Skip to main content

UK project aims to enable local authorities to control city vehicle emissions

UK Centre of Excellence for low carbon technologies Cenex has joined Leeds City Council to announce the launch of Project ACCRA, a collaboration between the council, Cenex, Transport Systems Catapult, Earthsense, Dynniq and Tevva Motors. The project will showcase smart city technology applications that demonstrate real-time emissions control, using live air quality data to trigger electric hybrid engines to automatically switch to zero-emission running in heavily polluted areas. The project will be demonstr
August 8, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
UK Centre of Excellence for low carbon technologies Cenex has joined Leeds City Council to announce the launch of Project ACCRA, a collaboration between the council, Cenex, 7800 Transport Systems Catapult, Earthsense, 8343 Dynniq and Tevva Motors.


The project will showcase smart city technology applications that demonstrate real-time emissions control, using live air quality data to trigger electric hybrid engines to automatically switch to zero-emission running in heavily polluted areas. The project will be demonstrated in Leeds and promises to offer cities new ways to reduce urban air pollution without additional charges to motorists or businesses.
 
The consortium, co-ordinated Transport Systems Catapult, will collaborate to capture real-time air quality readings that will trigger hybrid electric engines to switch automatically to zero-emission running. Known as active geo-fencing, the technology concept will be tested on a hybrid vehicle interface developed by Tevva Motors. Transportation network systems developer Dynniq will develop a decision-making engine capable of taking inputs from a range of city data, such as live air quality information and real-time traffic conditions. EarthSense will be responsible for monitoring and uploading updated local air quality levels to the interface, which will be used to trigger on-demand zero-emissions running instructions in the participating Tevva vehicles.
 
Cenex and the Transport Systems Catapult will evaluate the application, markets, business models and scalability of the system in hopes of using the technology more widely in Leeds and potential UK Clean Air Zones.

Related Content

  • Manchester seeks smart but not selective transport solutions
    January 25, 2018
    Smarter transport relies on better communications both with travellers and between transport providers. Andrew Williams reports. Inrix’s prediction that the cost of traffic congestion will rise by 63% to £21bn per year by 2030 clearly illustrates that, in addition to the ongoing inconvenience and inefficiency, ongoing gridlock is a significant drain on the economy. It is against this backdrop that a Cisco-led consortium has launched CitySpire, a smart transport programme that uses location-based services a
  • Bristol Is Open - NEC partnership aims to develop the open programmable city
    February 10, 2016
    NEC Corporation has signed a long-term partnership agreement with Bristol Is Open, a smart city initiative in the UK and a joint venture between Bristol City Council and the University of Bristol. It aims to create the world’s first open, programmable city to support the creation of innovative new smart services for people, business and academia. It intends to pave the way for improvements in a wide range of services, including traffic congestion, waste management, entertainment, e-democracy, and energy
  • Wireless charging project could change perceptions of electric vehicles
    October 10, 2012
    A two-year pilot project has begun in London with taxi firm Addison Lee and electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Renault, which uses the principle of magnetic induction to jump electricity from a base station direct to the vehicle’s battery to deliver wireless charging. The charging technology being used is called Halo and has been developed by mobile innovations company Qualcomm, the organisation responsible for processors powering the latest generation of smartphones and tablets. ‘EV drivers will opt for th
  • Ricardo launches vehicle emissions monitoring service
    March 20, 2017
    UK-based Ricardo Energy & Environment, working with technology partner OPUS Inspection, has launched a vehicle emissions monitoring service for the measurement of emissions from vehicles on UK roads. Installed at locations of interest, the system records driving emissions in a completely non-intrusive manner from each passing vehicle, including nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and ammonia. The system can also be linked to automatic number plate recogniti