Air pollution standards for non-road engines
This paper is a response from Transport & Environment to the ‘Consultation on the revision of Directive 97/68 on emissions from non-road mobile machinery engines’ by the European Commission.
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Industry laments on cleaner shipping laws
One wonders whether the 50,000 Europeans who die prematurely each year as a result of ship pollution would agree with industry laments on green laws for the sector.
A robust Polar Code is more important than ever
Opinion by Antoine Kedzierski. It would be wrong to say that nobody benefits from global warming. Some people may end up doing quite well out of it because of the changes it brings. And one of these changes is that melting ice in the Arctic opens up new trans-polar shipping routes. Ideally, they wouldn’t exist, because global temperatures would have stayed within acceptable levels. But because the Arctic is already warming twice as rapidly as the rest of the globe, these routes do exist.
Unconventional wisdom on Arctic shipping
In this first of two blog posts, policy officer for clean shipping, Antoine Kedzierski questions the wisdom of some often-repeated statements on Arctic shipping and looks at the urgent need for decisive progress on the Polar Code.
European Environment Agency critical of shipping air pollution
The shipping sector has been described as ‘one of the most unregulated sources of air pollution’. In a report on shipping, the European Environment Agency (EEA) says emissions from the sector have ‘increased substantially’ over the last two decades. Nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter (PM2.5) levels have risen by as much as 35-55% between 1990 and 2010, and nitrogen oxide emissions could increase so much in the coming years that they could be equal to land-based sources by 2020.
Impact of black carbon underestimated
Black carbon, or soot particles from diesel engines, could be making a much larger contribution to climate change than previously believed, according to a study by over 30 internationally recognised climate scientists. The study, Bounding the role of black carbon in the climate system: a scientific assessment, says black carbon is second only to carbon dioxide as the most important warming gas, with a greater impact than methane. The study’s lead author said the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in its 2007 assessment, gave a value to the role of black carbon that was only half of what this new study suggests it is. The authors believe that if efforts to reduce black carbon emissions were maximised, it could mean up to half a degree less warming or two decades of delay in current predictions about global warming.
Industry lobbying continues to hold Commission back
The current Commission is on track to have one of the worst-ever environmental records of any EU administration. That is the view of the group of 10 Brussels-based environmental NGOs (‘Green 10’), whose mid-term assessment of José Manuel Barroso’s second Commission says it would not win any medals and is acting to protect the environment even less than his first Commission (2005-09).
The meaning of 'peak car'
Is car use in decline in developed economies? T&E Director Jos Dings takes a look at the concept of 'peak car' and how policymakers should respond.
Opposition that risks having no clean future for liquid transport fuels
Opinion by Jos Dings - T&E director
People who follow our work – and Europe’s environmental policy – a little bit will have noticed that two fuels-related draft laws keep dragging on without any apparent progress. The first one is what to do about indirect land use change effects of biofuels (key words: Iluc, biodiesel). The second is whether or not to give petrol and diesel from unconventional fossil sources a higher lifecycle greenhouse gas default value (key words: fuel quality directive, tar sands).
Startling return on investment
The American Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has calculated the financial benefits of the US Clean Air Act, and says it has saved more than $21 trillion (21 x 1012). Taking the estimated monetised benefits of the Act from 1970 to 1990 – in the areas: mortality, chronic bronchitis, lost IQ, hypertension, hospital admissions, respiratory-related problems, soil damage, visibility and agriculture – the savings come to $22.171 trillion.