What do the UK’s air quality plans mean for operators, and what should you do? Eminox’s Carlos Vicente looks beyond the headlines
The proposed ban on petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040, as part of the government’s Air Quality Plan, grabbed the headlines at the end of July, but what can be done to tackle air quality in the mean time?
Attention-grabbing though it may be, the phasing out of diesel and petrol comes with many challenges and coaches, buses and minibuses – all lumped under the heading of ‘heavy duty vehicles’ – will be some of the most difficult to take fully electric.
But diesel engines can be clean, reaching near zero emissions, not just in lab tests but also in real-world operations.
SCRT combines CRT (Continuously Regenerating Trap) and SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) technology.
The latest generation of SCRT can reduce NOx and NO2 by 99%, and particulate matter by 95%, resulting in emissions equivalent to Euro 6.
This means it already meets the requirements laid out in the Air Quality Plan, as well as the London Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) and Clean Air Zone (CAZ) standards.
What is the plan?
The Air Quality Plan outlines how the UK intends to reduce roadside nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations; however, many of the details are still to be finalised as 28 local authorities have been given the responsibility for producing detailed plans by March 2018.
The Scottish Parliament is also currently consulting on introducing Low Emission Zones (LEZ) in four of its largest cities, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee, between 2018 and 2025, with the first to be in place by the end of 2018.
These LEZs will operate 24/7 and set a minimum standard for coach, bus, and HGVs of Euro 6, or retrofit systems approved by the Clean Vehicle Retrofit Accreditation Scheme (CVRAS).
The CVRAS is a robust certification scheme for manufacturers of retrofit emissions reduction technology that will enable CAZ compliance of ‘legacy’ vehicles.
Further LEZs are expected to be introduced in other Air Quality Management Areas by 2023.
The Welsh Government is also working on air quality plans.
What will happen?
All this is against a background of new modelling that predicts there will be less improvement in air quality between 2017 and 2021 than previously expected.
Heavy-duty diesel vehicles contribute over half of UK national average roadside concentration of NO2 according to air quality analysis by the Department
for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra).
Without action, more than 30 areas across the country, mostly around major roads, will not meet legal air quality limits until well beyond 2020.
London is already making big changes with the introduction of the ULEZ, currently set for 2020.
However, Mayor Sadiq Khan is expected to make an announcement soon as to whether this will be implemented 17 months early, starting instead from 8 April 2019.
An £86.1m retrofit programme will upgrade around 5,000 London buses, more than half of London’s entire bus fleet, and cut emissions by up to 95%, making the entire London bus fleet at least Euro 6 standard.
Eminox is one of five suppliers appointed to retrofit the exhaust systems and will be using the latest generation of its SCRT technology (routeone, News, 5 July).
In your area
Meanwhile, 28 other local authorities in England are working to produce plans for tackling air pollution by March 2018.
Following consultations, final plans must be published by December 2018.
These plans must consider a range of measures, including “innovative retrofit technologies” such as SCRT and new fuels, before considering access restrictions and vehicle charging in these CAZs.
The UK government stated in its air quality plan that it believes retrofit technology like SCRT, will be an important element of reducing emissions and help bridge the gap in the journey towards zero emissions by 2040.
The government expects local authorities to take a lead in cleaning up local fleets, and is emphasising the potential benefits of retrofitting, in particular of public transport fleets in CAZs.
The five original CAZ cities, Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby and Southampton, are still expected to implement measures by the end of 2019, other areas will be given more time.
National standard
The CVRAS has been launched to provide a national certification scheme for retrofit emissions reduction technology.
The scheme has been developed jointly by the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP) and the Energy Saving Trust. It follows the announcement in July 2016 of the successful 13 bidders winners sharing a £30m Clean Bus Technology Fund.
It provides a single standard for any emission technology, which can be validated to meet the standards set out in the government’s CAZ Framework for England. This will also be the requirement for London ULEZ.
CVRAS has set out an independent, evidence-based resource that lists all approved vehicle retrofit technology. Eminox SCRT technology meets the requirements of the CVRAS.
Having a single national scheme will mean that operators know that once they fit an approved retrofit system, their vehicle will meet the requirements for any ULEZ or CAZ anywhere in the country.
Find out more: www.eminox.com
