Electric Pickup Trucks Release Lesser Greenhouse Gases Than Other Light-Duty Vehicles: New Study

Electric pickup trucks produce lesser greenhouse gases than other light-duty vehicles, according to a new study. The study revealed that transitioning from fuel-based to electric-based vehicles can increase decarbonization and ultimately limit climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.

Electrification of Vehicles

(Photo : Spencer Platt via Getty Images)

Researchers from Ford Motor Corporation and the University of Michigan have published their new study in the journal Environmental Research Letters on March 1; addressing the impact of pickup truck electrification and decarbonization in the transportation industry concerning greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the study cited by the American Association for the Advancement of Science - EurekAlert, light-duty vehicles like pickup trucks, sedans, and SUVs have accounted for 58% of greenhouse gas emissions across transportation industry in the United States.

However, the researchers found that electric pickup trucks or electric trucks yield lesser greenhouse gas emissions compared to its other light-duty vehicle counterparts. The groundbreaking discovery is also expected to lead to the same result by also applying electrification to other vehicles.

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Replacing Engine with Electric Battery

One of the most significant findings in the study is when the Ford and Michigan university researchers observed there is a correlation between vehicle size and the amount of emitted greenhouse gases from conventional fuel-based engines. This is evident since a large vehicle requires more gas.

In the study, the research team there was a far lesser amount of emitted carbon dioxide when they replaced a sedan with an internal combustible engine vehicle with a sedan consisting of an electric battery engine.

Although the manufacturing of electric-based vehicles leads to large greenhouse gas emissions compared with fuel-based engines, the benefits of shifting towards electric-centered manufacturing are greater than its environmental repercussions in the long run, as per the new study.

The Paris Agreement

The onset of the human industrial revolution and increased emission of greenhouse gases have accelerated the repercussions of the greenhouse effect, a natural process characterized by trapped greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The trapped gases absorb solar heat and warm the planet.

With the Paris Agreement or the Paris Climate Accords, an inter-governmental legal binding treaty on fighting climate change spearheaded by the United Nations, member countries of the agreement are required to participate in measures by reducing their countries' respective greenhouse gas emissions.

Greenhouse Gas Emission Ranking

Within the Paris Agreement, it has been a common premise that the more a country's economic model is closer to the manufacturing-based approach, the more challenging it would be for it to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

A more advanced industrial country emits more greenhouse gases than its counterparts-with lesser technological advancement in the field of manufacturing, including businesses in the areas of oil, gas, chemical, and metal production industries.

Given these conditions, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions ranked China, the US, and countries within the European Union to be the leading emitters of greenhouse gases in the world. The organization also other countries only produce a relatively small amount of the gases.

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