Honda Australia commends emissions impact statement

HONDA Australia released a statement commending the Australian Government’s Environment Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC) for releasing an impact statement to address emissions from non-road spark ignition engines and equipment.

The EPHC has invited stakeholders, including Honda, for comments on the analysis, and will be working closely with the relevant industry representatives to ensure the most effective regulations are introduced.

The Consultation Regulatory Impact Statement released by DEHWA indicates a possible introduction of latest US regulations in Australia from 2012.

Honda Australia’s GM, Power Equipment and Marine, Vikram Pawah thanked the EPHC for taking the first step to reduce the level of emissions from engines used in the gardening sector and marine sector in Australia.

“The Council has done some really wonderful and thorough work in analysing the impact high polluting products have on the users and the public in terms of their health,” Pawah said.

“In particular, their work into the cost benefit analysis of compliant versus non-compliant products has shown that the savings on a single marine outboard engine, for instance, can be as much as $9000 in relation to associated healthcare costs.

“Similarly in the gardening sector the health related costs to society can be double in case of non-compliant engines.”

Pawah said that much of the equipment on the market was made up of two-stroke engine products, while the remainder was powered by a mixture of four-stroke engines and other hybrid engines.

With current small engine technology, two-stroke motors rely on gas and air to carry a thin oil film to critical components to keep the engine lubricated and operational. As a result the emissions from two-stroke engines often carry more levels of Hydrocarbons (HC), Nitrous Oxides (NOx) and Carbon Monoxides (CO).

“Standards in emissions of HC and NOx gases per kilowatt hour in small engines have existed in North America and Europe for some time, so it is heartening to see Australia starting to follow suit,” Pawah said.

“The good news is that the customer will still have plenty of choice in regard to high-quality product whilst also being confident that they are doing the right thing by both their health and the environment.”

Honda offers a complete range of four-stroke power equipment including lawnmowers, brushcutters, tillers and the world's first four-stroke hedgecutter and leaf blower. Honda is also one of the few companies to offer only four-stroke marine outboards in its product range.