Carbon auditing for vehicles the first step to reducing vehicle emissions

When it comes to moving towards a low-carbon economy, to borrow a line from Former US President Bill Clinton, it’s the cars, stupid. 

Vehicle transportation is the single-largest contributor of excess carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses.  So any serious effort to counteract climate change must tackle the problem of emissions from vehicles. But how do you know what you are facing if you can’t quantify the problem? 

That’s where Zerofootprint and Skymeter Corporation come in. The two companies have entered a partnership to measure vehicular greenhouse gas emissions.  Toronto-based Skymeter specializes in data-services and billing-delivery metering services and Zerofootprint, as their name implies, facilitates reducing our collective footprint.

Their initial applications focus on highly accurate measurement of corporate and individual carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles, combining GPS and carbon-measurement tools.  The purpose of their tools is to quantify the vehicle carbon emission problem, the key to devising intelligent solutions.

One such solution is a simple one: encourage drivers to drive less. Skymeter proposes an incentive-based tolling system that offers drivers incentives to reduce driving. Drivers would be rewarded for reducing their emissions and energy consumption in the form of tax credits instead of punished with punitive taxes and user fees.

Victoria Regional Transit uses a similar method of changing driving habits. It promotes sustainable transportation with a monthly bus pass reward program. Monthly pass holders are permitted to claim a non-refundable tax credit on their income tax return for using a sustainable mode of transport.

It goes to show you that sometimes, the carrot works better than the stick.