The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment reported that the world's ecosystems have declined more rapidly and extensively over the past 50 years. Industry must recognize the ecological impact of its business activities, and maintaining healthy ecosystem services including provision of food, fresh water, air and climate regulation, and natural hazards.
Building environmental value into our cars
Reducing emissions and the use of substances that impact the air, water, soil, and biodiversity requires us to consider the life cycle of a vehicle from development and production to use and disposal.
We have worked to quickly introduce on the market vehicles that comply with various government regulations-emission regulations, restrictions on the use of substances that affect water and soil when the vehicle is disposed of at the end of its life, and reductions in volatile organic compounds (VOCs*1) in vehicle cabins-as well as to meet our own voluntary targets that are even stricter than those regulations.
Tailpipe emission levels of today's cleanest gasoline vehicles have been reduced to 1/100 with U-LEV*2 and 1/250 with SU-LEV*3 compared with vehicles made in the 1970s when regulations were first introduced.
At Nissan, we focus on the impact given to the air, soil, water and biodiversity by our cars over their entire life cycles, and by our corporate activities. We are dedicated to bringing this burden as close to zero as possible, to creating new value for our customers and society, and to developing technologies that make this all possible.
- *1 VOCs: Volatile organic compounds. These are organic compounds, such as formaldehyde and toluene, that evaporate readily at normal temperatures.
- *2 U-LEV: Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle. A vehicle producing 50% less nitrogen oxide (NOx) and hydrocarbon (HC) than the level prescribed in the 2005 emission standards.
- *3 SU-LEV Super Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle. A vehicle producing 75% less nitrogen oxide (NOx) and hydrocarbon (HC) than the level prescribed in the 2005 emission standards.
Providing environmental quality across the globe
Tailpipe emissions during vehicle use are the primary cause of environmental impact from Nissan products. We aim to comply as early as possible with standards that are growing stricter by the year, including (1) Euro 4 and Euro 5*1 in Europe, (2) the Environmental Protection Agency's Tier 2*2 regulations and Zero Emission Vehicle requirements in the United States, and (3) new long-term emission standards in Japan.
The European End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV) Directive for vehicles that are no longer in use, as well as usage restrictions in other countries, are being put forth to reduce the environment-impacting substances in vehicle materials.
In accordance with the European Commission's Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation, adopted in December 2006, we are also working on the management of a wide range of chemical substances all the way up our supply chain.
- *1 Euro 4, Euro 5: European Emissions Standards Level 4 and Level 5.
- *2 EPA Tier 2: Tier 2 Vehicle and Gasoline Sulfur Program of the United States' Environmental Protection Agency.
Actively pursuing reductions of emissions to the levels found in the atmosphere
We got an early start on developing clean combustion technology and catalytic technology.
- The Sentra CA, launched in the U.S. in January 2000, was the world's first gasoline-powered car to meet the exhaust standards set by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), and earned Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle (PZEV)*certification.
*PZEV: Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle. A vehicle equipped with advanced technology converted as zero emissions vehicles. - In August of that same year, the Bluebird Sylphy sold in Japan became the first car to be certified as an Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle (U-LEV) by the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. In 2003, it became the first car in Japan to be certified under the new Super Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle (SU-LEV) standards.
- SU-LEV certification indicates the highest rank of low-emission vehicle, and in Japan Nissan's SU-LEVs today account for more than 96% of the gasoline-powered passenger cars we sell (as of the end of March 2011).
*By selling this numbers of SU-LEVs, we achieve a reduction in emissions of nitrous oxides (NOx) and hydrocarbon (HC) nearly equivalent to that which would be achieved if 40% of all vehicles we sold were fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs) or electric vehicles (EVs) (Nissan's own calculations).
Our next goal is to reduce emissions to the levels found in the atmosphere.
We will continue to make all-out efforts to develop low emissions vehicles.
See the following for information about our specific actions:
