A Method for Green Rating of Automobiles

ABSTRACT

Coherent information about the environmental impacts of a product is essential for pursuing market-oriented approaches to environmental protection. Such green rating information can influence consumers' choices and, by affecting product and corporate images in the marketplace, might also influence technology development and product planning. Automobiles and their supporting industries are the subjects of many environmental policies. Informational approaches to automotive environmental performance, however, have been relatively piecemeal. In the course of developing consumer information and market creation programs for vehicles of higher energy efficiency (an important determinant of environmental performance), the authors felt that it was necessary to address this fragmentation rather than treat efficiency in isolation from other factors. A green rating system was developed based on principles of life-cycle assessment and is usable within the confines of available data that permit discrimination among makes and models. The resulting methodology is applied in a consumer-oriented publication that rates vehicles in the U.S. market. The ratings cover all vehicles and do not constitute an eco-label, although the methodology provides groundwork for developing a label. The background, data issues, analysis, and future research needs for this rating system are described along with a summary of its application.