Rating the Environmental Impacts of Motor Vehicles: ACEEE's Green Book^® Methodology, 2004 Edition

James Kliesch

August 2004

Abstract

Consumer education and other market-oriented approaches to improving the environmental performance of automobiles require information that is easy to understand and readily accessible. Such information can influence both buyer decisions and manufacturers' technology and product planning activities. To provide such information, ACEEE publishes ACEEE's Green Book^®: The Environmental Guide to Cars and Trucks, an annual consumer-oriented guide providing environmental rating information for every new model in the U.S. light-duty vehicle market.

The environmental rating methodology for ACEEE's Green Book^® is based on principles of life cycle assessment and environmental economics. The method is designed to be applicable given the limitations of data available by make and model in the U.S. market. The approach combines the impacts of traditionally regulated (criteria) pollutants with those of greenhouse gas emissions, covering both the vehicle life cycle and the fuel cycle, using a mass-based characterization of vehicle manufacturing impacts. This report covers the data issues, key assumptions, and analysis methods used to develop ACEEE's vehicle ratings. It summarizes the application of the methodology to the 2004 model year (MY), highlighting results for major classes and technology types, and identifies research needs for updating and refining the methodology. Appendices detail the parameters used to evaluate vehicles and document updates to the methodology since it original release in 1998.

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70pp., 2004, $20.00, T041