Search Results

Interest in alternative fuels increased during the energy shortages of the mid-1970's and has continued due to the perceived potential environmental benefits of these fuels compared to conventional gasoline. However, the results from the British Columbia emissions inspection and maintenance program since 1992 indicate that environmental benefits have not usually been realised in practice. There are two common routes to acquiring an alternative fuel vehicle. The first option is to convert an existing gasoline-fuelled vehicle to run on either natural gas or propane. The second option is to buy alternative fuel vehicles offered by automotive manufacturers, known as Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) vehicles. The majority of in-use natural gas and propane vehicles are aftermarket conversions. Propane and natural gas vehicles can be either mono-fuel or bi-fuel. Mono-fuel vehicles run exclusively on gaseous fuels while bi-fuel models can run on both gaseous fuels and standard gasoline.

This paper describes the certification of the automotive repair industry with respect to the British Columbia Vehicle Emissions Inspection Program, more commonly referred to as the AirCare Program. A training program has been developed to ensure that technicians have the knowledge, and can develop the necessary expertise, to repair emissions systems on vehicles that have failed inspection. A performance monitoring system allows detailed review of individual technicians performance.

Basing its conclusions on over one million gasoline vehicle inspections and over 30,000 alternative fuelled vehicle inspections, this paper examines the pass/fail records for each fuel; the problems most common to failing vehicles; and repair strategies used to correct those problems. The paper specifically describes the relationship between the level of technology used in alternative fuel systems and their emissions performance. It is shown that alternative fuelled vehicles are not inherently clean, and that to meet the same emissions standards as gasoline vehicles the alternative fuel system should employ the same level of technology as used in the original gasoline vehicle.