A US study led by the Imperial College London and the Centre for Air, Climate and Energy Solutions at Carnegie Mellon University suggests a link with poor air quality and an increase in mortality rates and reduced life expectancy.
According to Bloomberg News over the next decade 24 European cities will ban diesel vehicles, with 13 of these cities banning all internal combustion cars by 2030. The exodus away from diesel vehicles has been driven not only by concerns over air pollution and climate change, but also public anger after officials disclosed in 2015 that Volkswagen had been rigging emissions tests to make its diesel vehicles look far cleaner than they were.
Combining data from the National Centre for Health Statistics the Imperial College study highlights the substantial number of deaths in the US that can be associated with poor air quality.
In California, where eight of the USA’s ten most polluted cities are, the state is combatting air quality issues with initiations like the Carl Moyer Programme – in collaboration with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) – the grant programme has successfully cleaned up toxic diesel PM by 6,500 tonnes since 1998.
The switch to sustainable, clean alternatives away from incumbent diesel technology for freight vehicles, the behemoths of the road, which account for a large portion of pollution – in 2017 transportation overtook power plants to be the largest contributor to America’s CO2 emissions – need cost effective, reliable solutions, that can match demanding duty cycles especially with refrigerated transport where an unbroken temperature controlled network is required.
Dearman, the clean cold energy experts, are developing a range of cold chain solutions with technology that will benefit a range of refrigerated applications
- Transport refrigeration
- Mobile pre-cooling
- Bus air-conditioning
Dearman’s environmental impact at maximum scale could reach around 0.9 gigatonnes or 1.01 gigatons of CO2eq saving per year.
It is an impact that will help reduce air pollution, tackle food waste, and in doing so will improve health outcomes and boost farmer incomes. To achieve this in a cost-effective way is what makes Dearman’s liquid nitrogen technology even more attractive. Proliferation of the Dearman technology will be supported by the political urgency that is being rightly placed on tackling climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, and hence encouraging the uptake of cleaner technologies.
Even as city centres are enforcing clean air zones the Imperial College London study is further proof that tougher regulations are needed to safeguard against the effects of air pollution
SOURCE: Dearman
