxide efficient automobiles. These vehicles usually operate on wide set of alternatives like ethanol, natural gas, bio-diesel and hydrogen. Alternative fuels are observed specifically in hybrid vehicle technology and electric cars. Multiple technologies are witnessed in the market place but future winners cannot be effectively predicted (Stonehouse, Hamill, Campbell and Purdie, 2000). There are carbon manufacturers like Volvo implementing carbon neutral energy mechanism within the system. These sources of carbon neutral energy are wind power, hydroelectricity, etc., in order to meet their electricity needs. In the manufacturing process of automobiles modern industrial procedure and efficient equipments are incorporated. Energy efficient engines are developed for reducing carbon dioxide emissions and pollution. Recycling process plays a significant role in terms of reducing environmental impact. Many components of modern world automobiles can be recovered and they are efficiently reused. Materials reclaimed in the procedure are steel, plastics, glass and rubber. In the current scenario auto engineers are inclined towards designing sophisticated technology of emissions control (Mcfarlin and Sweeney, 2008). Their efforts are aligned with replacing vehicles with safer automobiles. Catalytic converters have been invented to use different precious metals for reducing car emissions. Clean technology is facilitated through a computer program known as aeon-board diagnostics. This framework helps automobile manufacturers to monitor performance of vehicles constantly. Monitoring activities enhance emission performance and improve air quality. Low emissions from automobiles are a medium through which atmospheric conditions are improved. Advanced technology is being incorporated within vehicles so as to increase their sales margins. Customers belonging to different regions usually favour various kinds of technologies (Haberberg and Rieple, 2005). Green technology is being implemented by many automobile manufacturers for reducing rate of carbon emission into the atmosphere. This technology comprises of many factors such as adopting a production process where less impact is caused on environment. Raw materials are consumed to a certain extent and more focus is on recycling activities. This kind of recycling mechanism helps to reduce operational costs. On the other hand, combustion or manufacturing process creates maximum environmental impact (Grant, 2002). This process and its impact can be reduced to a significant extent if recyclable materials are utilized. Automakers have lowered evaporative emissions to a great degree with better gas tanks, tighter gaskets and hoses. Role of environmental regulation in sustainable practices Different countries in the world have various environmental regulations in place in order to go in for sustainable practices. The different countries in the world have different regulations in place in order to support sustainable development. The initiatives taken up by various countries in this field are Initiatives taken by USA: Corporate average fuel economy (uniform target) The target is set to reduce emissions to 27.5 mpg=~ 204gco2/ km The penalties are set by US government at 5.5$ per 0.1 mpg =~ 5c per g co2/ km * vol. cars The future target set by the US government is at 35 mpg by 2020 =` 160 g co2/ km Initiatives taken by Europe In 2007 the European Union came out with a resolution to bring down the C02 generation level to 120g/ km by 2012. The master plan drawn by EU emphasizes the use of technology to achieve this goal. It states that by using newer and improved engine the emission can be brought down to 120g/ km and by using bio fuel the emission can be reduced by further 5g/ km. By using other technological advancements such as automatic gear shift indicator the Co2 generation can be brought down by a further amount of 5g/ km. The parametric approach has been to segment on the basis of weight. The penalties has been set at the following levels Year Penalty level (€/g co2/km* volume of car) 2012 20 2013 35 2014 60 2015 95 The problem with the regulations that have been put forward by the European Union is that they focus mainly on the technology advancement to counter environment impact and does not focus on sustainable impact on all the factors that are responsible. Initiatives taken by Japan The parametric approach used by Japan is segmentation on the basis of weight. Future target set by the Japanese government in terms of reduction of CO2 emission is set at 138gc02/km. That is the vehicles should run for 16.8km/ l. For non compliance to the targets the penalties are set at `6.0000€/ manufacturer. The Japan government’s plan is integrated and plans to reduce co2 reduction by 50% through infrastructure development. The various environmental regulation is surely going to act as a positive stimulation or a threat stimuli for the car manufacturers to manufacture cars that follow the norms and there by aid in sustainable development. Conclusion In this study automobile manufacturers and their widespread operations are closely analyzed. This study clearly revealed that this industry creates significant impact on the environment. It is also found through the study that whatever be the propulsion system used to power the car including gasoline, hybrid or electricity, every manufacturing process uses raw materials. Hence there is bound to be an impact on the environment as the various raw materials are manufactured. The impact is in the form of direct environmental degradation or degradation due to the power consumption in the manufacture process which leads to utilization of fossil fuels or alternative fuel sources. To understand the impact of the manufacturing process secondary data is collected and a comprehensive study is undertaken. After discussing the environmental impact of the manufacturing process the next step in the logical flow of discussion is how can these effects on the environment be mitigated? Next in the line of discussion comes the topic that accessing and mitigating environmental impact does not only restrict to the co2 reduction. It involves taking into perspective the view of all the stakeholders. The study wants to emphasize on the fact that reducing co2 emission is just a single step but an integrative approach should involve taking into consideration other environmental impact. There are new technologies been adopted so as to reduce overall environmental impact. After discussing the role of technological advancement in promoting sustainable methods of manufacturing the role of environmental regulation in promoting sustainable methods of manufacturing is also discussed. In this respect initiatives taken up by the government of various countries are focussed on and compared with each other. As a conclusion it can be said that although automobile industry has a tremendous impact on the environment, the industry is taking good no. of steps in reducing the impact and promoting sustainable manufacture of automobiles. However still several steps are required to be taken in this direction. References Anderson, D.R., 2006. The critical importance of sustainability risk management. Risk Management, 53 (4), pp. 90-134. Becker, T., 2008. The Business behind green, eliminating fear, uncertainty, and doubt. APICS magazine, 18 (2), pp. 166-189. Bentley, M., 2005. Tracking progress: implementing sustainable consumption policies: A global review of implementation of the United Nations guidelines for consumer protection (section g: promotion of sustainable consumption). Tokyo: UNEP/Earthprint. 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