Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
7475519 | Journal of Environmental Management | 2018 | 10 Pages |
Abstract
In 1951, the Japanese government introduced a vehicle safety inspection system and this system has an effect of shortening the 'economic' lifetimes of automobiles and increasing CO2 emissions associated with vehicle life-cycle. This study develops an integrated assessment framework by combining dynamic discrete choice analysis with life-cycle environmental accounting analysis based on a dynamic stock model. From the empirical results, we found that (1) the economic lifetime of a Prius in the benchmark model is surprisingly short, 5.07 years, due to the strict car inspection system, and this replacement cycle has contributed to increasing CO2 over time; and (2) abolishing car inspections at the third and fifth years would considerably contribute to reducing life-cycle CO2 emissions associated with Prius sold during the study period, 1997 to 2016, accounting for approximately one million tons-CO2 eq. over 20 years. Thus, we conclude that modifying the regulation policy with a focus on the car inspection system to induce car owners to keep their automobiles longer would have environmental benefits.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Energy
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Authors
Yuya Nakamoto, Shigemi Kagawa,