Green Calgary

Climate Change and Idling

It is no secret that vehicle emissions are bad for the environment. Engines release carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) that trap some of the sun's heat near the Earth's surface and cause climate change. The biggest impacts of climate change are warmer temperatures, changes in precipitation, and rising sea levels. Climate change is a big problem to tackle, but we can do something easy to help: just turn the key!

In Calgary, approximately 30% of all GHGs emitted per person come from vehicles. That equates to more than 4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. Reducing the amount of time we run our engines means a reduction in the amount of GHGs that we produce. Because idling is costly and unnecessary, it is the most obvious activity to eliminate from our driving regimen. But how much GHG can we prevent by adopting an Idle Free policy?

Well, studies show that idling accounts for 3% of Canada's total vehicle-related GHG emissions (in some businesses, it can be up to 20%). Natural Resources Canada tells us that if each Canadian reduced their idling by three minutes a day, it would be the equivalent of taking 320,000 cars off of the roads. On a more local level, the City of Calgary calculates that if each Calgarian driver reduced their idling time by three minutes per day, we would emit 33,600 fewer tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. This is equivalent to taking about 27,000 cars off of Calgary roads.