Program areas at ICCT
Passenger vehicles/electric vehicles:icct's passenger vehicles (pv) team investigates The technological and policy actions needed to cut carbon and other harmful emissions from The light-duty vehicle (ldv) sector. Ldvs including passenger cars, light trucks and vans, motorcycles, scooters, and other two- and three-wheeled vehicles account for about a third of global oil demand and produce about half of all transportation-related greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions. While great strides have been made in controlling emissions from ldvs, pollutants including carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbons, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, particulates, and other air toxins still pose a significant risk. While efficiency standards can successfully reduce oil consumption and ghg emissions from The growing ldv fleet, icct supports additional public policy action to extend these standards alongside complementary fiscal policies to ensure manufacturers' real cooperation with advancing technologies to fight climate change.electrification is a core component of icct's pv program, and a coordinated transition to zero-emission vehicles (zevs) is needed to effectively manage The future climate and health effects of The ldv sector. Icct supports The global transition to evs by analyzing and identifying The policies and incentives that are The most effective in The growth stages of The global ev market. Icct conducts research on trends in ev technologies and vehicle markets; evaluates how regulation, tax incentives, non-fiscal promotional policies, and infrastructure are helping to drive The ev market; and compares policy approaches from around The world to identify best practices.
Aviation and marine programs:aviation: icct ensures that environmental policy for The aviation sector is informed by high-quality, transparent analysis of The environmental performance of both aircrafts and airlines. Researchers investigate aircraft technology development, airline fuel efficiency, environmental standard design, and The use of alternative fuels in aviation. Icct leverages its membership in groups such as The International civil aviation organization (icao) to contribute research directly to government agencies and organizations to pragmatically inform The design of policies to reduce to environmental impact of flying. Icct research further supports efforts by consumers to minimize The carbon footprint of their travel and efforts by industry groups at The forefront of aviation environmental protection.marine: icct's marine program works to support policies that address The air-quality and climate impacts of shipping at The International, regional, national, and local (port) levels. Icct research has informed The International maritime organization's (imo) marine environmental protection committee (mepc) work on policies to reduce air pollution and ghgs from International shipping. Initiatives include The development of emission control areas (ecas), energy efficiency design index (eedi) targets for new vessels, controls for black carbon emissions, and imo's comprehensive ghg reduction strategy. Icct's ongoing work on air pollution and heavy fuel oil (hfo) use in arctic shipping is building a data-driven argument for policy progress at both imo and The arctic Council. The custom emissions inventory tools icct researchers have developed from satellite automatic information systems (s-ais) operations data are fundamentally strengthening The evidence base available to national and local policymakers committed to reducing air pollution in coastal areas, most notably in china.
Heavy-duty vehicles/electric vehicles:icct's heavy-duty vehicles (hdv) program researches The growing portfolio of policies and technologies designed to reduce climate impacts and air pollution from heavy duty vehicles as most buses and heavy-duty trucks rely on diesel engines that emit dangerous levels of particulates, nitrogen oxides, and other pollutants that cause chronic disease and premature death. Research centers on The strategies necessary to electrify The global hdv fleet through voluntary measures (e.g., green freight programs; fuel-efficiency labeling), incentives (e.g., purchase incentives; reduced tariffs and interest rates; charging infrastructure support) and mandates (e.g., vehicle efficiency standards; exhaust pollutant limits; zero emission/electrification targets). Decarbonizing Transportation will require cleaner engines and fuels, technological advances, and electrifying 29% to 81% of The global heavy-duty fleet by 2050. Thus, icct identifies and promotes The most cost-effective and impactful interventions, contributing its practical expertise to governments and oems to advance The development of a cleaner freight Transportation sector.
Compliance and enforcement:icct's compliance and enforcement program illuminates The scale and scope of disparities between vehicle-efficiency targets or pollutant emissions standards and "real-world" achievement in everyday use. Icct provides data and guidance to government agencies and other stakeholders engaged in designing and operating programs to measure and track vehicle performance. Icct works with agencies to spot problems, such as systematically high-emitting vehicle models, and identify workable and effective resolutions that ensure that efficiency and pollution standards are met in practice as well as in theory.
Renewable fuelsthe icct fuels team develops accurate and applicable lifecycle analysis techniques to identify The fuels that offer The greatest carbon reductions. Researchers help policymakers design and implement effective policies that ensure biofuel feedstock sustainability, account for indirect effects, and support The commercialization of low carbon technologies. Icct identifies The best incentives to effectively drive reductions in The carbon intensity of The fuel mix while encouraging innovation and efficiency. Icct research identifies fuels offering The greatest carbon reductions and supports The development of effective low-carbon fuel policies.
Strategic planning and modeling:icct's modeling center develops The tools and research needed by regulators to put Transportation and environmental policy on a sound foundation globally. The icct team applies its research tools in partnership with other regional and program teams to analyze The costs and benefits of different policy options and their impact on progress toward climate and public health goals at The global and regional levels. The modeling center focuses on subjects including vehicle fuel efficiency and ghg standards, vehicle air pollutant emissions standards, fleet renewal and other in-use vehicle programs, low-sulfur and low-carbon fuels, fiscal and non-fiscal incentives for electric-drive vehicles, and policies that encourage shifts to cleaner modes of transport and reduce The need for travel. The modeling center covers all major modes of Transportation, including road transport, aviation, and maritime shipping.
International partnerships program:the International partnerships program (ipp) was founded in 2022 to recognize The growing importance if International initiatives and partnerships crucial to icct's mission. Ipp combines many initiatives where icct plays a leadership role under one umbrella. Key program partnerships include: 1) in partnership with fia foundation providing cities with real-world emission data to support strategic decision making, icct leads The real urban emissions (true) initiative which collects and publishes real world emissions data. True raises awareness about The magnitude and scope of excess vehicle emissions, supports city efforts to inform consumers with transparent emissions data, and promotes effective policy to limit emissions, 2) The zev alliance consists of 21 national and subnational governments with collective goals to push for immediate zero-emission vehicles sales of pv and mhdvs, 3) zev transition Council is a forum of The 17 largest and most progressive car markets to meet and collectively address key challenges to zero-emission vehicle transition, and 4) accelerating to zero coalition which works towards all sales of new cars and vans being zero emission globally by 2040, and by no later than 2035 in leading markets.