AQN Magazine - Issue 8 (revised) - April '21

Issue 8

April 2021

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International shipping on trial What happens after the gas boiler ban?

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Editorial Comment and Contacts

Welcome to Air Quality News magazine Contacts Publisher: David Harrison d.harrison@spacehouse.co.uk 01625 614 000 Group Editor: Jamie Hailstone jamie@airqualitynews.com 01625 614 000 Journalist: Pippa Neill pippa@airqualitynews.com 01625 666 396 Advertising Director: Andy Lees andy@airqualitynews.com 01625 666 390 Finance Manager: Jenny Leach jenny@spacehouse.co.uk 01625 614 000 Administration: Jenny Odgen admin@spacehouse.co.uk 01625 614 000 Subscriptions: Andrew Harrison subscriptions@airqualitynews.com 01625 614 000 Published 6 times a year Annual Subscription - £19.95 +VAT

Air Quality News - published by Spacehouse Ltd, Pierce House, Pierce Street, Macclesfield. SK11 6EX. Tel: 01625 614 000

When I was a local newspaper reporter, you always knew when Spring had arrived because you would get a phone call from a farmer, inviting you to take pictures of the newly born lambs.

Our ‘seen it, snapped it’ photographer would moan like crazy, because he had taken the same cliched image a dozen times, but despite his grumbles, it was a definite sign that the agony of winter was behind us and warmer and better days were ahead. It goes without saying that Spring 2021 will be a slightly different affair. The lambs will still be dancing in the meadows, but for many of us, the most important element will be starting the long road to personal and economic recovery after Covid-19.

The last 12 months have seen many changes to our personal and professional lives. The roads and city centres have been empty, as we have all been ordered to stay at home. This in itself has had a massive impact on our environment, but as life returns to normal, the question remains - will pollution levels do the same?

Another aspect of lockdown life has been the shift to online shopping. Like or loathe it, the chances are we’ve all used websites to buy books, clothing and other items over the last year.

This in turn has led to an explosion in delivery vans around the country. In this issue, reporter Pippa Neill explores the carbon footprint of online services and the impact international shipping is now having on the world around it.

There has also been a rise in the number of low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), as communities seek to reclaim the streets from the motor vehicle. But are these measures merely moving polluting vehicles to other nearby streets? Pippa Neil investigates whether LTNs are becoming embroiled in the ongoing culture wars.

Elsewhere, I spoke to Captain Tristan Loraine about his new film - Everybody Flies - which uncovers the truth about the air we breathe on commercial aircraft. I’ve also examined the increasingly complicated and murky world of how Whitehall funds local authorities. More and more it seems, the government is launching small pots of cash, which councils have to bid for in order to get specific projects off the ground. While this might be a good way to test ‘unproven ideas’ or get some more information, before concepts are rolled out at a national level, the question remains, is this really the best way to tackle issues as big as air quality and the environment?

Whatever lies ahead, let us all hope that Spring 2021 marks the start of healthier and happier times for all of us.

Jamie Hailstone, editor.

All rights reserved. Reproduction, in whole or part without written permission is strictly prohibited.

Printed on FSC certified paper stock, using vegetable oil inks.

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Contents

Features Contents Page 6-8: News

Page 10-12: Feature

Page 6-8 News: Clean Air Zones lead to economic benefits

Page 14-16: Feature Page 20-22 Feature: Are Low Traffic Neighbourhoods the latest casualty of the culture wars?

Page 18-19: The Big Interview

Page 20-22: Feature

Page 23: Advertorial

Page 10-12 Feature: Shipping on trial - the true cost of buying online

Page 24-25: Advertorial

Page 24-25 Advertorial: The importance of site selection in the implementation of an electric vehicle charging network

Page 26-28: Feature

Page 30: Local Government interview

Page 31-32: Local Government

Page 33: Legal Page 14-16 Feature: The heat is on…

Page 34: Marketplace

Page 35: Jobs

Page 18-19 The Big Interview: Destiny Boka Betesa

Page 26-28 Feature: Terror at 20,000 feet

Thanks to our contributors: Captain Tristan Loraine Destiny Boka Betesa Tiffany Cloynes, Alice Creasy

Partners

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News

in brief Eastleigh approves Southampton Airport extension A meeting of the full council voted in the early hours of Saturday (10 April) by 22 to 13 with one abstention, to permit the application from the airport to extend its runway. In a statement, the council said it had ‘listened to an extensive number of representations from local people, councillors and organisations, both for and against the runway extension, together with evidence from a range of specialists, as well as deliberating a detailed report’.

‘Following a lengthy, extensive and robust debate the council made the decision to permit the planning application to extend the runway,’ the statement added.

EV drivers call for better public charging facilities Interventions are needed to improve the reliability, payments and pricing transparency of public electric vehicle (EV) charge points, a new survey conducted by the Electric Vehicle Association (EVA) has revealed. With 92% of drivers using a public charging network at least once a month the researchers have highlighted that it is important to improve the reliability of the charge points. Based on the findings in this survey, EVA England has recommended that charge points providers should offer a choice between three standardised payment methods: 1) A contactless credit or debit card 2) A ‘universal’ charge card 3) A smartphone app Covid-19 highlights the urgent need to reduce air pollution In one of the most prominent studies to date, researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that each small (1g/m3) increase of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) was associated with an 8% increase in mortality during the pandemic. The exact reason behind the association between longterm pollution and poor Covid-19 outcomes are not fully known, however, scientists have suggested that long-term exposure to air pollution may impair the immune system, leading both to increased susceptibility to viruses and to more severe viral infections.

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CAZs lead to economic benefits Clean Air Zones (CAZ) can deliver significant economic benefits by reducing nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution, according to new research conducted by CBI Economics, commissioned by the Clean Air Fund.

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he research highlights that by restricting the most polluting vehicles from entering highly populated areas, a CAZ can deliver an average 18% reduction in NO2. The CBI has said that this kind of reduction could prevent at least 1% of deaths and inject millions into local economies by reducing days spent in hospital or off work due to

illness from NO2 exposure.

The report has highlighted that there is considerable regional variation and the further cities go, the more they stand to gain.

For example, the study finds that expanding London’s UltraLow Emission Zone (ULEZ) could bring about an additional £48m in benefits, on top of preventing up to 614 deaths in the city each year.

Likewise, Manchester’s extended CAZ will inject at least £7.1m into the city’s economy four times more than Liverpool and six times more than Bristol.

Overall the research shows that CAZs need to be implemented quickly so that local authorities can take advantage of these health and economic benefits, as the UK recovers from Covid-19.

Volcanic pollution linked to respiratory disease The Holuhraun lava eruption in 2014-2015 led to a significant increase in respiratory diseases, according to researchers at the University of Leeds and Iceland.

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uring the eruption process, the plume smoke composition matured as it lingered in the atmosphere - meaning that the volcanic sulphur dioxide was

converted to particles.

These fine particles are so small they can penetrate deep into the lungs. It is estimated that short and long-term exposure to these kinds of fine

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particles, from both humanmade and natural sources, cause more than three million premature deaths globally per year and remains the single largest environmental health risk in Europe.

The researchers found that following the eruption, incidents of respiratory disease in Iceland rose by almost a quarter, and the dispensing of asthma medication increased by a fifth.

Based on this, the report highlights the urgent need for authorities to prepare for health issues associated with returning emissions - known as mature plumes - in the days immediately following volcanic eruptions.

News

Microplastics are contaminating our air, new research suggests Microplastics from the ocean are being transported in the wind and are polluting our air, according to a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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rom December 2017 to January 2019, researchers at Cornell University collected atmospheric microplastic data from the western U.S. They found that 84% of the microscopic shards came from road dust, 11% came from atmospheric sea spray and 5% were derived from agriculture soil dust.

The researchers have highlighted that this 11% from sea spray is particularly alarming.

Having analysed where this pollution came from, the researchers found that oceanic action grinds plastic waste in the ocean down into micronsize particles, where the wind then transports them into the atmosphere.

Natalie Mahowald, professor in engineering at Cornell, and lead author of the study said:

‘We found a lot of legacy plastic pollution everywhere we looked; it travels in the atmosphere and it deposits all over the world.

‘This plastic is not new from this year. It’s from what we’ve already dumped into the environment over several decades.

‘We did the modelling to find out the sources, not knowing what the sources might be.

‘It’s amazing that this much plastic is in the atmosphere at

that level, and unfortunately accumulating in the oceans and on land and just recirculating and moving everywhere, including remote places.

‘Using our best estimate of plastic sources and modelled transport pathways, most continents are net importers of microplastics from the marine environment. This underscores the cumulative role of legacy pollution in the atmospheric burden of plastic.’

Latest lockdown had less impact on air quality than the first The latest lockdown had less impact on air pollution than the first, according to researchers at the University of York.

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uring the spring 2020 UK lockdown, a reduction in air pollution was widely reported, with nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels decreasing by an average of 52%.

However, new analysis has shown that in the lockdown that started in January 2021, NO2 decreased by just 28%.

Greater disparities between the lockdowns were observed in large urban areas, such as Leeds and London.

In the winter lockdown, NO2 levels dropped by 25% in Leeds and 30% in London compared to a much larger decrease of 59% in both last spring.

The researchers have highlighted that both cities have large workforces who are most likely working from home, thus increasing the domestic emission footprint and causing smaller changes in air pollution.

Rhianna Evans, co-author of the study said: ‘Despite

restrictions being similar, it seems the impact of the winter lockdown reduced pollution less due to factors like people working from home and therefore using more heating and others who were going into work starting cars in colder conditions which creates more pollution.

‘It is important to consider this diversity of sources for future reductions in air pollution. The winter lockdown scenario where these domestic sectors made up a greater proportion of total NO 2 sources shows that a shift in society’s behavioural patterns can produce pollution from other sources.’

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in briefin brief Wokingham Borough Council receives funding to improve air quality The funding will be used to enable the council to continue its work with the Public Protection Partnership (PPP), a shared service delivering environmental health, licensing and trading standards across Bracknell Forest, West Berkshire and Wokingham Borough Councils.

Through the PPP the council has been monitoring nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution and found that in some areas there is an ‘undesirable level.’ In a bid to reduce this, the council will work in partnership with the PPP on anti-idling projects and projects that focus on the impacts of pollution around schools. The council will also focus specifically on measuring particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution.

Tesco provides half a million free EV charges in partnership with Volkswagen and Pod Point, the supermarket is working to install free EV charging points at 600 supermarkets across the UK. Thanks to this partnership, they have now provided EV drivers with three million kWh of free carbon-neutral electricity. This is enough to drive the new all-electric Volkswagen ID.4 SUV around 10.4 million miles.

Based on the average new petrol or diesel car sold in the UK, the scheme has reduced carbon emissions by approximately 2,120 tonnes - the same as more than 2,770 acres of forest will manage in a year.

Higher indoor CO2 levels linked to higher Covid infection rate For many months, researchers have been searching for a way to continually monitor Covid-19 indoor infection risk indoors and according to the new study, tracking indoor CO2 levels can provide an inexpensive and powerful way to monitor the risk of people getting Covid-19.

The researchers found that if indoor CO2 levels in a gym dropped from 2,800 to 1,000 ppm, the risk of Covid-19 transmission drops to one-quarter of the original risk.

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News

in brief Sharing EV charge points is essential to meet growing demand At-home electric vehicle (EV) charge points must be shared if the UK is to meet the growing demand, according to a new report published

by Dodona Analytics.

Sharing EV charge points is key to meeting growing demand, says report According to the report, if only 4% of motorists with an athome charger shared it with their neighbours living in flats and terraced houses then a successful EV transition could be achieved.

A growing number of companies are facilitating EV charging through apps. For example, Co Charger who connects the ‘host’ or owner of the charge point with a motorist who would like to ‘rent’ the charger.

‘Left behind’ neighbourhoods have poor public transport links People living in ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods are disconnected from town and city centres because of poor public transport links, according to a new report.

The report - Connecting communities: improving transport to get ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods back on track - produced by Campaign for Better Transport with data from the Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion (OCSI) for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods, highlights how people living in these areas, are reliant on public transport but have less access to it, compared to other places across England.

The report found ‘left behind’ areas with the poorest connectivity are predominantly located in coastal areas and on the outskirts of postindustrial towns and cities in the North and the Midlands.

Majority of SUVs are bought by people living in cities Three-quarters of all SUVs sold in the UK between 2019 and 2020 are registered to urban households, according to a new report commissioned by think tank New Weather Institute and climate charity Possible.

The authors of the report have discovered that in fact, six of the top ten areas for new SUV sales are urban or suburban districts.

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Birmingham announces plans to reduce pollution ahead of CAZ Birmingham City Council has published its new 2021 Air Quality Action Plan, outlining plans to support behaviour change away from private vehicle use ahead of the new Clean Air Zone (CAZ).

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he plan outlines various steps that will be taken between 2021 - 2026 in order to improve air quality across the city, these include: Implementing strategic transport improvements in order to deliver an integrated public transport network within the next 20 years. This will incorporate three more Metro lines, nine cross-city bus rapid transit lines, reopening and upgrading rail routes and associated stations.

Promoting behaviour change away from single-occupancy private vehicle use Supporting an increase in cycling.

Providing the necessary infrastructure to support electric vehicles and improving access to grant funding to help the

public and businesses to replace, upgrade or retrofit existing vehicles.

Using traffic management solutions to improve air quality by reducing numbers of vehicles, smoothing traffic flow or holding queues and congestion away from relevant exposure locations.

The findings in the report also reaffirm the need for a Clean Air Zone (CAZ) to deliver further air quality improvements in the city

centre region.

Birmingham’s CAZ, which is due to be introduced in June this year, will cover an area of the city inside the inner ring road (A4540 Middleway) and once live will mean that the owners of the most polluting vehicles, which account for around 25% of the vehicles on Birmingham’s roads, will need to pay a daily charge to drive into or through the zone.

Outdoor gas heaters are responsible for local air pollution, new research reveals Using a single outdoor gas heater for five hours a day every day produces the same amount of nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution as that produced by a typical gasheated home in a year, according to new research published by Future Climate for Environmental Defense Fund Europe.

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fter road transport, heating and powering homes and businesses with gas is the secondlargest source of NOx pollution in London.

Yet a gas-heated home disperses this pollution outside, away from inhabitants.

In comparison, outdoor gas heaters emit pollution directly into the surrounding space and air where customers and employees breathe.

If a beer garden has 10 gas heaters working for a single night, that is equivalent to the pollution from gas heating 10 homes, but it is all packed into the small space

where several people are sitting.

The researchers have highlighted that electric heaters are a much better alternative, they do not produce any local NOx pollution, they use less energy and produce 60% less carbon

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dioxide emissions. The report also highlights that pubs, cafes and restaurants can continue to reduce pollution by making changes to the way they cook food.

It is estimated that half of the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution produced in central London comes from commercial cooking – mainly grilling and frying, or anything where fat is heated or smoke is made. Businesses can reduce this pollution by using oils with higher smoke points, reducing the surface area of oil exposed to the air when frying and cooking on electricity rather than gas burners.

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Feature

Shipping on trial - the true cost of bu Air Quality News reporter Pippa Neill investigates the true air pollution cost of our online shopping habits.

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icture the scene - it’s a Friday evening, you’re watching TV while scrolling on your phone and you see your next must-buy purchase that you just need in order to get you through another dreary weekend spent in lockdown. You tap and without even having to enter your card details the parcel is with you by noon the next day. It’s like magic, but what’s the catch?

How does it work?

It takes a lot of complicated logistics to enable online retailers to provide us with next-day delivery and believe it or not the journey is a lot longer than the 24-hours between your order and your receival. If we take Amazon for example, the largest e-retailer in the world: most of the products sold on the website begin their life in China,

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where they are produced and created in factories and workshops across the country. Once these products have been made, they then travel across the country where they are loaded into gigantic freight containers and sent on even bigger ships to their designated country. Once the ship arrives, the products are unloaded and are held at fulfilment centres, waiting for you to press ‘pay now’ so it can be packed up and sent off to the courier.

When it comes to air pollution, the shipping of these products poses a serious problem, Aoife O’Leary, director of international climate at the Environmental Defence Fund explains: ‘Shipping is extremely cost effective, but one of the reasons it is so cheap is because of the fuels used. When you extract oil from the ground you refine it, the top-grade stuff goes to aeroplanes, the middle stuff goes to cars, and then whatever’s left at the bottom of the barrel is either

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uying online used to tarmac roads or power ships.

‘There has been some regulation over time about the sulphur content of this fuel, meaning it has improved somewhat, but it still contains about 300 times more particulates than you would get in a car, and with freight rates at historic highs, this is a problem.’

Reducing this pollution Over the last few decades, the air pollution impact of shipping has somewhat slipped under the radar, this is largely because the majority of the pollution happens out at sea where there are few people around to be exposed to it. However, ships do spend a sizable portion of their time moored in harbours and ports. For example, a merchant vessel that carries cargo can spend up to 100 days a year

moored at a port. While at the ports, most large ships keep their engines running in order to generate electricity for their onboard systems - meaning they are pumping out vast amounts of air pollution to the air where many people live and work.

In a bid to tackle this in 2019 the government asked all ports over a certain size to produce a comprehensive clean air strategy, they were required to outline the sources of the pollution and outline the actions they will take to reduce it. However, these strategies have a focus on the action that can be taken within the ports themselves, the trucks coming in and out, the port equipment, the machinery etc, meaning that when it comes to reducing pollution from the ships themselves, this is far from a solution.

‘It’s difficult because all ports are very different,’ says Mark Simmonds, director of policy and external affairs at the British Port Association (BPA).

‘They’re in different places, they’re of different sizes, they have different ships coming in and they’re in different proximity to population centres.

‘But also, the problem is that most of the air pollution at the ports actually comes from the ships, and the ports don’t have a huge amount of control over what the ships do, they are our customers and at the end of the day the ports don’t have many levers they can pull.’

However, Aoife O’Leary highlights that ships do have some levers and can use their shoreside electricity to allow the ships to run on electricity rather than their diesel engines when they’re sitting in the port.

‘At the moment, there’s not a lot of capacity for this,’ says Aoife.

‘But when you talk to the ports they say, “well we don’t get a lot of demand from ships,” and when you talk to the ships they say, “well the ports don’t provide us with the facilities,” it’s a vicious cycle.’

So, whose responsibility is it?

Of course, the ports have a role to play in helping to reduce this pollution and equally so do the ship companies, but to really facilitate change, governments must play a key role in incentivising action.

However, this is where it becomes even more complicated, due to its international nature, no one government is responsible for the shipping industry and it is instead governed by the International Maritime Organisation - the UK doesn't even consider the greenhouse gas emissions from shipping in its net-zero strategy.

As Aoife states: ‘There are a lot of complicated geopolitics in shipping, it’s very hard to legislate what people do in international waters and because shipping is such an international industry there is no real benefit for any one country to move forward.’

The future fuels Another major obstacle preventing ships from adopting less polluting fuels is a lack of consensus over what these

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future fuels will look like. There are plenty of options: hydrogen, ammonia, battery-electric, wind powered - but to date, no one option has taken the lead.

‘It’s the age-old chicken and egg situation,’ adds Mark Simmonds from the BPA. ‘There are lots of options but at the end of the day there are still massive questions over what the technology will be and how we will get it to market.

‘No one wants to make the first move and choose the wrong fuel.’

One fuel that is increasingly promising is hydrogen, it can be used to power ships with only minor changes to their fuel capacity and if green hydrogen is used then it would produce no pollution and no carbon emissions.

Victoria Judd, counsel at Pillsbury Law and expert in energy and infrastructure projects explains: ‘Hydrogen is the poster child for shipping, and if we used green hydrogen it would be great, there would be no emissions, no pollution.

‘But there is still no green hydrogen anatomy in production, everyone is working hard to get blue hydrogen out there, but that’s all still produced from fossil fuels.

So even if we did have a global fleet of hydrogen powered ships, we would still need the infrastructure to make it green, and the ships would need to take that cost.

‘Hydrogen is anywhere between four and eight times more expensive than the fuel being used now, and that’s without even considering the infrastructure changes needed

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to make it green. To get there we’re really going to need some kind of government stimulus or policy to incentivise it.’ But while we sit around waiting for green hydrogen to be produced at scale, or waiting for ships to make up their mind and take the leap, there is one simple thing that can be done, which according to Aoife O’Leary could lead to almost immediate change.

‘At the moment there are no climate regulations for shipping and at the same time ships don’t pay any taxes, there’s no fuel tax, no VAT. ‘This effectively means that they’ve been allowed to pollute for a very long time without actually paying for that pollution, so, to me it seems pretty obvious that to accelerate change those polluters should be paying to make sure that this innovation is put in place.

‘I find it difficult when the industry uses the excuse of not knowing what the future fuel will be, I just don’t agree with that. There are a huge amount of regulatory options that we can put in place immediately so that we can find that answer much faster.’

The shipping industry has a long way to go, and even if we had all the money in the world the technology is still not quite there. But if we are going to reach net-zero and reduce our pollution to be within legal limits then we have just two options - transport less things or change our fuels and with our online shopping habits showing no sign of slowing down, even as we come out of lockdown, it looks like we better get started on the latter.

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The heat is on…

The installation of gas boilers in new homes is set to end in 2025, but what will replace them?

Jamie Hailstone investigates.

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n just four years’ time, the way in which we heat our homes will change forever. This is very good news for campaigners who have long called for households to be less environmentally polluting, but there is a snag.

For while the government has repeatedly said gas and oil boilers will be banned in newbuild homes from 2025, it still remains far from clear what will actually replace them.

The ban actually dates back to March 2019, when the-then chancellor Phillip Hammond confirmed gas boilers will be replaced by low-carbon heating systems in all new homes built after 2025.

In September 2019, prime minister Boris Johnson reiterated the commitment as part of the ‘Future Homes Standard’.

And according to the government’s energy white paper, published in December last year, ministers are looking to consult on the role of ‘hydrogen ready’ heating appliances this year. The white paper also states that gas boilers in existing homes will be gradually phased out and it highlights the role of heat networks and other low carbon technologies in helping to reduce emissions.

The situation has been further complicated by the withdrawal of the government’s Green Homes Grant voucher scheme in March to help fund energy efficiency improvements, like heat pumps – just six months after the scheme had been launched.

The fact remains that at the time of writing (April 2021), no clear roadmap exists for what housebuilders and developers should do in 2025 or how the industry should prepare for such a momentous change.

It remains unclear whether the government will back a full switch to hydrogen, heat pumps or other forms of low carbon heating, or leave it up to

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developers to decide which is best.

In one corner, a powerful lobby is growing around switching to hydrogen, or to be precise a blend of hydrogen and gas to heat new homes from 2025 onwards.

In March, the Heating and Hotwater Industry Council (HHIC) wrote to Boris Johnson, confirming they have reached agreement in principle with UK boiler manufacturers that they will support any future legislation which mandates all new models of domestic boilers to be ‘hydrogen-ready’ from 2025.

‘HHIC has already developed a specification with industry detailing what a ‘hydrogen-ready’ boiler is.

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In short, it means boilers already in homes will need under an hour of adjustment to allow a future switch from natural gas to hydrogen,’ says HHIC director, Stewart Clements.

‘The government can then confirm in their upcoming heat decarbonisation plan and hydrogen strategy that it has the long-term plan to repurpose current gas networks for hydrogen as a key tool to achieving zero carbon heating for over four-in-five UK homes currently using natural gas.

‘Hydrogen-ready boilers are the least disruptive means of decarbonising homes as they offer the opportunity for people to continue to heat, cook and use hot water in

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the same way they do today, without ripping out pipes, boilers, and in some cases floors. Using the existing worldclass gas network infrastructure will also be the most cost-effective solution to decarbonisation.’

However, not everyone is convinced the future lies in a mass rollout of hydrogen boilers to new homes. Dave Pearson, managing director of Star Renewable Energy says he believes the government should just make it the law that all new single-family dwellings are heated with heat pumps instead.

‘Gas is just dumb and we need to move away from it as soon as possible in terms of our carbon footprint,’ Mr Pearson tells Air Quality News.

‘Hydrogen is not going to turn up anytime soon.

It's going to be at least a decade or longer and it's going to be very, very expensive.

He adds the ‘notion’ that hydrogen is as cost effective as running a heat pump is just ‘nuts’.

‘You can take one kilowatt hour of hard-to-make electricity from an offshore wind farm and then make it hydrogen via electrolysis, then you send that hydrogen down a pipe, which will have to be replaced.

‘Or you could put that one kilowatt of hard-fought electricity from the North into a heat pump. If it’s a relatively modern house, the flow

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temperatures will be relatively good and you'll get about three kilowatt hours of heat out from that one kilowatt, so it is five or six times more effective use of that electricity if you use a heat pump.’

And Chris Connon, senior manager of heat at EDF, says air source heat pumps are a viable alternative to boilers.

‘Air source heat pumps (ASHP) are a highly efficient way to heat your home that can offer both carbon and financial savings in comparison to a traditional gas-fuelled boiler,’ says Mr Connon.

‘ASHPs can be up to four times more efficient than a gas boiler,

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ARE MICROWAVE BOILERS THE ANSWER? Another alternative to low-carbon heating could be boilers that use microwaves to heat water.

A British start-up Heat Wayv recently unveiled its plans for a microwave boiler that it claims could reduce CO2 emissions from homes by up to 24%.

The firm’s boilers use technology similar to that found in kitchen microwave ovens - using a specific frequency to transfer energy to individual water molecules and so heat the water.

The boilers are in the engineering design stage at the moment and not available yet, but the company is aiming to have them ready for installation before 2025.

‘The end of the gas boiler is inevitable and scheduled,’ says co-founder Phil Stevens. ‘But the proposed replacement technologies do not work for consumers as they are either too expensive to install or too expensive to run. We looked for a clean technology where the boiler would cost the consumer the same to buy, same to install and same to run as a gas boiler.

‘The answer is the microwave boiler as it is a trusted technology in our homes already and one that can be brought to market before the 2025 gas boiler shutdown begins.’

meaning running costs can be far lower, a typical three-bed household could save £2,755 over 10 years with an ASHP. Their long-service life also makes them more cost effective than traditional boilers that need to be replaced more often.

‘ASHPs are also a far more environmentally friendly way to heat your home than traditional gas boilers, as installing one could cut your household carbon emissions by 23.36 tonnes of CO2 over 10 years.

What’s more, customers can also take advantage of EDF’s zero carbon electricity supply.

‘Now is a great time to consider installing an ASHP, as owning

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one makes you eligible for the government’s Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme – which offers a financial incentive to replace oil and gas central heating systems with renewable heating systems. In a nutshell, this means that you get money for the energy your renewable system generates over a period of seven years,’ adds Mr Connon.

But the heat pump market in the UK remains very small. A recent report by the University of Sussex found that the UK is lagging behind other countries in their roll out. For example, in Finland, a country of just over three million households, an estimated 1,030,000 heat pumps have

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been sold. By comparison, less than 200,000 heat pumps are thought to have been installed in the UK since 2000.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is expected to deliver its strategy for heat and buildings decarbonisation in the next few months, which should clarify matters.

But a recent expert panel organised by heating manufacturer Baxi Heating highlighted the need for government and industry to engage consumers and provide a much-needed roadmap.

The panel’s widely held view was that it was becoming essential to explain the benefits and transition path to new forms of low-carbon heat, namely hydrogen boilers, heat pumps and heat networks.

The panellists highlighted many challenges still faced by the industry, including upskilling heating engineers to be able to install new low-carbon heating and hot water technologies.

Although the mix of low carbon technologies and its implementation has much further to go panellists agreed it was critical to deliver clearcut solutions to meet the energy needs for the wide variety of buildings in the UK. To be successful, it was emphasised that now is the time for action in order to deliver a sustainable future for generations to come.

‘Making low carbon solutions readily available, ensuring there is a rich body of professionals to install them, and engaging the general public will be key to starting this progress,’ says Karen Boswell, managing director of Baxi UK & Ireland.

‘We can’t wait for a single, clear-cut solution that will likely never arise.

Right now, we must get consumers and industry professionals on side to support the solutions, training and new services that are needed long into the future.’

Perhaps understandably, the ministers at BEIS and other Whitehall departments have a lot on their plates at the moment. But the clock is ticking and with 2025 getting ever closer, the entire heating industry is on tenterhooks, waiting for clarification on how it should prepare for the low carbon future.

Interview

How smart technology can drive the decarbonisation of transport Integrated systems and data analysis can play a key role in reducing air pollution, says the Managing Director of Siemens Mobility’s Intelligent Traffic Systems business in the UK, Wilke Reints.

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rom the phone in your pocket to the latest video streaming services, smart technology is playing an increasingly large role in all our lives, which is only set to grow as the systems themselves become more and more sophisticated.

That technology is also propelling huge changes in areas that many of us take for granted, like traffic management systems.

The days of traffic lights simply changing colour on a loop are over. Modern systems can help monitor and control traffic flow, as well as gather important information on the types of vehicles that use the nation’s roads, behaviour patterns and so forth.

There are many applications for that data and smart traffic management systems, including helping to improve air pollution and implement Clean Air Zones, as Siemens Mobility's Intelligent Traffic Systems Managing Director in the UK, Wilke Reints, explains.

‘Without data it would be difficult to find the right measures or solutions to improve pollution levels’ he tells Air Quality News.

‘But it is not just about having isolated data sets. The seamless integration of that data is as important and necessary.

You need to put all the data into one system and then try to identify a pattern, which will then help you to find the right tools to improve the situation in your town or city.’

However, different towns and cities require different solutions. For larger areas, smart technology can help with the implementation of a Clean Air Zone, which might not be as effective in smaller towns and villages.

Mr Reints says it is important to ‘try to identify where your problems are’.

‘That is the single most important thing and for that, you need data analysis and the seamless integration of various systems. You should simulate first and then build the system, rather than the other way around.

‘There are different ways you can make people aware of their journey and how it contributes to the air pollution around them. One is providing direct information to people who need to understand what their travel options are and why certain measures are in place. For example, if you introduce a greener route but nobody knows it exists, you will carry on using the older, more congested route.’

‘The other factor is to analyse data and manage traffic flows in a way that is balanced with overall targets. Whilst it may not be possible to avoid all congestion in a city there are some conditions you can avoid. If you have smart traffic controllers, where all the information gets collected into a centralised

Wilke Reint, Managing Director of Siemens Mobility’s Intelligent Traffic Systems business in the UK.

system, a more constant flow is possible and travel times become more reliable.

‘A good indicator for a traffic management system is that the travel times are reduced and stable. The more consistent the travel times are, the more balanced the system is.

‘What we need to do is have the right traffic management in place for certain groups of road user. For example, in busy cities such as London pedestrians may have a higher priority.’

While Clean Air Zones may work in larger towns and cities, Mr Reints says they may not be the best option for smaller towns and villages, who will need to closely examine the type of traffic in their specific areas.

For example, he says the installation of rapid EV chargers may not be as necessary in small villages compared to motorways, where EV drivers need a quick top up on longer journeys. ‘You need to have three layers of EV charging infrastructure and they go hand in hand,’ he explains.

‘The first one is for the long-distance traveller who requires a rapid charger. They need their cars charged quite quickly, which is a challenge in itself because service stations along our motorways don’t necessarily have the energy capacity for this right now.

‘But from a planning perspective, you need to enable people to travel longer distances by EV. If you don’t do that, people will not embrace these types of vehicles, or it will just be a secondary car, and they will not use it as much if they struggle to charge it on their journey.

‘So, you need other layers of charging, either at home or on the street, through street light chargers at the curb for example.’

With more EVs on our roads than ever before and public demand growing for action on tackling air pollution, the direction of travel is clear for many local authorities. The infrastructure of tomorrow will have to take into account the environment, as well as the needs of all road users. Smart technology and data analysis could help join the dots to ensure a more seamless vision of the future.

airqualitynews.com

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The Big Interview

Destiny Boka Betesa Air Quality News reporter Pippa Neill talks to 17-year-old Destiny Boka Betesa, one of the four co-founders of ChokedUp, the campaign group aiming to raise awareness of the racial injustices of air pollution.

ChokedUp began in October 2020 when the four cofounders, Destiny Boka Batesa, Anjali Raman-Middleton, Nyeleti Brauer-Maxaeia and Kaydine Rogers came together with an overall aim of ensuring that black and brown lives are protected in the name of the law when it comes to air pollution.

‘Growing up in South Norwell, Croydon I know a lot of people who have asthma or other respiratory illnesses due to air pollution,’ Destiny tells Air Quality News.

‘As a child it was always the small things I would notice, an ice cream van humming in the playground, parked cars outside the school gates with their engines running, but when my sister started having asthma attacks that’s when I really started to worry, I just felt helpless and like there was nothing I could do.

‘Creating ChokedUp has provided me with a way to speak up, we are being listened to by people who share the same problems, and we are working with those who want to find the solutions.’

Recently ChokedUp partnered with the Environmental Defence Fund (EDF), together they placed road signs across the capital in order to highlight the injustices of air pollution. The signs, which read ‘Pollution Zone’ and warned that ‘Breathing Kills’ were installed in areas where levels of air pollution are exceedingly high, including Whitechapel, Catford and Brixton.

‘We wanted to do something really eye catching,’ says Destiny.

‘And we thought there’s no better way to raise awareness of air pollution than with road signs, given that most of

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our pollution comes from the roads. Our aim was to do something that would be seen by as many people as possible, and what better way to do that than when people are driving or are on buses.’

“..but when my sister started having asthma attacks, that’s when I really started to worry..”

The posters also had a focus on the key aspect of ChokedUp’s campaign work, with one of the road signs highlighting that the most deprived communities live with 22% more air pollution than the least deprived.

This statistic is based on a study published by EDF which found that nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution is between 24-31% higher in areas of London where people from black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds are most likely to live. Additionally, the study also found that the most deprived Londoners are more than six times as likely to live in areas with higher pollution than the least deprived.

‘One of our posters also had a silhouette of a parent with an afro holding the hand of their child, with this poster we really wanted to emphasize that black and brown people are living in these impoverished areas and as a result are being the worst hit by the impacts of air pollution.

‘EDF also helped us to get the signs written in Bengali which were then put in White Chapel in order to represent the large population of brown and Bangladshi people living there, this inclusivity was really important, and we had great feedback from people who stood in solidarity with us.

‘The racial element of air pollution is something you

The Big Interview

cannot ignore, with this campaign we really wanted to highlight that although we are all living in the same city, it doesn’t mean we all experience the same effects - there is a wealth gap, a race gap and a class gap, and that disparity is so frank when you’re living on the receiving end of it.’

This campaign and the work of Destiny and the rest of ChokedUp has been praised widely, with their work picked up by both regional and national news organisations and with a group of 100 London health professionals who work in the NHS backing their call for action with a letter to the capital’s mayoral candidates, urging them to commit to tackling air pollution inequalities.

‘The response has been overwhelming,’ says Destiny.

so many times, but for so long it has fallen on deaf ears.

But I think this campaign was so in your face that people couldn’t avoid it, and I think in that sense it was a real success.’

Next year, Destiny is due to begin her studies at the University of Oxford, but she maintains that her campaign work will not be taking a back seat.

‘Being a campaigner at an age like mine does come with a level of responsibility, I’m constantly having to make compromises and find ways to balance things. But campaigning about air pollution and environmental racism is something I feel so passionate about and something that I want to continually invest my time in.

“NO2 pollution is between 24-31% higher in areas in London where people from ethnic minority backgrounds are most likely to live”

‘I’ve put my whole heart into ChokedUp so I wouldn't want to give that up for my studies, but if the past year has taught me anything it’s that the future is uncertain, so if I do need to take a break or pause for a bit then I know that Anjali, Nyeleti and Kaydine will take the baton for me.

‘I’m quite optimistic about the future and I'm not one to let barriers get in my way, I’m willing to do whatever I can to as much as my capacity and I will continue campaigning on this for as long as it takes.’

‘It feels really relieving to finally have our names, faces and narratives out there.

‘It was amazing to watch the news and see this issue being discussed. Finally, people were listening to our struggles and worries; it’s something we have talked about

airqualitynews.com

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Feature

Are Low Traffic Neighbourhoods the latest casualty of the culture wars?

Everyone seems to have an opinion on Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs). Air Quality News reporter Pippa Neill speaks to both sides to get to the heart of this debate.

L

ow Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) were first introduced in the Netherlands in the 1970s where they have been largely praised for their affordable and efficient ability to reduce congestion and air pollution by blocking through-traffic on residential streets. Following this success, in 2014 the UK set out to adopt a similar framework with the ‘mini-Hollands’ scheme, which thanks to funding from the-then mayor of London, Boris Johnson, was introduced in Waltham Forest, Enfield and Kingston.

Fast forward to May 2020, two months into the first national lockdown and Boris Johnson, now prime minister, set out to finish what he started in 2014 with the new £250m Emergency Active Travel Fund. Residents saw pavements widened, temporary cycle lanes introduced, and overnight their roads became blocked off to through-traffic, with a new wave of LTNs introduced across the capital.

However, due to the nature of this situation, many of these changes were made overnight with little consultation, meaning some residents woke up one morning and breathed clean air for the first time, while others woke up to queues of traffic outside their front door. Residents got up in arms about this situation, schemes saw vandalism, protests and campaigns, with one group even issuing a formal legal challenge against Hackney Council.

Almost one year on since their initial introduction and the division between those for and against LTNs is deeply ingrained and goes much deeper than those unwilling to give up their cars, all boiling down to something far more nuanced, fairness.

Various claims have been made stating that LTNs favour wealthier communities because there is an assumption that wealthier people are more likely to live on residential streets. However, in one of the most comprehensive studies to date, Professor Rachel Aldred and her team at the University of Westminster found that this was not the case.

‘In actual fact, we found that the most deprived areas in London were nearly three times as likely to have a new LTN than the least deprived areas,’ Professor Aldred tells Air Quality News.

‘We looked at the characteristics of people who live within the LTN and compared this to those who live near the

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adjacent boundary roads and generally speaking we found that there wasn’t any difference, certainly not with respect to deprivation.

‘But it’s important to highlight that implementing LTNs at scale is a relatively new intervention so we definitely need more data looking at a whole range of outcomes in order to really get the full picture. We're doing some work on this, but a lot more needs to be done.’

Although this data paints a clear picture, the lived experiences of those living outside the LTNs seems to suggest something different. Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, World Health Organisation clean air advocate and mother of Ella, the first person in the world to have air pollution on their death certificate shows no secret of her desire for cleaner air, but when it comes to LTNs, specifically the one where Rosamund lives in Lee Green, Lewisham, Rosamund has a lot to say.

Feature

‘For people like me who live near the South Circular, LTNs have made air pollution a lot worse,’ Rosamund tells Air Quality News.

‘The thing I struggle with the most is the disingenuous aspect of it, can you really bring in a policy that makes air pollution worse for those already impacted, those already marginalised - I thought the message was clean air for all, but maybe that was just propaganda.

‘Of course, a Low Traffic Neighbourhood sounds nice, I’m not denying that, but the reality is that if traffic is not going down one road, then it is going somewhere else, and while everyone is arguing about this, there are children who live near the South Circular who are dying.

‘This is the same road that ultimately, if we didn't live here my daughter would still be running around, so if that road impacted Ella, and it's now worse, what's going to happen, it's going to impact more children.

‘After what I've been through, when I know more than anybody what air pollution does, I now have to wake up every day and think I’ve got to get the money together to move, I've lived here for 20 years, why should I have to?

‘The data might say that air pollution is getting better, but I know more than anyone what's actually happening, and I’m fed up of people telling me that my lived experiences aren’t real - it’s environmental racism, it’s a lung apartheid.’

Despite this, a growing body of evidence has highlighted that LTNs do lead to overall less car use, with a study published by Professor Aldred in 2020 revealing that in all three mini-Holland schemes there was a consistent trend of people being less likely to own a car. However, it does seem simple that if the purpose of the LTN is to redirect traffic back to the main road, that those living near the main roads may suffer as a result and when these people are already disproportionately impacted by air pollution, it does

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Feature

beg a question of fairness. As Professor Aldred points out: ‘I find it frustrating that when we talk about LTNs we don't talk enough about the wider context. The level of air pollution in London is still unacceptable and we absolutely do need policies in place to tackle that and make pollution better on a city-wide scale.

‘Just because we’ve implemented a series of LTNs it's not suddenly going to make the main roads so quiet that children can play in the middle of them.

‘The government has lots of options, they can introduce much better bike infrastructure, they can use electric buses instead of diesel, they can expand the ULEZ, there's a whole range of things and I think the message is that we need to do all of them, LTNs haven’t made these issues go away.’

However, as with most things, reaching the ultimate goal of a ‘low traffic city’ is not simple, and at the end of the day it all comes down to one thing - cost.

Giulio Ferrini, head of built environment at Sustrans explains: ‘From a social justice angle, of course we should start where the need is the greatest and if money were no option, then I would absolutely agree. But the thing is, implementing a Low Traffic Neighbourhood is relatively cheap, if we were to do the same thing on the South Circular, it would cost 100 if not 1,000 times more.

‘So, at a time of constrained budgets LTNs are great.

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Yes, there are some problems and of course a lot more engagement needs to be done, but I think it is really important that we trial these schemes, not doing something because you’re afraid of the potential impacts based on no evidence is not an excuse.

‘I'm not saying this because I want to make these residents angry, but at the end of the day there’s always going to be something on the other side of these schemes, the question is how far do you draw the line?’

We are not short of solutions when it comes to reducing air pollution and with the key being reducing our overall car use, of course LTNs are an important piece of the puzzle, but it’s important that we don’t forget about the other aspects too, and with air pollution responsible for up to 36,000 premature deaths in the UK every single year it is essential that we look at the whole picture.

As Emma Gibson, head of London Travel Watch adds: ‘I think over the last year there has been a lot of focus on these schemes and TfL have neglected some of their planned pre-pandemic measures that make it easier to walk around London like putting in pedestrian crossings on dangerous roads. Fixing uneven pavements also makes a huge difference to navigating our streets safely. These might not be as flashy as LTN’s but it’s important to look at the whole range of solutions.’

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Are electric cargo bikes a viable alternative to last mile delivery?

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e are constantly facing an acceleration of new devices, solutions, services, and products - from Uber, Amazon and Netflix.

However, the transport sector has not experienced any major disruptors for quite some time.

When it comes to land cargo transport, our minds are fresh with the picture of 18-wheelers clogging the motorways and diesel vans and trucks polluting the air.

One alternative to this is the use of electric cargo bikes, cargo bikes are a relatively new phenomenon with a history of less than a decade in the UK. They are powered by a pedal-assisted motor and batteries, can navigate through bike lanes and can each carry a load of up to 250kg.

Presently there are few logistics operators solely using electric cargo bikes but ecofleet is one of the main players.

We sat down with Farah Asemi, the founder and CEO of ecofleet to assess her perspective on the future of cargo bikes as an alternative to the polluting diesel vans and lorries currently used for last mile delivery.

As a resident in London and as someone who is committed to sustainable environmental solutions, Farah has spent a long time frustrated by the congested roads and has physically suffered from exposure to air pollution.

Therefore she launched the cargo delivery service as a first step towards providing an alternative solution for the last mile transport of goods in major metropolitan areas. She has installed a culture at ecofleet based on integrity by focusing on what really matters: optimism, premium quality customer service, and encouraging risk taking.

The vision is for the ecofleet brand to be synonymous with the best in last mile sustainable delivery.

Farah believes that use of electric

cargo bikes will continue to grow rapidly during this decade. She sites some compelling statistics as to why this should be the case: • At the current rate, the number of delivery vehicles in major metropolitan cities is set to grow by 36% by 2030 and as a result emissions from delivery trucks will go up by 32%.

• Toxic air leads to around 40,000 deaths in the UK and 9,000 deaths in London each year, at an annual cost of £20bn to the UK economy.

• More than 50% of the pollution comes from road transport.

• Congestion in London alone costs £9.5bn in direct and indirect costs.

Ecofleet has conducted several tests to compare the efficiency of its bike fleet to traditional vans and lorries, they found that electric cargo bikes are much more efficient in terms of time used for each parcel delivery.

By using electric motors there is no

airqualitynews.com

resulting air pollution, there is no time wasted to find parking, no need to pay congestion and ULEZ charges, and no over-exertion of energy by the riders thanks to the electric motor assist. The battery range can be enhanced by the riders carrying an extra battery pack and cost per drop is competitive with traditional transport means.

Farah is confident about the future of the sector and expects to see an increasing number of electric cargo bikes replacing lorries and vans for last mile delivery. With the launch and future expansion of ecofleet into other markets Farah is trying to make a small difference towards eliminating pollution and congestion but she also believes that everyone needs to pitch in to avert further destruction of our world.

For more information on ecofleet Farah invites readers to contact her through their website www.ecofleet.co.uk.

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Advertorial

The importance of site selection in the implementation of an electric vehicle charging network Avisha Patel, Electric Vehicle Lead at Project Centre, has created a checklist assessment tool to assist with and streamline site audits to ensure that proposed sites are assessed using the same set minimum standards: “We recognised that while there have been guidance documents published for the placement of charge points in London, there has been no official guidelines set for the UK. Local authorities are under a tighter timescale to ensure charging infrastructure is in place to support the switch to electrification, so it is important that networks are futureproofed”. Avisha explains more below…

Project Centre concept drawing of a Parklet

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I

n June 2019, the Government committed to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to Net Zero by 2050.

Reducing harmful air pollution emissions is essential for the UK’s future as a healthy and sustainable economy.

The Government has set out its aims for zero emission transport in its ‘Road to Zero’ vision, in which it calls for between 50% and 70% of new car sales and up to 40% of new van sales to be ultra-low emission by 2030. In 2020, announcements were made declaring that no new conventional petrol or diesel cars or vans will be sold in the UK come 2030.

In the UK, road transport accounts for a third of all CO2 emissions and became the largest emitting1 sector of greenhouse gas emissions in 2016.

Zero emission technology plays a vital part in decarbonisation – so

what role do local authorities have in achieving and accelerating this reduction?

Local authorities have published commitments and delivery strategies outlining their actions to reduce road transport emissions - electric vehicles are part of their broader action plans.

To help achieve this, charging points should be installed efficiently and effectively, to ensure infrastructure is no longer a barrier to drivers switching to electric vehicles - the perceived availability of charging infrastructure is a cause for concern for consumers.

When introducing a charging network, consideration should be given to all footway and road users to make sure we are not only providing solutions for electric vehicle drivers, but we are creating cleaner, greener and smarter towns and cities for everyone.

Working closely with local

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authorities has highlighted the importance of charge point locations being considered under a set of guidelines, providing consistency.

At Project Centre, we approach choosing locations from two angles: • Finding the correct location - a wellplaced charger of the right capacity can potentially charge many more electric vehicles than multiple units in the wrong place.

• Ensuring we use best practice when selecting sites to prevent causing issues during installation, or contention between other footway/ road users.

To determine an appropriate geographical location, it is important to consider the following questions: • What type of network do you want to introduce?

• Who are you catering for?

• What land-use patterns make up your

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borough/ward/district?

• Where is there demand for charge points?

• Would the charge point be easily accessible?

Once a location has been identified, we can start to evaluate the site.

Our design assessment tool is a checklist that local authorities can use to streamline their site selection process during a site audit, to identify whether a location is suitable for a charging point. We have used these criteria while working on projects with charge point operators and have applied them to subsequent site selection exercises in different areas.

Our tool combines questions from different disciplines within an authority or organisation; Parking, Street Lighting, Highways, all of whom have a potentially conflicting set of priorities when installing charge points. It also reduces problems during installation and takes into consideration electric vehicle owners and all footway and road users.

The tool has been used by Project Centre to audit potential sites for authorities and has proven to be useful, taking approximately 15 minutes per site. Our engineers have been able to return the completed checklist to the council, enabling them to make an informed decision. We must design our charging point locations on a site-bysite basis; and this tool enables us to do so.

An example included for freestanding charge points is: What is the width of the footway?

There has been debate surrounding the placement of charging infrastructure on the footway (a possible obstruction for pedestrians and footway users) or placing units on build-outs on the carriageway; we must consider who else is using that space and what the level of footfall is like. Some streetscape guidance recommends 2.5m of clear footway however this seems too unrealistic in cities and towns. We also need to account for the fact that from the kerb edge to the back of the charge point the distance can be up to 754mm.

Whilst these measurements are flexible to a degree, it is important to find the correct balance for that particular site.

Using this, we can collect information to come to an informed conclusion on the site – the assessment

will have different criteria to evaluate for slow, residential charge points.

An extract from the tool can be found below:

Technology such as wireless induction charging is currently being trialled; if this solution were to become viable and implemented for charging

The Covid-19 pandemic gave us an unexpected glimpse of cleaner air, especially in cities. During the national lockdown in 2020, DEFRA published some statistics which stated that NO2 pollution (predominately from road traffic) had fallen in some cities by 60% compared to the previous year, because of less people travelling and driving.

Almost half of all drivers now want to switch to a zero-emission vehicle2 after experiencing improved air quality during the pandemic. From this, we can assume that there will be a demand for charging infrastructure; we just have to be mindful about how these networks are designed.

Covid-19 has increased the focus on the space beside the kerb. This space already has multiple uses: parking, deliveries, buses, pedestrians of all abilities, cycling, as well as growing areas such as electric vehicle charging and dockless bike schemes. Now we also need to consider things like social distancing.

A Centre for London study from March 2020 analysed priorities Londoners ascribe to street space uses.3 Electric vehicle charging was on that list, but ‘trees and other green space’ and ‘pavements free of clutter’ were greater priorities. So, where possible, should authorities look to install or relocate infrastructure on to build-outs positioned in the carriageway? Perhaps we could consider where feasible, the introduction of a Parklet - a multifunctional space, where although a parking space is being removed, it is being replaced by space that can be used by different people for different purposes – electric vehicle charging, greening, seating and bicycle storage, for example. (see image on page 24)

on a wider scale, it could address many of the street space issues highlighted within this publication.

There is a long list of considerations to review as part of any site selection process, however a solid charging network with inclusive design and wellplaced infrastructure will decrease the likelihood of a charge point becoming obsolete. This in turn should encourage the uptake of electric vehicles and consequently help to support the Government’s ambitions towards a zero-carbon economy.

airqualitynews.com

1 2018 UK Greenhouse gas emissions, provisional figures, National Statistics, UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy 2 https://www.helstongarages.co.uk/ news/42percent-of-uk-drivers-likelyto-switch-to-an-electric-vehicle/ 3 https://www.centreforlondon.org/ reader/parking-kerbside-mangement/ introduction/

Avisha Patel Lead Consultant EV Infrastructure, Project Centre

www.projectcentre.co.uk avisha.patel@projectcentre.co.uk

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Feature

Terror at 20,000 feet A new global campaign and film asks whether the air we breathe on commercial flights is as safe as we think it is.

Jamie Hailstone investigates

W

hile the pandemic means the prospect of international travel remains very much up in the air (no pun intended), many of us have probably been dreaming of the day when we will be packing our bags and heading to warmer climes.

The aviation industry has always had an uneasy relationship with the environment, especially with the amount of fossil fuel consumed by flights all over the world.

Another issue, which frequently gets overlooked, is the quality of the air passengers breathe onboard In February, a global campaign was launched by the Global Cabin Air Quality Executive (GCAQE), which called for the mandatory introduction of effective filtration and warning systems, to be installed on all commercial passenger jet aircraft.

According to the GCAQE, there have been 50 recommendations and findings made by 12 air accident departments globally over the last 20 years, directly related to contaminated air exposures on passenger jet aircraft.

However, commercial aircraft continue to fly, with no contaminated air warning systems to inform passengers and crews when the air they are breathing is contaminated.

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The issue has also been highlighted in a new film Everybody Flies - which follows Captain Tristan Loraine, as he uncovers the facts about the air we breathe on commercial aircraft.

‘When I was flying, I would get six or seven chest infections, a year,’ explains Captain Tristan. ‘Some of them would last six weeks. I would go and see my company doctor and say, “look this just isn't right”. They said it must be down to where you live or something like a tree fungus, but since I've stopped flying I've had one chest infection in like 14 years. So, it just goes to show it's absolutely linked to the air I was breathing.’

Captain Tristan says the air onboard passenger planes is contaminated because of ‘bleed air’, which brings air in through the compression section of the engines, or from the auxiliary power unit, a small engine at the tail of the aircraft. He says it is not filtered and has been known to be contaminated with jet engine oils and other fluids.

‘Bleed air is extremely hot - hundreds of degrees Celsius,’ he tells Air Quality News. ‘And as oil leaks in with it, the oil breaks down into hundreds and hundreds of different compounds. The most hazardous compound in

Feature

pilots to any issues with onboard air quality.

‘Aeroplanes are worth hundreds of millions of pounds and when you fly across the Atlantic, you could be at 36,000 feet, and the plane above you at 37,000 feet is literally right above you. The navigation is precise, virtually to the metre.

And yet, they don't have any sensors to tell you whether the air quality you’re breathing is safe or not.

‘The great irony in this is that in any other enclosed space that man works in - a submarine, spacecraft or a mine - they all have air quality monitoring equipment. So, if you can have it on the space shuttle why don't you have it on an aeroplane? If you get into a smaller propeller plane, which you learn to fly on, they actually have a carbon monoxide detector, in there. But in a jet, there's nothing.’

Captain Tristan Loraine

there is the organophosphate tricresyl phosphate. The most toxic chemicals piggyback onto ultra-fine particles which then enter the cabin, and that allows them to get them deep into the lungs or through the blood brain barrier.’

Rightly or wrongly, passengers have always assumed that the chamber of an aircraft is sealed during flight and the air is just recycled, but Captain Tristan says the truth is slightly more complicated.

‘It is sealed, but there is an outflow valve at the back,’ he explains. ‘That allows air to go out of the back of the aircraft. But you need to keep replacing the air in the sealed unit and you do this by taking in the air from the engines.

All the air comes in from the engines, and to reduce how much air per second they take, they recirculate half of it.

That air does gets filtered for bacteria and viruses inside, but the air that comes from the engine is unfiltered.’

Captain Tristan says there is only one airplane which does not use the ‘bleed air’ system, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and ‘the crews who work on that plane just say it's a totally different working experience, they just come off feeling totally refreshed’.

He adds there are also no sensors onboard aircraft to alert

Captain Tristan adds that cancer rates are much higher among those who work in the airline industry than in other sectors.

‘I just think people should be told this is what's going on and make an informed choice,’ he tells Air Quality News.

‘We know businessmen that have been on just one flight and have been seriously affected when there's been a bigger exposure. Eleven million people used to fly every day, and most of them will be fine. Passengers are not told about contaminated air even if they are in a big event. Passengers are also not told what is written on the warning labels of the products they are being exposed to such as synthetic jet engine oils or hydraulic fluids. They state: “do not breathe mist or vapour from heated product; risk of cancer; suspected of damaging fertility” etc…’

The trade union Unite has also been vocal about the issue of air quality on commercial aircraft and is supporting the ongoing High Court claims of airline staff against several of the largest UK airline operators.

Unite has backed calls for airlines to be held accountable for their lack of action in addressing this issue to ensure the health and safety of their staff and passengers on board their aircraft.

‘The aviation industry does not accept bleed air causes injury, particularly a significant neurological injury,’ a Unite spokesman tells Air Quality News.

‘Those staff who raise concerns are framed by the industry as campaigners or troublemakers and are marginalised. As a result, discussion about contaminated bleed air has become a taboo subject amongst airline staff.

‘As a consequence, no study has ever been conducted

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Feature

to properly assess the impact of exposure to contaminated bleed air on airline staff.’

Captain Tristan adds the aviation industry has taken numerous steps to enhance flight safety over the last 50 years, but it has failed on this issue.

‘In the GCAQE’s view, despite knowing about this issue for decades, aviation regulators around the world such as the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), have on this specific problem, put the corporate interests of the aerospace industry ahead of flight safety and public health,’ he added.

‘They have failed to mandate the installation of effective contaminated air warning systems or ‘bleed air’ filtration systems. They have also failed to require airlines to inform crews or passengers about these exposures. Instead, they claim the air in aircraft is better than in your home and continue to call for more research.

The sole result of calling for further research will be to delay having to take mitigating actions which are needed now, to fi nally resolve this public health and flight safety issue.

‘The regulators say they need to know what chemicals are present during a contaminated air event before they can consider mandating new technologies to mitigate the problem,’ he says.

‘They knew over 20 years ago what chemicals were present, as they have data from the investigation into the total incapacitation of two pilots on a domestic Swedish flight known as the ‘Malmo’ incident. It is unbelievable that they continue to fail to fi x this basic design flaw.’

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Air Quality News reached out to the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) on the issue of onboard air quality.

The AIA supplied AQN with a copy of a letter from the world’s top aerospace medical associations in 2017, which rejected a connection between cabin air and exposure to toxins.

‘Over the past two decades several major studies of cabin air have been carried out internationally and none have identified levels of toxic substances approaching clinical significance,’ the letter states.

‘While encouraging thorough scientific research in all areas of aerospace medicine, our review of the available literature leads us to suggest that significant symptoms being suffered by a group of individuals, here labelled as aerotoxic syndrome, are not explained by toxins in cabin air, and that other causes must be sought.’

It also cited two studies on cabin air quality by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in 2017. The first, conducted by a consortium of the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine and the Hannover Medical School, concluded that the cabin/cockpit air quality is similar or better than what is observed in normal indoor environments, like offices or schools.

It found no occupational exposure limits and guidelines were exceeded on eight different types of aeroplane.

The second study, by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research and the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, looked specifically at the toxicity of turbine engine oils and chemical compounds released in the cabin or cockpit air.

It concluded that neuroactive products are present in cabin air, but that their concentration is too low to be a major concern.

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Local Government Interview

Will next month’s local elections be a breath of fresh air?

Candidates in the May 2021 local elections will be campaigning on several key issues, but will the environment be one of them, writes Alice Creasy, policy and partnerships officer at the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU).

A

ir pollution from transport has been a key point of discussion over the course of this pandemic. The impact that lockdowns have had on travel has been stark - from local roads to international airspace, over the last year levels of movement have plummeted. In Britain, during the first lockdown road travel fell to levels not seen since 1955. Similar patterns have been seen across the world and pollution levels dropped in some of the planet’s worst-affected cities including Mumbai and Beijing. In Britain, as levels of air pollution fell in the week that the first lockdown was announced, sales of bikes and trainers rose dramatically as gyms closed and people looked for a reason to leave the house.

In response to the increased pressure on pedestrian infrastructure, councils across the country have responded quickly and effectively. Temporary ‘pop-up’ cycle lanes and walkways were created using bollards, planters and fences which help to widen pavements and close off roads, giving people the space they need to move around safely. Over the last year much of this work has been spurred on by research and conversations highlighting the link between air pollution, health and inequality. Poorer urban neighbourhoods are more likely to be exposed to harmful particulate pollutants and less likely to have access to green space, a fact that has been felt acutely during this year’s lockdowns. Furthermore, there is a growing body of research highlighting the link between air pollution and not only physical illness, but mental wellbeing as well.

Despite the growing body of evidence about the impacts of air pollution, local authorities often face an uphill struggle when it comes to addressing this issue. While strict lockdowns have seen a drastic fall in air pollution, research in 49 UK cities and towns over the last year has found that when restrictions are lifted, levels of particulate pollution returned to prepandemic levels. Furthermore, with many people wary of

Alice Creasy, policy and partnerships officer at the LGIU

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using public transport, car sales have risen over the last nine months and, despite a periodic rise in active travel over the first lockdown, the number of people walking and cycling has fallen consistently over the last few years. As a recent LGiU briefing highlighted, a key challenge for policy makers is that, while it seems as though the majority of people want lower traffic and less pollution, there is vocal resistance when the restrictions apply to them personally.

Beyond these challenges, local authorities are still reeling from a year which has shaken already fragile public finances. With the ongoing pandemic, Brexit, high levels of unemployment and countless other pressing challenges, many local authorities are struggling for capacity. For these reasons, there is a danger that what are often perceived to be less urgent and potentially controversial issues, such as air pollution and active travel, will not be prioritised in the upcoming elections.

While local authorities face significant hurdles when it comes to reducing air pollution and increasing active travel, evidence shows that the majority of people in Britain do back the development of active travel infrastructure. With this in mind, places across the country are recognising the importance of addressing air pollution not only in response to immediate public health concerns but in the face of a looming climate crisis. From a new clean air zone in Bristol and the creation of an annual clean air day in London to huge funding increases for active travel in Ireland and new strategies to improve air quality across Scotland, there are signs that governments are making long-term investments to improve air quality and public health.

As these examples highlight, many ongoing measures to improve air quality go beyond air pollution from transport.

Although emissions from transport and their link to active travel have been a key topic of conversation over the course of the pandemic, it is important to recognise the wide-ranging and complex nature of ‘air pollution’.

This was highlighted by recent research that found that, despite only being used by 8% of the population, wood burning stoves are three times more polluting than cars, making them the biggest cause of particulate pollution in the UK. While this crisis has already brought countless challenges and hardships, it has also provided a clear public, scientific and political mandate for change. As health and environmental crises begin to converge, local authorities play an incredibly important role in supporting the development of more sustainable places.

Now, with COP26 on the horizon, May’s local elections serve as a key opportunity for all political parties to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and their Net Zero pledges.

Local Government

Has local government funding gone to pot?

More and more, councils are being encouraged to bid for various pots of cash but is this the best way to deal with issues like the environment.

Jamie Hailstone investigates

T

here has always been much more to local government finance than just council tax and business rates bills. It is a strange, murky world full of acronyms and titles that can leave most ordinary people baffled and bemused, despite the fact it has a direct impact on each of our lives.

It used to be a relatively simple affair. Councils collected council tax and business rates and handed them to the Treasury, who calculated how much money each local authority needed and gave them a lump sum in the shape of the Revenue Support Grant.

Other Whitehall departments would also join in and give local authorities

money for specific tasks or purposes.

But, if like Air Quality News, you spend your days writing about such matters then you have may found yourself seeing the phrase ‘councils are invited to bid for’ appear more and more in ministerial statements.

This is because the way central government funds local government has gone through a series of subtle, and not-so-subtle changes in the last decade. The Institute for Government calculates that Whitehall grants to councils - including retained business rates - were cut by 38% in real-terms between 2009/10 and 2018/19, from £34.6bn to £24.8bn in cash terms.

Increasingly, central government is

airqualitynews.com

turning to dedicated funding pots, like the Levelling Up Fund, Air Quality Grant funding and the Green Jobs Challenge Fund.

Obviously, no local authority is ever going to turn down extra funding, especially when it is targeted, but is running a bidding process really the right way to tackle long-term issues like pollution? And does this mark a shift in the relationship between local and central government?

‘This administration is turning local government into continuous episodes of Play Your Cards Right,’ says the executive director of the Institute of Economic Development, Nigel Wilcock.

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Local Government

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‘And there is no acknowledgement of the disruption this approach causes in staff time writing bids and the impossibility it causes for budgeting.

It is turning local government into a farcical position.’

One of the most recent examples was the announcement last month by the Department for Transport of a multimillion-pound scheme to enable local transport authorities to roll out zero-emission buses.

Philippa Borrowman, a policy adviser at Green Alliance says local authorities need to know the government is backing them to meet the goals set out in their climate emergencies.

‘All parts of the UK need to cut emissions, so funding pots requiring councils to bid for cash risk leaving some behind,’ Ms Borrowman tells Air Quality News.

‘The bidding applications can be

Up to £120m is being made available through the Zero Emission Buses Regional Area (ZEBRA) scheme, which will allow local transport authorities to bid for funding to purchase zero-emission buses, reduce the carbon emissions from their local public transport and improve air quality in towns and cities across England.

According to the government, the funding will deliver up to 500 zero-emission buses, supporting the government’s wider commitment to introduce 4,000 zero-emission buses.

The DfT has also recently urged English local authorities outside London to submit expressions of interest for a share of £15m of new funding to repair & upgrade their traffic signals and announced £18m for cycle training, which will be administered by the Bikeability Trust charity.

time consuming without any guarantee of success, so under resourced councils may avoid applying altogether. But, long term, stable funding for local authorities is needed for councils to reduce emissions and support the government’s net zero targets.

However, there is a role for top-up funding to achieve specific goals, like the chancellor’s Levelling Up fund.

Widening their scope for example to invest in decarbonising transport or bolstering jobs in restoring our natural environment can help specific areas catch-up.’

Peter Jones, one of Eunomia’s consultants focusing on local environment, says small, competitively awarded funding streams can allow new ideas to be developed, trialled and reported on.

‘So long as the funding allows for proper evaluation of the results, letting

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a thousand flowers bloom will let us find out which are the most attractive,’ he explains.

‘There is certainly more to learn about ways we can address both air quality and climate change; however, we already know the biggest measures we need to take to reduce greenhouse gas and air quality emissions. We need massive programmes of insulation and electrification of heating.

‘Where programmes need to be rolled out very widely, using small, competitively awarded pots of money just adds to the transaction costs of putting the funding in place. An organised and systematic approach is required, that allows a prioritised roll-out across the country, based on what has been learned through earlier programmes and interventions,’ adds Mr Jones.

Of course, the pandemic has further clouded the already murky waters of how local authorities are financed. A recent study by the trade union Unison claimed councils in England and Wales are facing a financial deficit of almost £1.2bn, in part because of extra costs fighting coronavirus.

The trade union published figures, which show that in December toptier councils predicted funding gaps totalling over £1bn by the end of the 2021 financial year. At the same time, district and borough councils projected a collective deficit of £179m due to increased spending and reduced income caused by the pandemic.

And it warned these funding gaps will increase as the full impact of the pandemic is realised over the coming years.

All eyes will also be on how the continuing pandemic also affects the money central government is able to collect. Public sector finances are under tremendous strain at the moment. If the economy starts to bounce back, then the Treasury will have more cash to play with, although with borrowing still at record levels, there might not be much to go around.

Whatever happens to the nation’s finances over the next few years, it seems the era of pot funding is here to stay and councils will have to get used to playing their cards right. Higher, higher anyone?

Legal

The role of local authorities in addressing air pollution Tiffany Cloynes, a partner at Geldards LLP and head of public sector, England, looks at how councils can address carbon reduction and air quality in their communities.

T

he House of Commons’ housing communities and local government committee is conducting an inquiry into the role that local authorities can play in enabling the United Kingdom to meet its carbon reduction target. The inquiry - local government and the path to net zero - will look in particular at the UK government’s plans to make all new homes zero carbon ready by 2025 through the introduction of the Future Homes Standards and will explore how local government can help the UK to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, including by incentivising and decarbonising public transport and facilitating green growth. The inquiry is calling for evidence until 30 April.

Local authorities have shown a commitment to addressing carbon reduction and air quality in their decisions, policies and practices. Most local authorities have made a declaration of a climate emergency and have adopted action plans to tackle this. Such declarations generally attracted a lot of public interest, as well as attention from environmental pressure groups, indicating that local authorities are likely to receive support for projects addressing climate change but also that their actions are likely to be closely monitored and scrutinised.

Local authorities have put their commitments into effect by developing a range of practical projects. These include: • I nvestment in energy sources, such as acquisition of solar farms and installation of solar panels on local authority buildings.

• Using electric vehicles and installing infrastructure to facilitate this. This includes projects to develop all electric bus services.

• R aising awareness of renewable energy sources and the importance of sustainability.

• Creating low or zero emission zones in which road users other than zero emission vehicles are subject to a charge.

• Improving walking and cycling routes.

Such projects can have a positive impact for local communities but local authorities will need to address a range of legal issues when implementing them. These include: • Effective decision making. Local authorities must ensure that every decision that they take is within their powers and that they act reasonably in exercising those

powers. They will need to ensure that their climate change emergency declarations and decisions taken pursuant to them do not fetter their discretion to take each decision on its merits.

• Pervasive duties. It will be relevant for local authorities to consider their climate change emergency declarations when taking decisions but they will also need to consider the impact of decisions on their compliance with other duties, such as equality and best value.

• Planning law: When considering applications for planning permission and environmental impact assessments, it will be relevant for local authorities to take account of the presence of air quality management areas and the risk to health caused by air pollution.

These will need to be considered alongside other material considerations.

• Legal obligations and approaches relevant to particular circumstances. For example, the restrictions that have been imposed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic may have had an impact on the ability of local authorities to progress particular projects, such as any which encourage the use of public transport.

Local authorities can play an important part in addressing carbon reduction and air quality in their communities but they need to be effective in addressing all the legal requirements.

Tiffany Cloynes, a partner at Geldards LLP and head of public sector, England.

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