Policy for Better Air Quality in Asia -A Proposal for a Policy Evaluation Method for ASEAN 4 Countries

Abstract:

In order to reduce automobile emission, governments of Asian countries have been making efforts to introduce vehicle emission regulations for new vehicle. The paper shows 3 common problems for emission regulation introduction from case studies in China and in Indonesia.
First, the main cause on the lack of suitable fuel quality is rapid motorization. Automobile fuel consumption increases in proportion with rapid motorization. Gasoline and diesel are still dominant. Alternative fuel such as natural gas and bio-fuels are still small amount of share in automobile fuel market. According to fuel monitoring, there is still adulteration in the market. These case studies show difficulties to assure quality and quantity of automobile fuel in the same time.
Second, shorter lead time for emission standard introduction make lead time to update refineries delay. Lead time to move to EURO 4 or stricter is 4-6 years in consideration of vehicle model change. It is a challenge for Asian countries to introduce EURO4 less than shorter time.
Third, this paper emphasizes a monitoring problem such as registration system, Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) system for vehicle in-use and fuel quality monitoring system. These systems are observed to share similar characteristics, such as a weakness of government initiative, inadequate operation by government bodies which results from a lack of human resources and analysis facilities.
Finally, this paper proposes how to assure air quality improvement under the 3 problems in Asian countries.

Keywords: Asia, Air Pollution, Government Policy, Transportation Demand