[PASSED] Catalytic Converter Implementation

[Refuge Isle]

The World Assembly,

Aware that many land vehicles and automobiles in some member-nations are still powered via internal combustion engines, or other gasoline-powered fueling sources,

Believing that these engines, if not properly regulated, may expel many harmful gases and substances into the atmosphere, which may cause adverse health and environmental risks,

Knowing that this risk can be significantly reduced by simply fitting automobiles with the catalytic converter,

Therefore enacts the following policies in all member-nations:

1. For the purposes of this resolution, "catalytic converter" and any linguistic variations thereof refers to a device used to control exhaust emissions through the transformation of harmful gas, pollutants, and other harmful substances that would be emitted by an internal combustion engine into less harmful substances, by means of redox reaction.
   
   
2. All combustion-powered vehicles manufactured, imported, or otherwise bought and sold following the passage of this resolution, or following a nation's entry into the World Assembly, shall be equipped with a catalytic converter. These catalytic converters must be regularly inspected (at least as often as the converter's expected lifespan) to ensure their continued operation. Failure to equip a catalytic converter properly such that the catalytic converter is not actually used shall be considered non-compliance with this clause. This clause may be waived for vehicles which cannot reliably have a catalytic converter installed, and were owned within a member nation prior to this resolution being enacted in that member.
   
   
3. The removal of any catalytic converters is strictly forbidden, unless it is for the express purpose of installing a new catalytic converter or other technology as stipulated in clause four, or the vehicle it is using is otherwise ceasing to be in operation.
   
   
4. It is the responsibility of members to institute regulations surrounding catalytic converters that have to do with the most efficient technological innovation surrounding them as practicable given the circumstances of the nation. In the event that a nation has access to more efficient or advanced technology that reduces harmful exhaust emissions, they shall be permitted to install combustion-powered vehicles with that technology as opposed to a catalytic converter, given that said technology is equivalent or more effective in reducing these emissions.

I've had this draft on the backburner for a bit, and decided to finally post it today to get some feedback (given I'm finally done with finals and need stuff to do during my break time!)

Let me know your thoughts.

[Tigrisia]

While we support the proposal in general, we recommend a more comprehensive approach and not limit the proposal to automobiles, but also add other methods of transport, such as trucks, busses or trains.

We also recommend to include a grandfathering clause, so that very old cars (or trucks and so on) can still be sold, even if they have no catalytic convertor.

For the delegation of the Federal Republic of Tigrisia at the World Assembly
Vice-Ambassador Claus Sato
Interim Head of Mission on behalf of Ambassador Thomas Salazar

[Fachumonn]

This resolution pretty much does nothing...

The WA does not need to regulate Catalytic Convertors. And as your 4th clause suggests, they are not the best.

[Bisofeyr]

While we support the proposal in general, we recommend a more comprehensive approach and not limit the proposal to automobiles, but also add other methods of transport, such as trucks, busses or trains.

We also recommend to include a grandfathering clause, so that very old cars (or trucks and so on) can still be sold, even if they have no catalytic convertor.

For the delegation of the Federal Republic of Tigrisia at the World Assembly
Vice-Ambassador Claus Sato
Interim Head of Mission on behalf of Ambassador Thomas Salazar

Norde Lot, asleep in one chair with his legs propped up in another, wakes up suddenly to the Vice-Ambassador's commentary. Blinking away his wooziness, he takes a moment before he responds, "I shall consider a grandfathering clause, but for the time being will leave it as is. Would the phrase 'motor vehicle' be more sufficient than 'automobile'?"

This resolution pretty much does nothing...

The WA does not need to regulate Catalytic Convertors. And as your 4th clause suggests, they are not the best.

OOC: Unless I'm horribly wrong (and I'm fairly confident on this), catalytic converters are the best we have to reduce automobile emissions in the real-world (other than, of course, electric vehicles etc.), and this clause is essentially to make it more RP-proof.

[Repreteop]

Dammit Spongebob, somebody stole our catalytic converter.

[Fachumonn]

OOC: Unless I'm horribly wrong (and I'm fairly confident on this), catalytic converters are the best we have to reduce automobile emissions in the real-world (other than, of course, electric vehicles etc.), and this clause is essentially to make it more RP-proof.

Even so, this resolution still doesn't do much and I don't think we need a WA resolution.

[Starman of Stardust]

"We would support this resolution conditional on it being made clear that automobiles must actually use catalytic converters as opposed to merely being equipped with them. In the Union, conventional automobiles are rarely used in favour of more advanced technologies which do not generate emissions; however, we recognise that we are in a minority of member nations in this regard."

[Simone Republic]

"We would support this resolution conditional on it being made clear that automobiles must actually use catalytic converters as opposed to merely being equipped with them. In the Union, conventional automobiles are rarely used in favour of more advanced technologies which do not generate emissions; however, we recognise that we are in a minority of member nations in this regard."

Increasingly not a minority. Hong Kong now sells 2/3 of new cars in electric only (BYD or Tesla, a couple of Chinese brands also being launched), and probably more if charging stations weren't in such shortages. The Mainland of China is now 20% fully electric and rising.

[Bisofeyr]

OOC: The draft has been updated, with the following changes.

1. "Automobile" -> "Motor Vehicle"
2. Mandates the actual use of catalytic converters.
3. Grandfathers in "show cars" specifically, not all cars. This is the best analogy I could find to the real-world "vintage car" exceptions, generally applied to work in all nations.

[Simone Republic]

Yes, it's a nice idea, and sensible. But I almost think it's like a requirement to put seat belts on horse-drawn carriages. It's safer, but internal combustion engines are kind of fading out anyway.

[Starman of Stardust]

"We would support this resolution conditional on it being made clear that automobiles must actually use catalytic converters as opposed to merely being equipped with them. In the Union, conventional automobiles are rarely used in favour of more advanced technologies which do not generate emissions; however, we recognise that we are in a minority of member nations in this regard."

Increasingly not a minority. Hong Kong now sells 2/3 of new cars in electric only (BYD or Tesla, a couple of Chinese brands also being launched), and probably more if charging stations weren't in such shortages. The Mainland of China is now 20% fully electric and rising.

Ooc: Admittedly this wasn't very clear from my Ic post; however the DSU (the nation I roleplay on this account) is future-tech and so conventional automobiles are uncommon and generally illegal.

[Bisofeyr]

Yes, it's a nice idea, and sensible. But I almost think it's like a requirement to put seat belts on horse-drawn carriages. It's safer, but internal combustion engines are kind of fading out anyway.

Sure, but it's still a slow-moving process with EVs only having 2.1% of the marketshare, with way less than 1% in developing nations. It's still worthwhile to implement, as there are billions (pulling this out of nowhere but it's bound to be true) of cars in the real-world that are still combustion-powered, and hundreds of billions IC in the WA.

[Simone Republic]

Not exactly billions, 1.3 billion as of end 2022, but probably falling towards 1 billion by 2025-26 or so. Source: S&P Global Mobility

There's some issues on forecasting the number of ICE vehicles because vehicles are lasting longer but EVs are also climbing faster than expected.

[Tigrisia]

"Automobile" -> "Motor Vehicle"

We would recommend to further expand this resolution on other vehicles, including trains and other non-road mobile machinery or barges. (OOC: Following the European / Australian Euro-Standards).

We also recommend to not only mandate some catalytic converter, but to mandate that nations should continously adapt their regulations to follow scientific advancement. (OOC: There has been significant advancement of CCs in the last decades).

Apart from that, we would welcome if the draft includes further measures. Most importantly, that nations should mandate that industries have to use the best available techniques to reduce emmissions of vehicles.

For optimal results, we also recommend that member nations shall cooperate and share the newest inventions when it comes to emission control.

Last but not least, the resolution should stress that nations take comprehensive measures to fade out the usage of combustion engines, where appropriate

OOC: Recommend the following UN Document as a basis: https://unece.org/DAM/env/documents/201 ... 138_En.pdf


For the delegation of the Federal Republic of Tigrisia at the World Assembly
Vice-Ambassador Claus Sato
Chargé d'affaires

[Bisofeyr]

Light updates have been made to this draft. I'd like to keep the focus somewhat narrow on this one but I have implemented several of the changes suggested by Tigrisia above.

[Bisofeyr]

Bump

[Simone Republic]

I think if you qualify in the preamble that "some" WA states need this and this is purely an interim measure, maybe.

I mean, I am frequently in Hong Kong, and 65% of new cars sold there now are fully electric (half Tesla and half Chinese brands). And the Mainland of China is rising quickly (since they rarely drive long distances and therefore don't have range anxiety, or they just rent the car and swap nearly empty batteries for new batteries on the road).

[Bisofeyr]

I think if you qualify in the preamble that "some" WA states need this and this is purely an interim measure, maybe.

I mean, I am frequently in Hong Kong, and 65% of new cars sold there now are fully electric (half Tesla and half Chinese brands). And the Mainland of China is rising quickly (since they rarely drive long distances and therefore don't have range anxiety, or they just rent the car and swap nearly empty batteries for new batteries on the road).

I'm okay with making that qualification.

[Bananaistan]

"On the face of it, requiring only new vehicles to be fitted with working catalytic convertors appears to be the environmentally sound approach and the requirement here effectively bans the sale of second hand vehicles in one fell swoop (in a jurisdiction which previously did not require catalytic converters). We would need to be provided with an environmental impact assessment before we could support."

[Bisofeyr]

"On the face of it, requiring only new vehicles to be fitted with working catalytic convertors appears to be the environmentally sound approach and the requirement here effectively bans the sale of second hand vehicles in one fell swoop (in a jurisdiction which previously did not require catalytic converters). We would need to be provided with an environmental impact assessment before we could support."

Norde Lot, sifting through his satchel, is befuddled by his own inability to find the report which spurred the creation of this legislation: he, of course, had never heard of a catalytic converter prior to entering the World Assembly's halls, given Bisofeyr's failure to invent cars (or any other forms of motor transportation) thus far. "I will, uh, get that report to you soon, amb-bassador. I sh-should also note that s-second hand vehic-cles are not b-banned... there is just an eck-xtra step in the sale... that is, installing a c-converter."

https://text2fa.ir/wp-content/uploads/Text2fa.ir-Life-cycle-assessment-of-a-catalytic-converter-for-passenger-cars-1.pdf

Substantial benefits are gained through atmospheric emissions reduction at the exhaust pipes. Concerning significant emissions, over 160,000 km of the use of a catalytic converter, about 1500 kg of carbon monoxide,290 kg of nitrogen oxides, 140 kg of hydrocarbons and 11 kg of methane are reduced from the exhaust emissions.

[Bananaistan]

"On the face of it, requiring only new vehicles to be fitted with working catalytic convertors appears to be the environmentally sound approach and the requirement here effectively bans the sale of second hand vehicles in one fell swoop (in a jurisdiction which previously did not require catalytic converters). We would need to be provided with an environmental impact assessment before we could support."

Norde Lot, sifting through his satchel, is befuddled by his own inability to find the report which spurred the creation of this legislation: he, of course, had never heard of a catalytic converter prior to entering the World Assembly's halls, given Bisofeyr's failure to invent cars (or any other forms of motor transportation) thus far. "I will, uh, get that report to you soon, amb-bassador. I sh-should also note that s-second hand vehic-cles are not b-banned... there is just an eck-xtra step in the sale... that is, installing a c-converter."

https://text2fa.ir/wp-content/uploads/Text2fa.ir-Life-cycle-assessment-of-a-catalytic-converter-for-passenger-cars-1.pdf

Substantial benefits are gained through atmospheric emissions reduction at the exhaust pipes. Concerning significant emissions, over 160,000 km of the use of a catalytic converter, about 1500 kg of carbon monoxide,290 kg of nitrogen oxides, 140 kg of hydrocarbons and 11 kg of methane are reduced from the exhaust emissions.

OOC: What's the feasibility of installing a catalytic converter onto an exhaust system and engine originally designed without one though? I don't think it's as simple as just slap one on and off you go.

[Bisofeyr]

Norde Lot, sifting through his satchel, is befuddled by his own inability to find the report which spurred the creation of this legislation: he, of course, had never heard of a catalytic converter prior to entering the World Assembly's halls, given Bisofeyr's failure to invent cars (or any other forms of motor transportation) thus far. "I will, uh, get that report to you soon, amb-bassador. I sh-should also note that s-second hand vehic-cles are not b-banned... there is just an eck-xtra step in the sale... that is, installing a c-converter."

https://text2fa.ir/wp-content/uploads/Text2fa.ir-Life-cycle-assessment-of-a-catalytic-converter-for-passenger-cars-1.pdf

Substantial benefits are gained through atmospheric emissions reduction at the exhaust pipes. Concerning significant emissions, over 160,000 km of the use of a catalytic converter, about 1500 kg of carbon monoxide,290 kg of nitrogen oxides, 140 kg of hydrocarbons and 11 kg of methane are reduced from the exhaust emissions.

OOC: What's the feasibility of installing a catalytic converter onto an exhaust system and engine originally designed without one though? I don't think it's as simple as just slap one on and off you go.

OOC: Doesn't seem that hard per https://www.walkerexhaust.com/support/t ... erter.html
If one's really concerned, any halfway competent mechanic ought to be able to do it for you.

[Bananaistan]

OOC: What's the feasibility of installing a catalytic converter onto an exhaust system and engine originally designed without one though? I don't think it's as simple as just slap one on and off you go.

OOC: Doesn't seem that hard per https://www.walkerexhaust.com/support/t ... erter.html
If one's really concerned, any halfway competent mechanic ought to be able to do it for you.

OOC: That's just replacing one that was already fitted. I'm still unconvinced. Even if it's technically feasible to cut apart the exhaust and weld in a cat, it doesn't mean that it will work nor that the exhaust fumes from an untuned old engine with a carburetor won't just melt the cat (or set fire to the car) in weeks (compared to modern fuel injection engines with electronic sensors up the ying yang). I assume there were good reasons why RL laws did not require retrofitting cats to old cars and this whole feasibility thing might well be one reason.

Edit: Also, the instructions on your link are optimistic and only relevant to one particular marque. I had a cat fail on me once and the best solution was to replace the entire exhaust from behind the engine manifold to the outlet at the back. Just slipping in a new cat would have involved cutting and welding.

[GreatNewEngland]

This is just bs regulation that's completely unneeded. Companies will comply for such through pressure from the public, and they'll comply for better measures when they exist. Regulations aren't needed for either of those to happen, and this proposal limits that second option. Furthermore, Simone Republic delenda est.

[Bisofeyr]

OOC: Doesn't seem that hard per https://www.walkerexhaust.com/support/t ... erter.html
If one's really concerned, any halfway competent mechanic ought to be able to do it for you.

OOC: That's just replacing one that was already fitted. I'm still unconvinced. Even if it's technically feasible to cut apart the exhaust and weld in a cat, it doesn't mean that it will work nor that the exhaust fumes from an untuned old engine with a carburetor won't just melt the cat (or set fire to the car) in weeks (compared to modern fuel injection engines with electronic sensors up the ying yang). I assume there were good reasons why RL laws did not require retrofitting cats to old cars and this whole feasibility thing might well be one reason.

Edit: Also, the instructions on your link are optimistic and only relevant to one particular marque. I had a cat fail on me once and the best solution was to replace the entire exhaust from behind the engine manifold to the outlet at the back. Just slipping in a new cat would have involved cutting and welding.

OOC: I'll admit, while I did search for instructions for vehicles which never had a converter equipped, but I didn't double-check to make sure the actual source I grabbed adhered to that criterion. Upon further inspection, I have included a clause exempting such vehicles in the OP. Thanks for the feedback

This is just bs regulation that's completely unneeded. Companies will comply for such through pressure from the public, and they'll comply for better measures when they exist. Regulations aren't needed for either of those to happen, and this proposal limits that second option. Furthermore, Simone Republic delenda est.

Take a look at clause four.