Honda supports Minister's two-stroke ban

by Ben Sandman on 2 Oct 2007 Honda has thrown its weight behind Federal Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Malcolm Turnbull, in his plea to fight urban air pollution caused by marine outboards and garden engines.

It is widely agreed that traditional carburetted two-stroke engines are a major cause of high emissions and contribute significantly to urban smog.

The proposed state/territory government initiative includes funding for a study to look at the viability of introducing regulations to control these emissions.

Traditional two-stroke engines represent approximately 60 per cent of small engine sales in Australia and are responsible for an alarming rate of emissions. On average, each two-stroke outboard or lawn mower engine is responsible for 20 to 30 times the emissions of a modern day motor vehicle.

Honda’s managing director Stuart Strickland said it was 'about time' federal legislation was introduced.

'One of the government’s own environmental reports conclusively identified several years ago just how bad two-stoke engines were for the environment,' Mr Strickland said.

'Other countries around the world have had legislation regarding the use of polluting two-stroke engines in place for many years, so it’s certainly time Australia followed suit.'

The government report to which Mr Strickland referred, the ‘Comparative Assessment of the Environmental Performance of Small Engines – Outdoor Garden Equipment’, states:

‘It is therefore clear that the most expedient path to reduce emissions from these small engines is through national regulation.’

An earlier Department of Environment report regarding two-stroke engines also said about two-stroke mowers:

‘Assuming six people in a block of 10 homes decided to mow their lawn during the same period, the emissions would equate to about 240 cars driving around in their yards for almost an hour…’

Mr Strickland said the Federal Government’s call to consider regulating out-dated two-stroke engine technology was inline with Honda’s own environmental mission, which dated back nearly 50 years.

'As one example, Honda adopted the policy of manufacturing only four-stroke outboard engines back in 1964,' he said.

'Today, Honda is the only outboard company in Australia to have every model in its range achieve the Outboard Engine Distributors Association (OEDA) three-star ultra-low emission rating for superior environmental performance.'

In fact, Honda’s commitment to first-class four-stroke outboard technology can be found in the words of the late Mr Soichiro Honda himself, when he gave the following directive to Honda staff in the 1960s:

'What will happen to our oceans, lakes and rivers if all that exhaust gas mixed with oil gets pumped into the water? I don’t care if everyone else is making two-strokes – Honda has to make four strokes.'

Further information: Honda – (03) 9270 1111 or visit: www.honda.com.au