Skip to main content

For better air quality ‘cities need to turn to gas powered trucks and buses’

The UK’s cities are under unprecedented pressure to improve air quality, as Supreme Court justices in London order that air quality plans to comply with European Union (EU) law on limits for nitrogen dioxide (NOx) in the air must be submitted to the European Commission no later than 31 December 2015. The case was brought by ClientEarth, a group of lawyers dedicated to environmental issues, which says the ruling means the Government must start work on a comprehensive plan to meet pollution limits as soon
May 1, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
The UK’s cities are under unprecedented pressure to improve air quality, as Supreme Court justices in London order that air quality plans to comply with 1816 European Union (EU) law on limits for nitrogen dioxide (NOx) in the air must be submitted to the 1690 European Commission no later than 31 December 2015.

The case was brought by ClientEarth, a group of lawyers dedicated to environmental issues, which says the ruling means the Government must start work on a comprehensive plan to meet pollution limits as soon as possible. Among the measures that that it must consider are low emission zones, congestion charging and other economic incentives.

ClientEarth is calling for action to clean up the worst polluting diesel vehicles, including through a national network of low emission zones.

Gas expert John Baldwin, managing director of CNG Services, says in response: “Thousands of people are dying of poor air quality ever year. As we speak in 16 cities are breaching legal limits for NOx, much of which comes from diesel engines; trucks and buses.

“Rather than look to increasing congestion charges or controlling where vehicles can go, why aren’t we using gas powered vehicles? A recent report from Energy & Utility Skills has shown that gas will give us significant greenhouse gas reductions as well as getting rid of hazardous NOx and particulate matter, which can kill.”

“We’ve got the technology here now. The big plus about gas engines is not only do they produce fewer NOx emissions and virtually eliminate emissions of particulates; they are also 50 per cent quieter than normal diesel engines. This means gas trucks are ideal for making night-time deliveries. ”

“Gas isn’t the future, it’s here now – we’ve got the vehicles and we can deliver fuel through our extensive gas grid – all we need is the political will to make it happen and save lives.”

Related Content

  • December 21, 2020
    IRD polishes WiM’s green credentials
    A project in Canada is proving that Weigh in Motion can have a positive environmental impact, by helping to reduce emissions. Adam Hill looks at International Road Dynamics’ numbers
  • June 8, 2015
    ITS solutions to keep truck traffic moving
    David Crawford reviews freight management initiatives. Managing truck traffic to minimise its environmental impacts, without adversely impacting on its critical economic role, continues to drive ITS-based solutions in both urban and interurban contexts.
  • July 25, 2017
    New UK study trials effectiveness of low-emission HGVs
    Cenex, the UK’s Centre of Excellence for low carbon technologies is to partner with logistics provider Kuehne + Nagel to trial the effectiveness of low-emissions heavy-goods vehicles (HGVs) operating as parts of large fleets with demanding-duty cycles. Funded in part by Innovate UK’s Low-Emission Freight and Logistics Project, the Reduced-Emission Logistics (RED-E-LOG) trial will see one of the UK’s largest fleet operators trial the effectiveness of dedicated (spark-ignited) gas and dual-fuel direct injecti
  • January 10, 2013
    Need for simpler urban tolling solutions
    A common assumption, even amongst informed observers, is that there’s but a handful of urban charging schemes in operation around the world and scant prospect of that changing any time soon. Larger city-sized schemes such as Singapore, London and Stockholm come readily to mind but if we take a wider view and also consider urban access control and Low Emission Zones (LEZs) then the picture changes rather radically. There is a notable concentration of such schemes in Europe but worldwide the number is comfort