Charged for change over emission scandals
It’s an interesting time for the motor industry.
Firstly, we have the revelation that Volkswagen depressed its emissions by using illegal “defeat software” to slash emissions during rolling road tests.
It then transpired that leading car brands, such as Mercedes, BMW, and Peugeot are actually pumping out around 50% more CO2 than they claim in official tests. These revelations were contained in a report commissioned by the European body Transport & Environment (T&E), which said that distorted laboratory tests are costing a typical motorist €450 a year in additional fuel costs compared to what carmakers’ marketing materials claim.
Reports have focused on the economic aspects of the ‘dieselgate’ fallout. However, the health implications from VW’s actions are much more worrying. Analysis by the UK environment department found that exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) causes 23,500 deaths in the UK each year.
#Volkswagen aiming to recall cars in January http://t.co/Ov2lFcsuSu (GM) pic.twitter.com/TLAOec2XjH
— Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) October 7, 2015
The scale of diesel pollution was brought into sharp focus earlier this year during a series of strikes by bus drivers in London. Jessica Shankelman of Business Green reported that: “On one bus strike day alone, the concentration of NO2 on Oxford Street plummeted to 58 micrograms per cubic metre (ug/m3), which is significantly lower than the level recorded on the previous four Thursdays, which saw average levels of 172ug/m3 — more than four times over the legal limit.”
“The scientists recording pollution levels said it was clear that diesel buses were responsible for the lion’s share of NO2 pollution on Oxford Street.”
NO2 is a dangerous air pollutant in its own right. It can cause respiratory damage but, when combined with other atmospheric pollutants, it can form even more dangerous pollutants: Ozone and particulate matter. Particles smaller than 2.5 micrometres in size, small enough to be inhaled deep into the lungs, are referred to as PM2.5.
According to the World Health Organisation, the adverse health effects from PM2.5 include aggravated asthma, heart attacks, decreased lung function, and bronchitis. Ozone can cause respiratory issues such as coughing, shortness of breath, and can worsen lung diseases such as asthma or emphysema.
The larger European cities are taking note. Paris is planning to ban diesel cars from 2020 and London’s new ultra-low emissions zone will aim to prevent the dirtiest diesels driving through the centre of the city through a raft of new charges. Some 470,000 people in Ireland suffer from asthma or a similar condition so the gains of taking action now cannot be understated.
By not enforcing its own regulations, the EU has mishandled diesel cars in spectacular style. VW is facing an $18bn (€16bn) fine for manipulating air pollution tests in the US and has been ordered to recall nearly 500,000 cars.
We know 1.2m cars have been affected by the problem in the UK and it is estimated that 80,000 are affected in Ireland. This, and what will follow in Europe as more evidence emerges, demonstrates the entire system of testing vehicles is not fit for purpose.
Law firm urges Volkswagen drivers to keep tax and fuel receipts, writes @EoinBearla http://t.co/NOAX6QFNBe (DOD) pic.twitter.com/4qUeAdwNqm
— Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) October 4, 2015
T&E has called for a truly independent, EU-type approval authority funded by a levy of 20 on every vehicle sold. It also advocates that new models should be tested on the road to identify suspicious wide disparities between test and real world performance.
There’s a headline EU target to phase out all internal combustion cars from cities before 2050. In my opinion this target needs to be expedited by 15/20 years. Just recently, BMW announced all of its vehicles will be electric within the next decade. It makes sense and carmakers know it can be done.
Politically, Ireland is obliged to adhere to Decision 406/2009/EC, the EU Effort Sharing Decision. This means Ireland has a legal obligation to reduce emissions in heat, transport, and agriculture.
Given that heat and transport energy together represent 80% of energy use, this presents a massive challenge. Government sources indicate that a shortfall in the overall target could result in costs to the exchequer of up to €600m.
Against that backdrop there is an increasing urgency to focus on decarbonising Ireland’s transport fleet. This reflects the reality that the transport sector has made limited progress in reducing its GHG emissions.
According to the Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland (SEAI) report ‘Energy in Transport 2014’, Ireland spent €3.5bn importing fossil fuels for transport last year, accounting for over half of Ireland’s total energy import bill.
Volkswagen has a tough road ahead to restore consumer trust http://t.co/MAGdh84V5Z (GM) pic.twitter.com/AtckUElYoh
— Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) October 3, 2015
Ireland’s transport energy consumption per capita is the fifth highest in Europe, 30% above the EU average. It is critical, therefore, that Ireland reduces its reliance on imported fossil fuels not just because of harmful emissions but also the ongoing risk of supply disruption and the lack of certainty over the pricing structure.
There are a number of reasons why Ireland should now choose to accelerate the transition toward sustainable electric transport:
Electricity is already a significantly cleaner power source than oil, and will become more so in coming decades. In recent years around 75% of additional electricity generation capacity has consisted of wind power. Wind capacity in Ireland is expected to grow to 4632 MW by 2020, larger than the current system peak-demand level. During low-demand periods, especially at night, too much excess wind power can lead to it being curtailed. Electric vehicles pose an ideal opportunity to utilise the excess capacity by storing the energy in car batteries. The stored energy in turn is used for transport, hence displacing diesel and petrol.
Electric traction is fundamentally more energy efficient than other options. From an energy diversity and dependence perspective, electricity is superior to oil, gas, or biofuels that are largely imported. The price of wind and solar power continues to plummet, and is on par or cheaper than grid electricity in many areas.
E-mobility is reinforcing trends towards sustainable transport. The economics of electric vehicles — high fixed costs, low variable costs — help vehicle sharing. We should look to examples such as the ‘Autolib’ electric car sharing service which was inaugurated in Paris. The Autolib scheme maintains a fleet of all electric Bolloré cars for public use on a paid subscription basis. The scheme has more than 155,000 registered subscribers and it begs the question — why can’t we have a similar scheme in Dublin or Cork?
Roughly 110,000 all-electric vehicles were sold in the first six months of this year worldwide, according to L’Avere-France, and over 45,000 of those were bought in Europe.
SEAI is providing a grant towards the purchase of the first 6,000 electric vehicles in order to encourage Irish consumers to consider switching their vehicle type to electric. SEAI is offering grants of up to €5,000 for a battery electric vehicle or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle purchased and registered before the end of 2015.
A shift to electrification of transport is a brave and appealing vision, moving away from polluting, imported oil to clean indigenously-generated electricity, and, in the process, stimulating jobs, growth, and a more sustainable country for all its citizens.
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