Emisión de dióxido de carbono de vehículos automotores en la ciudad de Loja, Ecuador.

This study aims to improve our knowledge concerning the air quality by analysing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions emanating from motor vehicles. The vehicle fleet was characterized by means of surveys, vehicular seating capacity, and collection of information from both public and private entities. After obtaining the information, the CO2 emissions in tons per year were estimated for the vehicular fleet in 2017 according to data from the Vehicle Registration Center of Loja-CMVLM, and the Municipal Transport Traffic and Road Safety Unit-UMTTSV and after applying a universal formula developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which uses three main variables: number of vehicles, vehicular activity and emission factor. The results show that in the city of Loja the vehicular fleet emitted 208,920 tons of CO2 in 2017. Private transportation with 60 % is the one that mainly contributed to the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere, followed by public transport under UMTTSV regulation with 33 % and 7 % corresponded to new vehicles, motorcycles and government vehicles. The main factors that determine vehicle CO2 emissions into the atmosphere are: the number of vehicles and the number of hours of vehicular operation in the area of investigation. On the other hand, vehicular increase is due to: the enlargement of the urban perimeter and activity pertaining to the local economy.