Modern diesel cars produce 10 times more toxic air pollution compared to heavy trucks and buses, new European data has noted.
The plain distinction in emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) is because of the much more stringent testing applied to big vehicles in the EU, as per the researchers behind a new report. They state the same rigorous measures should be applied to cars.
NOx contamination is accountable for 10s of thousands of early deaths throughout Europe, with the UK suffering a particularly high toll. Much of the contamination is produced by diesel cars, which on the road produce about six times more than allowed in the formal lab-based tests. Following the Volkswagen emissions scandal, the car tests are due to be toughened, however advocates state the reforms do not go far enough.
The latest report from the International Council on Clean Transport (ICCT), a research study group that played an essential role in exposing Volkswagen’s scandal, compared the emissions from trucks and buses in reasonable driving conditions with those of cars.
It discovered that heavy-duty automobiles tested in Germany and Finland gave off about 210mg NOx per kilometre driven, lower than half the 500mg/km drained by contemporary diesel vehicles that meet the highest “Euro 6” standard. However, the buses and trucks have bigger engines and burn more diesel per kilometre, implying that cars produce 10 times more NOx per litre of fuel.
The ICCT analysis revealed that producers had the ability to make sure that heavy duty cars kept below contamination limits when on the road, however that emissions from cars skyrocket once in the real world.
Official EU tests for vehicles are presently restricted to lab measurements of prototype automobiles. “In contrast, for measurement of NOx emissions from trucks and buses, mobile testing devices ended up being mandatory in 2013. As a consequence, randomly chosen vehicles can be tested under real-world driving conditions,” stated Peter Mock, managing director of ICCT in Europe.
Modifications to the automobile testing regime in the EU are due to begin in September, with mobile devices, called portable emissions measurement systems (PEMS), connected to vehicles as they drive on genuine roads.
