Localized Analysis of Actual Road Carbon Emissions of Light Vehicles Based on Vehicle Specific Power

Against the backdrop of global advocacy for energy conservation and emission reduction, an understanding of the characteristics of vehicle carbon emissions can help to better formulate emission control strategies and lead the development of powertrain systems. This article reports on an investigation of the feasibility of carbon emission assessment based on both engine operating conditions and vehicle driving conditions. It was found that engine operating parameters can adapt well to CO 2 emissions for fossil fuel powered vehicles. To modify a model of traditional vehicle specific power (VSP) correlated with CO 2 emissions, two alternative parameters, VSP_air and VSP_fuel, have been proposed, which provide better prediction accuracy in linking tailpipe emissions to vehicle activities and engine operation parameters. Conversely, considering the complex geographical terrain of a city such as Chongqing, China, the correlation between VSP and vehicle carbon emissions rate will be significantly increased when the road gradient is coupled with the VSP formula. Moreover, the geospatial visualization of localized carbon emission during a real drive emission test was displayed based on a bubble map. As a result, the localized analysis of actual road carbon emissions of light vehicles based on the VSP method in this study facilitates the development of high-precision carbon accounting in traffic transportation.