uel economy, environment vital in govt. regulation
Continued from Page 1
reached the spark plug is fired and the mixture
ignited. The expanding gases push the, piston
down again, and then are discharged into the
exhaust system by the next stroke.
For highest fuel efficiency, the engine is tuned
to, fire early, as the piston nears the top of the
stroke. Most of the .burn takes place while the
piston is high in the chamber, maximizing the
energy released by the expanding gases.-
This causes less complete combustion and
results in higher emissions. '
The first step auto makers generally took to
comply with emission control requirements was
to tune the carburetor to produce a "lean"
mixture of fuel and air one with more air than
actually was needed for complete burning. This
generally improved fuel economy and also
reduced emissions.
TO comply with increasingly tougher emission
standards, most of the manufacturers :used a
system called "spark retard." The engine is
tuned to fire after the piston reaches the top of
the stroke. This causes the exhaust gases to be
hotter, so after leaving the engine they continue
to•burn all the way through the exhaust system.
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This results in a loss of fuel economy, which is
why fuel economy figures reached their lowest
point in 1974.
The simultaneous arrival of the energy crisis
and even tougher emission standards brought
about the general use of the catalytic converter
in use today.
However, the standards for 1980 and beyond
still have to be met. Although it still is uncertain
how this will be done, the evidence indicates that
neither environmental nor fuel economy con
siderations will take a back seat.
In addition to the emission standards, cars in
the next decade will have minimum mileage
requirements to satisfy, based on an average of
all models sold by the company.
• Ford Motor • Co. cars, 'for example, must
average 18 miles per gallon in 1973. The standard
moves progressively to a minimum 27.5 miles
per 'gallon average by 1985, according to Ford
spokesman Chuck Gumushian.
"We have two laws to meet and we'll be
there," Gumushian said.
He said it would be much easier for his corn
pany to design cars with either one of the two
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concerns in mind, but the two could be made
compatible.
Former EPA Administrator Russell E. Train
was more confident that emissions could be
lowered further with no adverse effects on fuel
economy when he handed down his decision to
postpone the 1977 emissions standards to 1980.
He said that at the time the alternative to using
spark retard and reducing economy was to
change the system design of the engine itself so
that its basic emissions would be lower.
"There is no inherent reason to believe that
such adjustments will be bad for fuel economy,
and in the past many such adjustments have
been good for fuel economy," he said.
A National Academy of Sciences report
agreed, stating: "The reduction of emissions
insures neither a reduction nor an increase in
engine efficiency with the citing of examples of
both cases possible."
Further, a report released jointly by the EPA
and the Department of Transportation in 1974
stated that a 20 per cent average fuel economy
impr,ovement in 1980 cars over 1974 models was
possible that would satisfy that year's emission
standards for carbon monoxide and hydrocar
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bons, but not oxides of nitrogen. On the average,
the cars would cost 10 per cent more, which
would be offset by lower operating and main
tenance costs, according to the report.
The final solution to the problem of emissions
and economy may be a radical departure from
- the conventional internal combustion engine, but
all parties agree that is at least 10 years away.
Although . alternative power sources for
automobiles may offer some advantages, the
retooling of Detroit's massive manufacturing
plants to produce a different type of engine
would take years to complete, at a staggering
cost.
For example, diesel-powered automobiles
would have substantially greater fuel economy
than any alternative forseeable in the next 10
years, and their emissions are so low that
meeting the 1977 standards is no trouble at all,
according to an academy report.
.However, another academy report, prepared
. in 1975, states: "If the decision to convert to
diesels were made today, . . . only 12 per cent of
American production could be converted to
diesels by 1980, and only 17 per cent by 1983."
The report went on to say that conversion to
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another more radical alternative, the Wankel
Rotary Engine, would take even longer.
However, a third alternative power plant, the
stratified charge engine, is slightly more
feasible.
An example of a stratified charge engine is
Honda's CVCC, which conforms to the present
emission regulations for carbon monoxide,
hydrocarbons and oxides without a converter.
An academy report from 1975 states:
"Twenty-seven per cent of domestic production
could be converted to the use of stratified charge
engines by 1980 if the decision to convert were
made today, with the percentage reaching 41 per
cent by. 1983."
In addition to the retooling problems with
alternative power manufacturers cite other
problems with alternative power sources that
relate to consumer desires for acceleration and
performance.
The industry's attitude was summed up by
Ford's Gumushian, who said, "I don't know of
any engine 'that can replace the internal com
bustion engine in the near term the next 10 to
20 years. We believe it to be the most economical
and efficient way to power an automobile."
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