Vehicles And Environment
WHAT IS THE ECO SCORE OF A VEHICLE?
The eco score is an environmental score for vehicles. In other words, this score gives an indication of the overall environmental friendliness of a vehicle. Various damage effects are taken into account for this: the greenhouse effect, air quality (health effects & effects on ecosystems), and noise pollution. The applied environmental evaluation makes it possible to combine these different effects in a single indicator. The method used for this is the well-to-wheel approach. Both tank-to-wheel (exhaust emissions from driving a vehicle) and well-to-tank emissions (emissions from production and distribution of the fuel (petrol, diesel, LPG, electricity, etc.)) are taken into account (see below). How is the eco score calculated?). This method offers the advantage that vehicles with different technologies and different fuels can be compared with each other on the same basis. The emissions associated with the production of the vehicle and with the recycling or processing after use are not taken into account.
The eco score is expressed as a value between 0 and 100: the higher the score, the more environmentally friendly the vehicle.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ECO SCORE AND CO 2 EMISSIONS:
The CO 2 emissions are always stated for new cars. You will also see this in advertisements. Some manufacturers offer ‘very environmentally friendly cars’ that emit little CO 2. But the CO 2 emissions say nothing about the other emissions, such as the emission of particulate matter (soot particles). A car with low CO 2 emissions is therefore not by definition an environmentally friendly vehicle. In addition to CO2, the Ecoscore also takes into account the other emissions that are emitted and therefore gives you an overall picture.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ECO SCORE AND EURONORM:
A vehicle that is put on the market must meet certain conditions. For example, Europe imposes certain restrictions on the emissions of NO x, CO, hydrocarbons, and particulate matter (soot particles). These standards are becoming stricter and higher each time. Since 2011, for example, the Euro 5 standard applies to all passenger cars, which is stricter than the previous Euro 4 standard.
However, this Euro standard does not provide an overall picture of how environmentally friendly your car is. CO2 emissions are not taken into account. There is also an important difference between the restrictions that apply to petrol cars and diesel cars. A Euro 4 diesel car is therefore not as environmentally friendly as a Euro 4 petrol car. Even within the same fuel type and the same standard, significant differences in emissions are still possible. A Euro 4 diesel with a particulate filter, for example, emits more than 90% less particulate matter than a Euro 4 diesel without a particulate filter.
The Eco score takes into account the individual emissions of each car and also takes into account the CO 2 emissions. The Eco score gives you an overall picture.
The Ecoscore is an environmental score that indicates on a scale from 0 (worst) to 100 (best) how environmentally friendly a vehicle is. This indicator takes into account both well-to-tank emissions (WTT, or all emissions from production, transport, and distribution of the fuel until it is in the tank) and tank-to-wheel emissions (TTW, or all emissions from driving the vehicle). Taken together, this gives the well-to-wheel emissions (WTW). The Ecoscore, therefore, has a broader scope than most other environmental indicators for vehicles. This means that all powertrains and fuel types are assessed objectively. We can therefore carry out sustainability assessments for a wide range of vehicles (passenger cars, light commercial vehicles. It contains both data and background information on the Ecoscore project and provides a link to some interesting tools. The website aims to inform cities and citizens about clean vehicles and help them make the most environmentally friendly choice. An important part of the website is the database on passenger cars. It contains technical data and Ecoscores for all passenger cars sold in Belgium since the early 1990s. This database is updated every two months. Other interesting features are the calculator (which visitors can use to calculate the Ecoscore of a (fictional) vehicle), the Chassis Tool (which indicates an ecoscore based on the VIN or chassis number of the car), and the Fleet Tool. This FleetTool is primarily intended for cities or large companies that want a better view of the environmental impact of their fleet. Based on the data entered by the user, this fleet management tool calculates the values for fuel consumption, CO2 emissions, ecoscores, etc., both for each vehicle individually and for an entire fleet.