Are governments taking any action to reduce air pollution ?
Yes they finally are !! Bet you didn't know that one of the first countries in the world to ban diesel fuelled cars from being sold due to pollution was Lebanon in 2002.
It has been reported that many countries around the world plan to ban or tax diesel and petrol cars in the future to improve air quality such as the UK, France, china and Germany to name a few - click on the links on each country if you want to read more about the future ban or watch the clip below.
There is some good news for anyone living in London, as there are a range of measures already in place.
In my view I don't think it will have much of a impact as cars newer than 2005 are still very polluting, plus many people will just pay the fine. The ultra low emissions zone which comes into force on 8 April 2019 will have more of a positive impact. The area in which it will be enforced is shown in figure 1. This time it operates 24 hours a day and any diesel cars which are not Euro 6 standard (so 2015 onwards) will be fined. Petrol cars any cars older than Euro 4 (2006) will also be affected.
In 2018 all new taxis that want to get a license need be able to run on electric power for up to 30 miles, this is a good step forward. The biggest problem of the ultra low emissions zone in my view is that old black cabs won't be affected, there are thousands of old diesel black cabs on the streets which are very polluting as they can still operate up to an age of 15 years, meaning hundreds of old cabs in London won't even have a diesel particulate filter.
Figure 1, ultra low emissions zones, source
Are sales of new diesel cars being affected.
Yes they are, in the first half of 2017 in Europe, sales of diesel cars fell around 4 %. In the UK there is a similar picture which is represented in figure 2, showing that the market share of diesel fell from around 50 % in 2016 to around 43 % in 2017. Petrol is now taking a clear lead which hasn't been the case since 2001. An interesting note is that Alternative Fuelled Vehicles such as electric are on the increase and I believe this is the future.
Figure 2, Market share, source
What is the future for cars ?
Electric !! Most car companies are planning to launch electric or hybrid cars - Volvo for example mentioned that from 2019 all their cars will be either electric or hybrid. To get a sneak glimpse at the future just have a look at these new market leading electric vehicles coming out in 2020 from Tesla.
BP are also investing to install electric charging stations at their petrol stations.
Next week
Keep an eye out for what will be announced in the Budget next week !!
For anyone who lives in cities around the world like London where transport is largely run on diesel fuel, this is a great concern for human health. I will explore this in the next blog as not many people realise how harmful black carbon is to our health.
Yes they finally are !! Bet you didn't know that one of the first countries in the world to ban diesel fuelled cars from being sold due to pollution was Lebanon in 2002.
It has been reported that many countries around the world plan to ban or tax diesel and petrol cars in the future to improve air quality such as the UK, France, china and Germany to name a few - click on the links on each country if you want to read more about the future ban or watch the clip below.
There is some good news for anyone living in London, as there are a range of measures already in place.
- It costs more to park a diesel car in London
- The London Toxicity Charge which came into force on the 23 October 2017. It is very simple, for anyone with a diesel or petrol car older older than 2006 and don't meet Euro 4 standards, the charge is £10 a day on top of the congestion charge - Monday to Friday.
In my view I don't think it will have much of a impact as cars newer than 2005 are still very polluting, plus many people will just pay the fine. The ultra low emissions zone which comes into force on 8 April 2019 will have more of a positive impact. The area in which it will be enforced is shown in figure 1. This time it operates 24 hours a day and any diesel cars which are not Euro 6 standard (so 2015 onwards) will be fined. Petrol cars any cars older than Euro 4 (2006) will also be affected.
In 2018 all new taxis that want to get a license need be able to run on electric power for up to 30 miles, this is a good step forward. The biggest problem of the ultra low emissions zone in my view is that old black cabs won't be affected, there are thousands of old diesel black cabs on the streets which are very polluting as they can still operate up to an age of 15 years, meaning hundreds of old cabs in London won't even have a diesel particulate filter.
Figure 1, ultra low emissions zones, source
Are sales of new diesel cars being affected.
Yes they are, in the first half of 2017 in Europe, sales of diesel cars fell around 4 %. In the UK there is a similar picture which is represented in figure 2, showing that the market share of diesel fell from around 50 % in 2016 to around 43 % in 2017. Petrol is now taking a clear lead which hasn't been the case since 2001. An interesting note is that Alternative Fuelled Vehicles such as electric are on the increase and I believe this is the future.
Figure 2, Market share, source
What is the future for cars ?
Electric !! Most car companies are planning to launch electric or hybrid cars - Volvo for example mentioned that from 2019 all their cars will be either electric or hybrid. To get a sneak glimpse at the future just have a look at these new market leading electric vehicles coming out in 2020 from Tesla.
BP are also investing to install electric charging stations at their petrol stations.
Next week
Keep an eye out for what will be announced in the Budget next week !!
For anyone who lives in cities around the world like London where transport is largely run on diesel fuel, this is a great concern for human health. I will explore this in the next blog as not many people realise how harmful black carbon is to our health.
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