|
Sunday, October 12, 2008
|
|
|
|
Temp:
|
4°C
|
|
Feels like:
|
1°C
|
|
Humidity:
|
N/A%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Imposing idling limits a drive-thrus bad science, restaurant industry spokesman contends |
|
|
Written by MARK NIELSEN
Citizen staff
|
|
Thursday, 15 May 2008 |
Related Items
No related items found
Mark von Schellwitz of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association says a Natural Resources Canada study concludes that for cars idling between 10 seconds and 10 minutes, turning the engine on and off will actually increase emissions.
The finding, reached by consultant Gordon Taylor in a 2003 study, applies to vehicles with catalytic converters, which are in 99 per cent of the cars on the road, he added.
"I just want to make sure that whatever they do is facts based and not emotionally based," von Schellwitz said.
In announcing Tuesday that Prince George will be getting an anti-idling ambassador, Prince George Air Quality Committee chair Melissa Winfield-Lesk said work will continue on encouraging the city and regional district to adopt anti-idling bylaws.
According to a B.C. Environment 2007 inventory of air quality bylaws, eight B.C. municipalities have bylaws that restrict idling to no more than three minutes, which von Schellwitz said is troublesome.
"I would say three minutes isn't right figure, I would say go with the science and the science says anything between 10 seconds and 10 minutes," he said. "It's just as effective to leave your car idling as it is to turn it off and turn it on when it comes to creating emissions in the environment."
In the study, Taylor said catalytic converters, first introduced in the mid-1970’s, reduce emission levels of vehicles by over 98 percent, compared to non-catalytic technology.
But when a fully warmed-up vehicle is turned off, "the catalyst immediately starts to cool down and its temperature quickly drops below its optimal temperature" so that when the vehicle is restarted "there is an increase in emissions due to the lower efficiency of the catalysts."
Banning drive-thrus altogether would be counterproductive, von Schellwitz said, because motorists would spend more time looking for a place to park and send more emissions into the atmosphere in the process while larger parking lots means less greenspace.
And he said it's in a restaurant's business interest to make drive-thru service as fast as possible.
"We've been working with municipalities across the country to make sure that drive-thrus are run and designed appropriately," he said. "They're updated all the time and speed of service is key."
Looking at a variety of surveys in North America and Europe, Taylor also found that idling takes up between 13 and 23 per cent of total vehicle operating time. He also found that between 72 and 80 per cent of those idling periods last less than three minutes long, "which are typical of intersection delays."
A copy of the report can be downloaded from: http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=batch_download&batch_id=TDJaZ296SEJtMEkwTVE9PQ
 |
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 08 October 2008 )
|
|
|
Who's Online
We have 82 guests and 5 members online
|
|
|
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed
