Strategies to Combat Smog and Air Pollution: Effective Measures to Reduce Vehicle Emissions
Transportation and fuel supply industries contribute a huge number of pollutants that cause air pollution and smog, and they must be involved in initiatives to reduce vehicle emissions from mobile sources. Policy instruments to fight smog and air pollution due to mobile sources must be focused on reducing emissions from current cars and avoiding delays in implementing new, cleaner technology and fuels if they are to be effective and sustainable.
Contents
What is “SMOG”?
The smoke and fog in London were first described as smog in 1952. Today, a combination of pollutants, primarily composed of ground level ozone, is described as smog. Pollutants associated with the smog phenomenon are particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxide (NOx), and volatile organic compounds, which have a debilitating impact on health.
[Reference: “Particulate Matter (PM) Basics | US EPA.” US EPA, 19 Apr. 2016, www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/particulate-matter-pm-basics.]
How can we reduce vehicle emissions?
Effective measures for lowering emissions associated with transportation can range from improving the industry’s efficiency to focused regulatory and technical measures that can simultaneously influence both individual vehicles and the transportation system as a whole.
Mobile sources of air pollution can be reduced by lowering emissions per fuel unit, using less fuel per passenger or freight kilometer traveled, or traveling fewer passenger or freight kilometers.
Improve the transport system.
Any action in the transportation sector must be part of a favorable transportation planning and management policy framework. Following are the considerations for an environmentally friendly transportation system:
- Developing transit-oriented development methods to shorten journey lengths and concentrate movements on efficient public transportation routes within the city.
- All new transport infrastructure projects must be subject to air quality audits as a necessary component of the environmental impact analysis to ascertain whether they would deteriorate or aggravate current air quality.
- Prioritizing buses while using the transportation network and establishing segregated busway systems in particular to maintain environmental requirements.
- Creating incentives through commercialization and competition, improving cost control, and designing more efficient route networks will help increase the effectiveness of bus operations.
- Encouraging the use of performance-based factors, such as emission characteristics, in the competitive bidding process for transportation franchises.
- To encourage non-motorized solutions for short distance trips, suitable and secure pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure should be established.
Fiscal measures to reduce vehicle emissions
The most ideal system from an economic standpoint would be one that combines trading emission certificates between fuel and car makers with a direct taxing system on emissions; however, due to the complexity of such a system, other solutions must be developed. The following fiscal measures are among those that can be used to cut emissions from the transport sector:
- To stimulate the use of clean energy, increase the taxes on diesel fuel to cover environmental damages and wear and tear on roads and promote fuel-efficient vehicles
- Aside from gasoline taxes, take into account other vehicle fees based on the weight, axle loads, and annual miles of the car.
- Introducing direct fees for using urban road space, such as congestion fees.
- Increasing or introducing taxes, import charges, and licensing requirements for automobiles that emit pollution.
- Putting serious thought into removing subsidies for free on-street parking as well as forbidding public off-street parking, particularly in areas where these practices cause traffic to worsen or clog roads.
Ensure vehicle efficacy.
In-use vehicle emission requirements can be more strictly enforced with the aid of a good vehicle inspection program. According to international experience, the following recommendations are for setting up an inspection and maintenance system:
- Even if the supervision is outsourced, the government must be prepared and able to provide the resources for auditing and monitoring the program to ensure its objectivity and openness.
- It is simpler to regulate quality in centralized, test-only private sector centers with maximum automation and “blind test” methods; all centers should be subject to independent monitoring.
- An up-to-date and accurate vehicle registration record is important for ensuring vehicle testing in designated categories and imposing a fine enough to deter any violations. A certificate displaying that the vehicle has been examined must be displayed.
- Campaigns and workshops aimed at promoting better vehicle maintenance, particularly the care and lubrication of two-stroke engines, might be a useful addition.
Improved fuel quality will reduce vehicle emissions.
Various factors, including the degree of air pollution and the cost of upgrading, will determine the proper fuel standards for each country. However, the following general rules can be stated:
- As a first priority, switch to unleaded fuel while keeping an eye on benzene and total aromatic levels to make sure they don’t reach unsafe levels.
- Progressively putting into action measures to reduce the sulfur content of both petrol and diesel fuels to extremely low levels, taking into consideration the initial position and limited human and financial resource availability.
- The cost-effectiveness of switching to ultralow sulfur standards should be considered.
- Taking action to stop gasoline adulteration, the smuggling of subpar fuel from nearby nations, and thinking about holding fuel marketers legally accountable for the quality of fuels sold.
Advanced vehicle technology.
In order to reduce emissions over time, it is crucial to adopt acceptable vehicle standards and adequate fuel regulations. The following general guidelines can be used to set these standards:
- Establishing emission limits for vehicles that are currently being driven at levels that the majority of vehicles can achieve with adequate maintenance, then tightening those standards over time.
- Progressively increasing vehicle emission rules for new vehicles to levels associated with improved fuel quality.
- Setting pollution rules that demand the installation and ongoing maintenance of catalytic converters (exhaust emission control devices) on all new gasoline-powered vehicles
Electricity is cleaner and less expensive as a fuel for vehicles because electric vehicles are more effective at converting energy to power cars and trucks, even when that electricity originates from the dirtiest grid. Research at the Union of Concerned Scientists revealed that electric or hybrid automobiles contribute less greenhouse gas emissions as compared to gasoline powered vehicles. The advantages of electric vehicles also increase when states improve the efficiency of their energy infrastructure.
[Reference: “Driving Cleaner.” Union of Concerned Scientists, 25 July 2022, www.ucsusa.org/resources/driving-cleaner.]
Conclusion
The transport sector is one of the major contributors to pollutants that combine to form smog and increase air pollution. Vehicle emissions generate around 45% of nitrogen oxide. To reduce vehicle emissions requires proactive, well considered, and stringent measures by the government, ranging from improving the transport system to improving vehicle technology and fuel quality. It is crucial to diagnose urban air pollution issues, ascertain the impact of mobile sources, and develop cost-effective and sustainable solutions in order to build successful approaches to managing pollution from mobile sources.
Author: Hassan Tariq Malik, Freelance SEO Consultant