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One of the biggest challenges of modern aviation is the development of technologies that reduce or eliminate emissions of harmful combustion components into the atmosphere. European authorities are imposing increasingly stringent emissions regulations. Therefore, new models of combustion chambers, new combustion methods, as well as new types of aviation fuels must be developed. This article presents the possibilities of using hydrogen propulsion in aviation. The reasons for conducting research on hydrogen propulsion are discussed, as well as the history of the introduction of hydrogen propulsion into aircraft engines. Problems that can be encountered in the production and storage of hydrogen are identified and explained. Proposals for the use of hydrogen combustion or the use of fuel cells to power turbine engines are also presented, and the economic aspect of this type of fuel is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vehicle emissions tests, which are performed using the Portable Emissions Measurement Systems (PEMS), indicate that the diesel cars produce several times more NOx emissions on the road than during certification realised according to the methodology New European Driving Cycle (NEDC). This fact initiated the infamous "dieselgate" affair. It is a wellknown reality that the current emission limits are very strict and therefore a serious problem arises for the motor car producers to meet the demanding emission requirements. The main task of the presented research work was testing of 10 passenger cars with regard to true values of their exhaust gas emissions. These cars were equipped with the diesel engines and gasoline engines that officially meet the Euro 4-6 standards. Based on the measured results it was found that the real NOx emissions of the diesel engines significantly exceed the values measured by NEDC. The results obtained using the NEDC cycle also contradict the findings from two alternative driving cycles: CADC (Common Artemis Driving Cycle; Artemis - Assessment and Reliability of Transport Emission Models and Inventory Systems) and WLTC (Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Cycle). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2021.1918218 40 Oberthür, S. and von Homeyer, I. (2022) From Emissions Trading to the European Green Deal: The Evolution of the Climate Policy Mix and Climate Policy Integration in the EU. At first sight, two features stand out in the development of EU climate policy in 2021. I EU Climate Policy in 2021 As already mentioned, two elements of the European Green Deal stand out for EU climate policy development in 2021. The Climate Law also created a framework for the further development of future EU climate policy, not least by foreseeing a 2040 GHG emission reduction target along with an overall indicative emission budget for 2030-50 by 2024, by establishing a European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, and by mandating a consistency review of other EU legislation with the 2030 and 2050 climate targets (Regulation 2021/1119, Articles 3, 4, 6 and 12). [Extracted from the article]

The road transport sector remains a major contributor to smog that is of particular concern in big European cities. The EU member states are to manage air quality in line with in the Air Quality Directive (dir. 2008/50/EC) that put forward local air quality targets. For this purpose, there are specific legal instruments to be applied by local authorities i.e. low emission zones, pedestrian zones, 'car-free days', etc. In joined cases: T-339/16, T-352/16, T-391/16 Paris, Bruxelles and Madrid successfully questioned the EU harmonising legislation (reg. 2016/646/EU) on pollutant emissions from light passenger and commercial vehicles.2 This regulation was intended to facilitate the sale of motor vehicles in the EU market, however it was incompliant with Euro 6 standard (reg. 715/2007/EC). This work revolves around the implicit conflict between regulatory autonomy of the European cities to enact domestic legislation in order to comply with their obligations under Air Quality Directive and on the other side - Framework Directive for the Approval of Motor Vehicles (dir. 2007/46/EC) and its secondary 'regulatory acts' that all together constitute the automotive market surveillance system of the European Commission. The article concludes that, cities may become champions for environmental protection, (since they already have standing under Article 263 (4) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU), if the Commission fails to impose stringent automobile emission standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports on temporal variations of NO 2 , O 3 , and SO 2 pollutants and their related health effects in urban air of Khorramabad, Iran using AirQ 2.2.3 software. Based on data between 2015 and 2021, hourly NO 2 , O 3 , and SO 2 concentrations increase starting at 6:00 a.m. local time until 9:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m., and 7:00 p.m. local time, respectively, before gradually decreasing. The highest monthly NO 2 , O 3 , and SO 2 concentrations are observed in October, August, and September, respectively. Annual median NO 2 , O 3 , and SO 2 concentrations range between 17 ppb and 38.8 ppb, 17.5 ppb–36.6 ppb, and ∼14 ppb–30.8 ppb, respectively. Two to 93 days and 17–156 days between 2015 and 2021 exhibit daily concentrations of NO 2 and SO 2 ≤ WHO AQGs, respectively, while 187–294 days have 8-h maximum O 3 concentrations ≤ WHO AQGs. The mean excess mortality ascribed to respiratory mortality, cardiovascular mortality, hospital admissions for COPD, and acute myocardial infraction are 121, 603, 39, and 145 during 2015–2021, respectively. O 3 is found to exert more significant health effects compared to SO 2 and NO 2 , resulting in higher cardiovascular mortality. The gradual increase in NO 2 and possibly O 3 over the study period is suspected to be due to economic sanctions, while SO 2 decreased due to regulatory activity. Sustainable control strategies such as improving fuel quality, promoting public transportation and vehicle retirement, applying subsidies for purchase of electric vehicles, and application of European emission standards on automobiles can help decrease target pollutant levels in ambient air of cities in developing countries. [Display omitted] • Annual median NO 2 , O 3 , and SO 2 concentrations range between ∼14–38.8 ppb. • NO 2 and O 3 gradually increase and SO 2 decrease over the study period duration. • 2–294 days had NO 2 , SO 2 , and O 3 concentrations less than or equal to WHO AQGs. • O 3 poses more significant health effects compared to NO 2 and SO 2. • Expanding public transportation systems can help decrease target pollutant levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article studies the introduction of an EU-wide emission standard on the automobile market. Using panel data from 1998 to 2011, I find that firms decreased emission ratings by 14%. Firms use technology adoption and gaming of emission tests to decrease emissions, rather than shifting the sales mix or downsizing. I find that the standard missed its emission target, and from estimating a structural model, I find that the standard was not welfare improving. The political environment in the EU shaped the design and weak enforcement and resulted in firms' choices for abatement by technology adoption and gaming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the fiftieth anniversary of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It mentions the EPA was the primary enforcer of nation's environmental laws. It also mentions the EPA and the Department of Justice announced a 490 million dollar settlement with Fiat Chrysler for cheating U.S. emissions standards.

The Clean Air Act is often heralded as a paragon of cooperative federalism. The Act’s approach to vehicle emissions regulation in particular prescribes a unique partnership between the federal government and the state of California: while all states are bound by federally mandated vehicle emissions requirements, California may set more stringent standards in recognition of its historic role on the leading edge of environmental protection. However, in August 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed not only to roll back the national emissions regulations, but also to revoke California’s ability to set more stringent standards, which include limits on greenhouse gas emissions and zero-emissions vehicle mandates. This revocation, finalized in September 2019, sparked legal challenges and debate on the role of states in environmental protection. The Supreme Court’s recent expansion of the anticommandeering doctrine in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association may signal increased constraints on federal power over states, which in turn may shed light on the permissibility of the EPA’s action to revoke California’s enhanced regulatory ability. This Note assesses the impact of Murphy on the distinction between permissible preemption and impermissible commandeering of state regulation, then applies that distinction to the vehicle emissions context. Ultimately, this Note argues that Congress and the courts should recognize the value of state involvement in environmental regulation and be wary of discarding the current dual-regulator system for vehicle emissions, owing to both policy and federalism concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article argues that push by U.S. President Donald Trump to a more industry-driven environmental protection policy to bring back more blue-collar jobs would only break the effective environmental regulations. Topics covered include the effectiveness of the current U.S. environmental regulations for vehicle emissions, the U.S. enforcement approach to the Volkswagen (VW) emissions-cheating scandal, and the aftermath of the scandal on the enforcement of vehicle-emissions regulations.

Since it erupted in 2015, the so‐called "dieselgate" scandal has revealed severe shortcomings in car manufacturers' efforts to reduce the impacts of driving on both global climate change and local air quality. In the European Union context, this controversy has raised questions about the trustworthiness of carmakers, and about the accuracy of the emissions measurements upon which key regulation is currently based. Just as importantly, however, it has also precipitated growing tensions between regulatory authorities situated in municipalities, national governments, and Brussels itself. Thus, even as European lawmakers have responded to the scandal by seeking to revamp and tighten up official "laboratory" vehicle emissions tests, growing citizen concern about the impact of vehicles on urban air quality is already having significant impacts across a multitude of European cities. Municipal authorities in Germany, for example – including in Stuttgart, the hometown of several major carmakers – have recently been compelled by court rulings to introduce outright bans on many older models of diesel vehicle, following legal challenges brought by environmental groups. That such bans have been upheld in Germany's highest court despite opposition from both state and federal governments underlines the need to view dieselgate as a knowledge controversy with distinctly geopolitical dimensions. In this commentary, we contend that questions about the accuracy of vehicle emissions measurements cannot be separated from geopolitical and scalar tensions over regulatory authority. Far from seeing such complexity as a barrier to the effective "closure" of the dieselgate scandal, however, we suggest that European regulators stand to gain much from adopting a more open and responsive position towards citizens' concerns about vehicle emissions, as well as the plurality of forms of knowledge and experience upon which they are based. Since it erupted in 2015, the so‐called "dieselgate" scandal has revealed severe shortcomings in car manufacturers' efforts to reduce the impacts of driving on both global climate change and local air quality. In this commentary, we contend that questions about the accuracy of vehicle emissions measurements cannot be separated from geopolitical and scalar tensions over regulatory authority. Against this backdrop, European regulators stand to gain much, we suggest, from adopting a more open and responsive position towards citizens' concerns about vehicle emissions, as well as the plurality of forms of knowledge and experience upon which they are based. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In September 2015 Volkswagen disclosed that nearly 11 million diesel VW automobiles were intentionally equipped with "defeat device" software that allowed the company to cheat emission testing. VW engineers were concerned that the only way to pass U.S. emission standards was to use a system normally utilized in much larger diesel engines. The larger diesel system would involve an increase in cost which VW was unwilling to accept due to the competitive U.S. cost market. This led VW to seek an alternative, and the software emissions cheat system became the favored option. What should VW's penalty be for unethical and unlawful conduct?. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On-road heavy-duty diesel vehicles are a major contributor of oxides of nitrogen (NO x ) emissions. In the US, many heavy-duty diesel vehicles employ selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology to meet the 2010 emission standard for NO x . Typically, SCR needs to be at least 200 °C before a significant level of NO x reduction is achieved. However, this SCR temperature requirement may not be met under some real-world operating conditions, such as during cold starts, long idling, or low speed/low engine load driving activities. The frequency of vehicle operation with low SCR temperature varies partly by the vehicle's vocational use. In this study, detailed vehicle and engine activity data were collected from 90 heavy-duty vehicles involved in a range of vocations, including line haul, drayage, construction, agricultural, food distribution, beverage distribution, refuse, public work, and utility repair. The data were used to create real-world SCR temperature and engine load profiles and identify the fraction of vehicle operating time that SCR may not be as effective for NO x control. It is found that the vehicles participated in this study operate with SCR temperature lower than 200 °C for 11–70% of the time depending on their vocation type. This implies that real-world NO x control efficiency could deviate from the control efficiency observed during engine certification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Economic integration agreements have significantly decreased import tariffs. We investigate whether national policies can be an effective replacement for tariffs to protect domestic industry. We show that (a) European fuel taxes and vehicle emissions policy favored diesel vehicles, a technology popular with European consumers but largely offered only by domestic automakers; (b) European automakers benefited from pro‐diesel fuel taxes and a lenient NOx emissions policy to earn significant profits from diesel cars; and (c) that both policies amounted to significant nontariff trade policies equivalent to an import tariff between two to three times the official rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the continuously tightening emissions legislation, urban concentrations of nitrogen oxides (NOx) remain at harmful levels. Road transport is responsible for a large fraction, wherein diesel engines are the principal culprits. Turbocharged diesel engines have long been preferred in heavy duty applications, due to their torque delivery and low fuel consumption. Fleet operators are under pressure to understand and control the emissions of their vehicles, yet the performance of emissions abatement technology in real-world driving is largely unquantified. The most popular NOx abatement technology for heavy duty diesel vehicles is selective catalytic reduction. In this work, the authors empirically determine the efficiency of a factory-fitted selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system in real-world driving by instrumenting passenger buses with both a portable emissions measurement system and a custom-built telematics unit to record key parameters from the vehicle diagnostics systems. They find that even in relatively favourable conditions, while there is some improvement due to the use of SCR, the vehicles operate far from the design emissions targets. The archival value of this study is in quantification of real world emissions versus design levels and the factors responsible for the discrepancy, as well as in examination of technologies to reduce this difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to evaluate the policies targeted at regulating automobile emissions among ASEAN countries but with specific attention to the Philippines. Technology-based regulations on motor vehicles play an important role in reducing green-house gas emissions. However, regulations differ based on the level of economic development, policies and technological base of each country. This paper uses an example of the Euro 4 automobile emission regulations to examine its implementation process and strategies of each ASEAN countries. It subsequently focuses on the Philippines to analyse the role of government, multinational automobile manufacturers and local suppliers. The findings show that the strategies of automobile manufacturers have positively affected local suppliers’ technological capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union (EU) recently adopted CO2 emissions mandates for new passenger cars, requiring steady reductions to 95 gCO2/km in 2021. We use a multi-sector computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, which includes a private transportation sector with an empirically-based parameterization of the relationship between income growth and demand for vehicle miles traveled. The model also includes representation of fleet turnover, and opportunities for fuel use and emissions abatement, including representation of electric vehicles. We analyze the impact of the mandates on oil demand, CO2 emissions, and economic welfare, and compare the results to an emission trading scenario that achieves identical emissions reductions. We find that vehicle emission standards reduce CO2 emissions from transportation by about 50 MtCO2 and lower the oil expenditures by about €6 billion, but at a net added cost of €12 billion in 2020. Tightening CO2 standards further after 2021 would cost the EU economy an additional €24-63 billion in 2025, compared with an emission trading system that achieves the same economy-wide CO2 reduction. We offer a discussion of the design features for incorporating transport into the emission trading system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transportation sector is the greatest contributor to air pollution. With the booming demand for transportation, reducing the pollution has become one of the main concerns of researchers. EPA emission standards are designed to protect air quality and human health. Diesel Euro 5 NOxhas become a matter of disquiet since it has been found that NOxemissions are significantly exceeding the standard limit. This paper presents a study to estimate the disparity in real-world NOxemission levels resulted from all diesel Euro 5 passenger cars (PC) and light commercial vehicles (LCV) that are present in Ireland. NOxemission levels calculated based on laboratory test results, on-road measurements and the COPERT 4 model were compared. Additionally, NOxemission levels from the defective Volkswagen models have been calculated to quantify the effect of the Volkswagen scandal on Ireland. Impacts of excess NOxemissions on health and cost have also been presented. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the efforts at controlling automobile emissions, it is important to know in what extent air pollutants from on-road vehicles could be truly reduced. In 2014 we conducted tests in a heavily trafficked tunnel in south China to characterize emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from on-road vehicle fleet and compared our results with those obtained in the same tunnel in 2004. Alkanes, aromatics, and alkenes had average emission factors (EFs) of 338, 63, and 42 mg km −1 in 2014 against that of 194, 129, and 160 mg km −1 in 2004, respectively. In 2014, LPG-related propane, n-butane and i-butane were the top three non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) with EFs of 184 ± 21, 53 ± 6 and 31 ± 3 mg km −1 ; the gasoline evaporation marker i-pentane had an average EF of 17 ± 3 mg km −1 ; ethylene and propene were the top two alkenes with average EFs of 16 ± 1 and 9.7 ± 0.9 mg km −1 , respectively; isoprene had no direct emission from vehicles; toluene showed the highest EF of 11 ± 2 mg km −1 among the aromatics; and acetylene had an average EF of 7 ± 1 mg km −1 . While EFs of total NMHCs decreased only 9% from 493 ± 120 mg km −1 in 2004 to 449 ± 40 mg km −1 in 2014, their total ozone formation potential (OFP) decreased by 57% from 2.50 × 10 3 mg km −1 in 2004 to 1.10 × 10 3 mg km −1 in 2014, and their total secondary organic aerosol formation potential (SOAFP) decreased by 50% from 50 mg km −1 in 2004 to 25 mg km −1 in 2014. The large drop in ozone and SOA formation potentials could be explained by reduced emissions of reactive alkenes and aromatics, due largely to fuel transition from gasoline/diesel to LPG for taxis/buses and upgraded vehicle emission standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis after analysis has shown consistently that if policy-makers aiming to meet climate goals are looking for the most-efficient, least-distortionary way to target emissions growth, there is simply nothing better than abandoning all emissions regulations except for one: A straight, revenue-neutral carbon tax. Nothing works through more channels, at a lower cost. Alas, policy-makers are not always looking for the most-efficient, leastdistortionary way to target emissions growth. That's because many of those same analyses show that in order to reach emissions targets, the price on carbon would have to be so punitive as to be politically unbearable, raising the price of gasoline, for example, by about a dollar a litre. That leads politicians to mix in other policies that are less visible to the consumer but also less efficient, less effective and more expensive in abating carbon dioxide. The recently negotiated Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change intends to follow that model, relying on a blend of different policies to help reach Canada's Paris climate targets. But while the government seems therefore determined to rule out the possibility of a nothing-but-acarbon- tax plan, it is possible, through the careful application of just the right sort of emission-reduction approaches, to reduce the costs of abatement in a key policy target -- namely, road transportation -- to a level that at least approaches the lower cost of a carbon tax. The government will likely consider several options in trying to reduce emissions from road transportation. Typical tools include requiring manufacturers to meet standards for new vehicles that mandate fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions; gasoline taxes; taxes on emissions-intensive vehicles; subsidies for low-emission or zero-emission vehicles; and subsidies for public transit. Indications are that a low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) will play a significant role in the Pan- Canadian Framework. Applied carefully, an LCFS combined with a mandate for automakers to sell more electric vehicles would be an appropriate policy for Canada to achieve meaningful emissions reductions at a tolerable cost, given other policy measures already committed to. Subsidies for electric vehicles, however, should be avoided as they turn out to be one of the least cost-effective policies to reduce emissions. Requiring car makers to sell more electric vehicles will lead to higher prices for standard internal-combustion vehicles as automakers are forced to spread the cost of the electricvehicle mandate across their non-electric models. That in turn will lead to cheaper electric cars and pricier non-electric cars, making it likelier that consumers will gravitate in increasing numbers to electric cars, helping reduce emissions. Meanwhile, as the LFCS standard is raised, drivers of internal-combustion vehicles will face an even higher cost of filling up, again prompting more drivers to consider switching to electric vehicles. The combined effect -- achievable at close to the cost of a carbon tax -- will make it more expensive to drive a gasoline-powered car, similar to the effect of a carbon tax on drivers, but less visible and so less politically risky. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and diesel particulate filter (DPF) into a single device (so called SCRF® or SDPF) can decrease the packaging volume and costs in modern diesel exhaust aftertreatment systems. While SDPF has already found its way into commercial application in passenger cars, for heavy-duty and non-road applications additional aspects need to be considered. Since these systems typically rely on NO 2 -assisted regeneration for the removal of soot, the interactions between the SCR and DPF functionalities become important and influence the SDPF performance. Within this frame, advanced coating techniques are investigated in order to limit the detrimental effect of these cross-interactions and achieve optimal system design and control. This study focuses on the evaluation of non-uniform wall impregnation in the axial direction, referred to as catalyst zoning. A validated SDPF mathematical model, able to quantitatively predict the SCR/DPF interactions, is used. The performance of the zone-coated filters is evaluated under both steady-state and transient conditions while the observed phenomena and underlying mechanisms are analytically discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urea-SCR systems have been widely used in diesel vehicles according to the strengthened NO (Nitrogen Oxides) emission standard. The NO removal efficiencies of the latest well optimized urea-SCR system are above 90 % at moderate exhaust gas temperature of 250 ~ 450 °C. However, a large amount of NO is emitted from diesel vehicles at cold start or urban driving conditions, when the exhaust gas temperature is not high enough for SCR catalyst activation. Although many researchs have been stuied to improve NO conversion efficiency at these low temperature conditions, it is still one of important technical issues. In this study, the effect of UWS injection at low exhaust gas temperature conditions is studied. This study uses a 3.4 L diesel engine equipped with a commertial urea SCR system. As a result, it is found that about 5 % of NO removal efficiency is improved in the NRTC test when UWS injection starts at the SCR inlet temperature of 150 °C compared to 200 °C. It is also found that urea deposits can be formed on the wall of exhaust pipe, when the local wall temperature is lower than temperature of urea decomposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transit buses are an integral part of urban life. They reduce externalities generated from private vehicles and increase geographic mobility. However, unlike most private vehicles in the United States, they use diesel fuel and emit higher amounts of toxic pollutants. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency set emission standards for transit buses starting in 1988 that have been continually updated, but their public health and economic impacts are unclear due to scarce emissions data. I construct a novel panel dataset for the New York City (NYC) Transit bus fleet between 1990 and 2009 and examine the impact of bus pollution on infant health by using bus vintage as a proxy for emissions. I exploit the variation in vintage as older buses are retired and replaced with newer, lower-emitting buses forced to adhere to stricter emission standards. I then assign maternal exposure to bus vintage at the census block level. Findings suggest that maternal exposure to the oldest, unregulated buses is associated with modest reductions in birth weight and gestational age relative to newer buses that abide by emissions policies. I then conduct a back-of-the-envelope cost-benefit calculation and find net economic benefits of $53.3 million resulting from improved emission standards for the 2009 birth cohort in NYC. Since the treatment in this study clearly maps to federal emissions policies, these results are the first to provide credible evidence that transit bus emission standards had a positive effect on infant health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effectively controlling carbon soot emission from Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) engines to achieve legislative emission limits is a challenge for both the vehicle manufacturers and researchers. Transmission electron microscopy is a powerful tool for obtaining morphological and nanostructural parameters of carbon soot in Particulate Matter (PM) emissions. These parameters play a significant role in PM emissions control as are affecting filtration efficiency and soot oxidation characteristics. In this paper, a comprehensive analysis of the interlayer spacing, fringe length and fringe tortuosity (curvature) of primary soot particles from GDI engine has been performed. GDI primary particles showed a core-shell structure, similar to diesel soot, with an inner core diameter between 6 and 16 nm and the outer graphene layer between 6 and 13 nm. The soot nanostructure is not significantly modified by changing the fuel injection timing or by introducing EGR and hydrogen in the combustion process. These results are opposed to those obtained from soot emitted in diesel engines where soot nanostructure is affected with changes in engine operating conditions. Furthermore, the three way catalytic converter does not influence soot nanostructure or the soot oxidation characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental policy-making increasingly involves ministries beyond environment ministries. In particular, finance ministries are important, since they control the public budget and address environmental issues from a perspective different from environmental actors. The role of finance ministries is especially salient in the European Union's (EU) Emissions Trading System (ETS), which has been subject to interventions to keep up the falling emission allowance price. The price of ETS allowances has dropped to a tenth of the expected price. The drop led to proposals for intervening in the ETS, including postponing the auctioning of emission allowances and structural reform. While the Netherlands and Denmark supported such intervention, Germany blocked an EU decision on the subject for months. To investigate whether the role of finance ministries explains the differences in government positions, this article analyses these three Member States. The analysis shows that finance ministries were involved in the policy processes and reluctantly supported intervening in the ETS. This position was due more to the desire to have a functioning ETS with minimal state intervention than to the fiscal impact of such intervention, as this impact was clouded in uncertainty. However, the finance ministries were not decisive in determining government positions, which were instead determined by the political orientation of the government (in Germany and the Netherlands) and by previous commitments to ambitious EU emission reduction targets (in Denmark). The analysis underlines the importance of studying the role of finance ministries and their different objectives (fiscal, macroeconomic) in environmental policy-making. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reliably measure at the low particulate matter (PM) levels needed to meet California’s Low Emission Vehicle (LEV III) 3- and 1-mg/mile particulate matter (PM) standards, various approaches other than gravimetric measurement have been suggested for testing purposes. In this work, a feasibility study of solid particle number (SPN, d50 = 23 nm) and black carbon (BC) as alternatives to gravimetric PM mass was conducted, based on the relationship of these two metrics to gravimetric PM mass, as well as the variability of each of these metrics. More than 150 Federal Test Procedure (FTP-75) or Supplemental Federal Test Procedure (US06) tests were conducted on 46 light-duty vehicles, including port-fuel-injected and direct-injected gasoline vehicles, as well as several light-duty diesel vehicles equipped with diesel particle filters (LDD/DPF). For FTP tests, emission variability of gravimetric PM mass was found to be slightly less than that of either SPN or BC, whereas the opposite was observed for US06 tests. Emission variability of PM mass for LDD/DPF was higher than that of both SPN and BC, primarily because of higher PM mass measurement uncertainties (background and precision) near or below 0.1 mg/mile. While strong correlations were observed from both SPN and BC to PM mass, the slopes are dependent on engine technologies and driving cycles, and the proportionality between the metrics can vary over the course of the test. Replacement of the LEV III PM mass emission standard with one other measurement metric may imperil the effectiveness of emission reduction, as a correlation-based relationship may evolve over future technologies for meeting stringent greenhouse standards. Implications: Solid particle number and black carbon were suggested in place of PM mass for the California LEV III 1-mg/mile FTP standard. Their equivalence, proportionality, and emission variability in comparison to PM mass, based on a large light-duty vehicle fleet examined, are dependent on engine technologies and driving cycles. Such empirical derived correlations exhibit the limitation of using these metrics for enforcement and certification standards as vehicle combustion and after-treatment technologies advance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standards linked with the environmental protection and vehicles are increasingly restrictive. EURO VI standard and regulations define the acceptable limits for exhaust emissions of new vehicles sold. Because of that, Selective Catalyst Reduction systems are used in a new vehicles with the heavy-duty type engines. This paper presents a study of the SCR system in public transport vehicles of the Municipal Transport Company (MPK) in Lublin, Poland. The tests were performed to study the power consumption of the SCR (the urea applicator into the catalyst) and calculate the results per unit of fuel. The amount of fuel for the Solaris Trollino 12 trolleybus was estimated and the energy demand found was of the order of 343 kWh/year. This gives low diesel fuel consumption, i.e. only 34.3 litres per year. The study also shows a graph of the daily demand of energy by the SCR system in public transport vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of more and more stringent vehicle emission standards, Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) are developed. Gasoline-HEV are equipped with 3-Way Catalytic Converter (3WCC). So the energy management systems of such vehicles, which must reduce not only fuel consumption, but also vehicle pollutant emissions, have to consider the 3WCC heating. A pollutant constrained energy management strategy is presented. A 3WCC multi-0D model is built from physical equations, with a good complexity-performances compromise. An off-line optimal strategy allows the joint minimization of pollution and fuel consumption with only one parameter to tune, while considering all the standardized pollutant emissions. This strategy reduces significantly the vehicle emissions for a minor fuel consumption increase and leads to define 3WCC smart heating. Thus an on-line smart heating strategy is implemented in a HyHIL (Hybrid Hardware In the Loop) test bench, reducing the pollutant emissions of the classical charge sustaining strategy by 30% for CO and 10% for NO X . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on topics on environmental law such as first topic discusses lawsuits by state and local governments against petroleum companies, where the 8th Circuit Court found that the companies cannot avoid state law claims related to climate change. Topic covers include the Environmental Protection Agency's proposal for more stringent vehicle emissions standards, aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from light- and medium-duty vehicles starting from model year 2027.

Measures for vehicle exhaust emissions aimed at reducing either air pollution or global warming could have counterproductive effects on one another. Increasing diesel passenger vehicles, which generally have lower CO emissions than gasoline counterparts, leads to increasing particulate matter (PM) emissions, while gasoline has lower PM emissions than diesel. It is said that stringent limits on PM emission factors discourages improved CO emission factors. Without including both effects in a risk evaluation, one cannot evaluate whether the total risk is reduced or not. Hence, we evaluated representative exhaust emission measures based on risk evaluation for both air pollution and global warming. Considering consumer choice between diesel and gasoline passenger vehicles and emissions standards adopted in Japan from 1995 to 2005, we built five cases for vehicle policy evaluation. For each case, we estimated disability-adjusted life years (DALY) as an index of human health risk caused by lung cancer linked to inhalation exposure of elemental carbon in PM as well as due to global warming linked to CO. The results of our risk evaluation reveal that the case adopting the 2005 new long-term Japanese emission standard reduces the human health risk caused by lung cancer due to air pollution by 0.6 × 10 DALY, but would increase the risk due to global warming by 31.9 × 10 DALY compared with the case of adopting EURO 4, for the same conditions of passenger vehicle choice from 1995. These results suggest that the characteristics of Japanese emissions standards are mainly designed to reduce air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]