Small light urban vehicles: a solution for increasing energy efficiency and decreasing CO_2 emissions within city limits

摘要

The main idea behind this paper is to impose restrictions on private cars' admittance to restricted areas due to their "weight efficiency". We must take into account that energy efficiency is a direct consequence of the work realized and that the CO_2 emissions are also proportional to this value. In essence, the intention is to minimize the vehicles' weight per consumption unit in order to lower the engine power and therefore the CO_2 emission. In recent years, we have witnessed the percentage of heavier and bigger cars constantly increasing. Those cars, which are weight- and CO_2-inefficient, are present in the city centres where their environmental impact is an important issue. The solution is to impose or influence a change in citizens' purchasing habits towards a small, safe, fuel efficient, "weight efficient" car with lower CO_2 emissions, permitting their owners open access to all "critical" urban areas exempt of "weight charging".