Locomotive Emissions Monitoring Program - Railway Association of ...

Figure 15
Commuter Rail GHG Emissions Intensity
kg per passenger
2.2
2.0
1.8
1.6
1.4
2.0
1.8
1.6
1.4
CO 2 equivalent
1.2
1.2 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
5.3.2
Criteria Air Contaminants (CAC)
Table 11 displays the CAC emissions produced annually by locomotives in operation in Canada, namely NOx, CO, HC,
PM and SOx. The values are for both absolute amounts and intensities per productivity unit.
The CAC of key concern in the railway sector is oxides of nitrogen (NOx). As shown in Table 11, railway-generated
NOx emissions in 2008 totalled 99.68 kt, as compared to 103.18 kt in 2007 and 113.59 kt for 1990, the baseline year.
Total rail NOx emissions in 2008 were 3.4 per cent lower than in 2007 and 12.2 per cent lower than in 1990. Since
1990, NOx emissions have averaged 112.98 kt per year. Freight operations accounted for 93.8 per cent of railwaygenerated
NOx emissions in Canada.
The NOx emissions intensity, i.e., the quantity of NOx emitted per unit of productivity, was 0.27 kg per 1,000 RTK
in 2008 – which was the same as in 2007. This is down from 0.43 kg per 1,000 RTK in 1990. Figure 16 is indicative of
the historical trend in NOx emissions per 1,000 RTK for freight operations since 1990. The significant reduction since
2003 shows the impact of the acquisition of locomotives meeting U.S. EPA emissions limits as well as upgrading,
upon remanufacture, high-horsepower locomotives freshly manufactured prior to 2000.
Figure 16
Total Freight NOx Emissions Intensity
kg of NOx per 1,000 RTK
37.2 per cent reduction since 1990
0.45
0.35
0.35
0.25
0.25 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
21 LEM 2008