Statement from the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) on urban air quality
At this time there are open infringement proceedings for exceeding the air quality limit values against a whole series of EU Member States – including Germany. According to the German Government, few people are actually affected in the problem areas identified by the European Commission, for example only 90 in the Stuttgart conurbation. But the question remains, what is the most effective way to comply with the limit values in the future? And where do the emissions come from?
The fact is, the increasing market penetration by Euro 6 vehicles with especially low pollutant emissions will result in continuous improvement of the air quality and will gradually resolve the remaining air quality problems. For instance, a study by the Aachen research institute, in cooperation with the Graz University of Technology and the Heidelberg Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (Ifeu), has shown that the air quality targets in urban areas will be achieved with implementation of the demanding Euro 6 exhaust standard.
So an effective improvement in air quality in towns and cities requires rapid introduction of more passenger cars satisfying the Euro 6 standard. Furthermore, the new RDE (Real Driving Emissions) Regulation will markedly reduce emissions in all driving situations and thus ensure additional improvements in air quality.
Nitrogen oxide emissions (NOx) from German road traffic have come down by more than 70 percent since 1990 – despite the volume of traffic rising by about half from 1990 up to the present day. This reduction was therefore much greater than the trend in general reductions.
According to the German Environment Agency (UBA), today diesel passenger cars are responsible for only roughly one tenth of NOx emissions in Germany, with all road traffic taken together responsible for one third – and for more at intersections. So diesel cars play a role here, but they are not the sole factor involved.
Using advanced air quality models, the independent AVISO institute has calculated that with complete penetration of the vehicle fleet by Euro 6 vehicles, the ambitious NO2 limit values would almost always be met even at the most extreme hotspots. So modern Euro 6 vehicles are the technical solution to the remaining air quality challenge. Now what is needed most of all is rapid market penetration by these clean vehicles. AVISO expects the exceedances of limit values at German measuring stations to be halved within just five years.
Diesels will therefore be a solution to the problem: The introduction of RDE will accelerate this development, and so further fleet penetration will enable compliance with the air quality requirements throughout Germany.
Effective improvement in air quality can be accelerated by some additional simple, low-cost measures. Investigations by the automobile club ADAC and the TUM (Munich’s technical university) have found that the “green wave” and smooth traffic flow could bring down NO2 levels by up to nearly one third. A convincing example can be found in Stuttgart: in Hohenheimer Strasse exceedances of the hourly mean value for NO2 were reduced by around 90 percent simply by a simple measure of this type. But people who want to abolish the “green wave” will reduce the quality of the air we breathe.
Another measure with an immediate and marked effect would be to replace older buses and taxis that do not yet satisfy current exhaust standards. These vehicles have very high mileages in urban areas and therefore make a disproportionately large contribution to emissions.
