AQN Mag - Feb 2020 : Issue 2

Issue 2

February 2020

airqualitynews.com

Heathrow’s third runway - sky high pollution?

The Big Interview Ben Fogle

CLIMATE CHANGE CRISIS AUSTRALIAN BUSHFIRES • GOVERNMENT FUNDING • VIETNAM

PIONEERING NEW AIR TECHNOLOGY

Nuaire is a market leader in the design and manufacture of energy-efficient, domestic, commercial and industrial ventilation solutions. By continuing to push the boundaries of performance and carbon-reduction, we continue to lead the industry and help clients deliver greener homes and buildings with the highest levels of indoor air quality.

PIONEERING NEW AIR TECHNOLOGY T 029 2085 8200 E ENQUIRIES@NUAIRE.CO.UK ď‚ @NUAIREGROUP WWW.NUAIRE.CO.UK

Editorial Comment and Contacts

Welcome to Air Quality News magazine Contacts Publisher: David Harrison d.harrison@spacehouse.co.uk 01625 614 000 Editor: Thomas Barrett tom@airqualitynews.com 01625 666 385 Journalist: Pippa Neill pippa@airqualitynews.com 01625 666 396 Journalist: Jamie Hailstone jamie.hailstone@me.com 01625 614 000 Advertising Director: Andy Lees andy@airqualitynews.com 01625 666 390 Advertising Manager: Peter Moore peter@airqualitynews.com 01625 614 000 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 4 times a year Annual Subscription - £19.95 +VAT

The Australian bushfires shocked the world and images of flames decimating wildlife in the region were harrowing to witness.

The fires also highlighted how climate change and air pollution are closely linked. PM2.5 readings of over 400μg/m3 enveloped Sydney and kept residents indoors at the peak of what is supposed to be their summer.

As we enter a new decade, it feels like the fires could be a harbinger of things to come. So, for the second issue of the Air Quality News magazine, we wanted to explore the thread that links climate change and air pollution.

Jamie Hailstone speaks to some leading academics in the field to help join the dots, we interview one of the UK’s leading environmentalists, Ben Fogle, and we hear how Birmingham City Council’s Clean Air Zone plans are informing their wider climate agenda.

Pippa Neill also analyses how Heathrow’s controversial third runway will impact on air pollution.

There has been a general election since the last issue of our magazine, and we explore how a renewed sense of optimism could lead to more funding for local authorities as they attempt to cut toxic air in our towns and cities.

Thank you to all those who attended our National Air Quality Conference at Lord’s Cricket Ground in November. It was a fascinating day full of thought-provoking presentations and conversation. Building on the success of the last event, we have recently announced details of our next conference which will be held on April 28 at the Midland Hotel in central Manchester.

We’ve got a fantastic line up of speakers including the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham as well as key figures from Defra, the Clean Air Fund, the University of Birmingham, ClientEarth and more. Please visit our website for details on how to book your place at the event.

If you’d like to contribute to future magazines or wish to discuss any of our coverage, I’d be delighted to hear from you.

Thomas Barrett, editor.

Air Quality News - published by Spacehouse Ltd, Pierce House, Pierce Street, Macclesfield. SK11 6EX. Tel: 01625 614 000 All rights reserved. Reproduction, in whole or part without written permission is strictly prohibited.

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

Fulfilment and distribution using 100% recycled envelopes.

airqualitynews.com

3

Breathe Easy Worried about the legal issues around delivering improved air quality?

Our experienced team will work with you on understanding and complying with the ever-changing UK and global regulatory landscape surrounding air quality and emissions.

To find out how we can help you, please contact: Nick Helm Partner, Manchester T +44 161 830 5360 E nick.helm@squirepb.com

45 Offices in 20 Countries squirepattonboggs.com

Contents

Features Contents Page 6-8: News Page 10-12: Feature Page 13: Siemens Page 6-8 News:

Page 24-26 Feature: Trouble with ‘air indoors’

Page 14-15: Freight & Transport Page 16-17: Vehicles Page 18: Vehicles Page 20-21: Investigation Page 22-23: Campbell Associates

Page 10-12 Feature: Joining the dots between climate change and air pollution

Page 30-31 The Big Interview: TV presenter and author Ben Fogle

Page 24-26: Feature Page 27: Roadgas Page 28-29: Neology Page 30-31: The Big Interview Page 32: Local Government Page 34-35: Local Government

Page 16-17 Vehicles: The UK’s first ‘low emission bus town?’

Page 34-35 Local Government: Is Whitehall ‘scrimping’ on air quality?

Page 36: Legislation Page 37-38: International Page 40-41: Marketplace Page 42: Jobs

Page 20-21 Investigation: The air quality implications of Heathrow’s expansion

Page 37-38 International: Christmas Day in the world’s most polluted city

Thanks to our contributors: Andrea Davies, Rebecca Kite, Rahul Biljani, Birmingham City Council.

Partners

airqualitynews.com

5

News

in brief Air pollution linked to one in 19 UK deaths In an annual report published by researchers at Centre for Cities, it is revealed that long-term exposure to air pollution is killing one in 19 people in the UK. According to the report, transport is a significant contributor, but toxins from wood burning stoves is also a major threat with 50% of the PM2.5 toxins generated in towns and cities coming from wood-burning stoves and coal fires. The estimates vary significantly depending on location.

For example, the proportion of deaths related to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is highest in cities and large towns in southeastern England such as Slough, Luton and London, where an estimated one in 16 people die from exposure.

Meanwhile, cities in Scotland and northern England see the smallest proportion of PM2.5-related deaths.

Aberdeen is the city with the lowest proportion, at one in 33.

Government doubles council founding for EV chargepoints The Department for Transport (DfT) announced it will double council funding for residential EV charge points to £10m. The money will be open to all local authorities, it is hoped it could help fund 3,600 new charge points across the country.

The department is also looking at how to make information about the chargepoints, such as locations and power ratings available in a standard format.

Living near a busy road increases the risk of dementia, Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis Researchers at the University of British Columbia have found that living less than 50 metres from a major road or less than 150 metres from a motorway is associated with a 14% increased risk in developing dementia, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and MS due to the increased exposure to air pollution. The researchers also found that a closer proximity to green space meant that the neurological disorders was reduced.

6

New diesel car emissions spiking at ‘1000 times’ their normal level due to filter cleaning New diesel cars are still exceeding EU limits for particle emissions, peaking at over 1000 times their normal level, according to campaign group Transport and Environment (T&E).

T

&E commissioned independent lab tests into the Nissan Qashqai and Opel Astra, two of the top-selling diesel cars in the market.

They found the cars were between 32% and 115% over the legal limit when they cleaned their filters.

Filter cleaning, to prevent the diesel particulate filter

from clogging, can occur in all driving conditions. In the tests, the number of particles continued to be higher during urban driving for 30 minutes after the cleaning had ended.

Two years of rail chaos results in 650,000 replacement bus journeys

T

he publicly-owned Network Rail, who owns and manages all rail infrastructure in England, Wales and Scotland, says train companies must offer

rail replacement buses when tracks are closed for repair and maintenance work.

However, the scale of disruption suggests that the UK’s creaking rail

airqualitynews.com

infrastructure is under serious pressure, and the patchwork nature of the repairs is resulting in a significant number of buses on the roads and misery for commuters.

News

UK citizens legal right to clean air could be ‘cast aside’ after Brexit A change to the Withdrawal Agreement Bill means that UK citizens legal right to breathe clean air could be ‘cast aside’ after Brexit.

W

hilst the UK will automatically retain EU environmental laws when it leaves the European

Union, a clause has been added to section 26 of the bill that means any UK court or tribunal will be able to overrule case law from the Court of Justice of the

EU (CJEU).This could have implications for air pollution as CJEU judgements have provided the basis for legal action against the UK government.

Air pollution on London Underground four times worse than above ground Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution is on average four times worse in the London Underground than on busy roads above ground, a new study finds.

S

cientists from King’s College London undertook research using a device placed inside a backpack, which

measured PM2.5 on journeys on the Tube as well as walks around central London to compare the findings.

The most polluted route was

the Victoria line, with a median level of 361 μg /m3.

A stretch of the line between Brixton and Pimlico peaked at a massive 885μg/m3.

Researchers hope to cut levels of toxic air inside a car For many people, their biggest exposure to daily air pollution comes while they are driving their car.

A

ir quality inside a car can be significantly affected by heavy stop and start traffic, and over the course of a long drive,

a car can accumulate levels of particulate matter (PM2.5) that are unhealthy to breathe.

A team of researchers at the University of California have

developed a way to open the recirculation flap door at specific angles so it can control the exchange of recirculated and fresh air.

airqualitynews.com

in briefin brief Greater Manchester misses clean air deadline blaming government uncertainty The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) gave the authority until the end of 2019 to send them its final plans but the council says it is refusing to submit until they have clarification on the legalities of the plan as well as a firm commitment to funding packages for Manchester businesses upgrade to cleaner vehicles Idling coaches to lose prime parking spots in Westminster In a bid to tackle air pollution in Westminster, prime coach parking spots will be replaced with EV charging points.

There are currently 68 coach parking spaces located in Westminster, with many outside schools and homes. In June 2019 drivers were warned that action would be taken for drivers idling their vehicles, after warnings were ignored, the coaches will now lose their parking spots.

After these warnings were ignored and complaints continued, the council has now put plans in place to remove several coach parking spots, replacing them with EV charging spots and cycling racks.

Councils should provide free indoor air pollution testing, report argues The report from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and the Royal College of Physicians says indoor air pollution is contributing to a range of childhood health problems including asthma, conjunctivitis and eczema, and says that by giving councils new powers to tackle it, childhood health could be significantly improved.

It recommends that councils have the power to intervene where air quality fails to meet minimum standards in local authority schools and houses.

This should be extended, according to the authors, beyond damp and mould (where powers already exist) to include other pollutants.

7

News

in brief ULEZ van scrappage scheme payment doubled after poor response Payments for London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone van scrappage scheme will double to £7,000 after a poor take up of the initial offer.

The scheme opened in February 2018, with businesses with fewer than 10 employees able to apply for either a payment of £3,500 to scrap a non-compliant van or minibus to purchase a newer Euro 6 vehicle, or £6,000 to buy a new electric vehicle.

Smoke from forest fires can travel up to 2,000km Wildfi res in South-Eastern Brazil can affect air pollution in cities and towns that are up to 2,000km away.

Researchers at the University of Birmingham used data on ozone levels during September to October.

This is the dry season, the period when most fi res occur.

They found that long-range transport of smoke contributed to between 23-41% of the total ozone pollution in Sao Paulo and Panama.

London’s housing developers are ‘locking residents’ into car ownership Think tank Centre for London has published a new report called Building for a New Urban Mobility, which says that new housing developments are failing to provide residents with healthy and sustainable travel options.

The Mayor of London is aiming for 80% of all trips in London to be made on foot, by cycle or using public transport by 2041, but the report suggests that based on the rate of progress, London would only reach this target by 2070.

The report fi nds that development decisions can be based on outof-date predictions about the travel choices and patterns of future residents, an issue which is compounded by under-resourced planning and development departments in local authorities.

8

Depression and suicide are linked to air pollution Individuals who are exposed to higher levels of air pollution are more likely to experience depression or to die by suicide, according to a new study published by researchers at University College London (UCL).

T

he researchers reviewed data from 16 different countries and used previous studies that have investigated the association between particulate matter (PM2.5) and mental

health illnesses in adults.

By collating the results, they found that a 10μg/m3 increase in the average level of PM2.5 was associated with a 10% increase in depression.

According to the researchers, if

the relationship with depression and air pollution reported in these studies is casual, then reducing global average exposure to PM2.5 by 44μg/m3 could result in a 15% reduction in depression risk worldwide.

A third of London parkrun locations have poor air quality 5km parkruns on Saturdays have become a popular way to get fit, meet new people & dust off the Monday to Friday cobwebs, but new research has suggested that over a third of London parkrun locations are in areas with poor air quality.

B

oiler Guide analysed recent data released

by Imperial College London and the University of Leicester, which assessed the nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels in green spaces around the M25 corridor.

They used the data to identify which of the 56 parkrun locations in London were best and worst for air quality and ranked them against the EU’s annual legal limit of 40μg/m3.

Annual levels at 20 of the

locations came within 5μg/m3 of the figure and parkruns held at Burgess Park (40.8μg/m3),

airqualitynews.com

Mile End (40.4μg/m3) and Hackney Marshes (40.2μg/m3) all exceeded it.

THE WORLDS MOST EFFECTIVE AIR POLLUTION CONTROL BARRIER

European Partner

50

% OVER NOx removal

THE WORLDS MOST EFFECTIVE HVAC FILTER SYSTEM

99

% UP TO NOx removal T: +44 (0) 1323 872243

Feature

Joining the dots between climate change and air quality Does air pollution cause climate change, or will climate change inevitably lead to lower air quality?

Jamie Hailstone reports.

W

hether it has been the recent devastating fires across Australia or ageing rocker Meatloaf casting judgement over activist Greta Thunberg, climate change has unquestionably been one of the biggest news stories over the last months.

The bushfires across Australia have come after months of severe drought and recording breaking temperatures across the country.

It is estimated that more than 10 million hectares (100,000 sq km) of bush, forest and parks across Australia have been destroyed since the fires started in September.

As emergency services have worked to contain the blazes, the Australian national government has also come under heavy criticism for not doing enough to tackle climate change.

Australian climate change activist, Toby Thorpe said: ‘This is a catastrophic failure of government to respond to the monumental crisis of climate breakdown. 2020 needs to

10

airqualitynews.com

be a year of climate action, Australia and the planet can no longer afford this complacency. These fires can never be forgotten.’

And while the debate over climate change continues to make headlines, one could almost argue that air pollution has taken a back seat, despite them being closely related in many people’s eyes.

Some will argue that air pollution is a separate matter entirely and will no doubt point to the smog which used to plague London in the 1950s, long before Extinction Rebellion took to the capital’s seats. But others will argue that one has caused the other, although there seems to be some debate about which came first. In terms of the perennial ‘chicken versus egg’ debate, Dr Philip Porter, a reader in Geoscience at the University of Hertfordshire says he believes air pollution likely came first.

‘You can argue that air pollution came first, but as with many aspects of environmental systems it’s never quite as simple as this,’ says Dr Porter.

Feature

‘With the industrial revolution and consequent air pollution in the West, emissions rose, enhancing post-glacial warming, while simultaneously atmospheric particulate pollution levels increased. However, if we consider a concept called “global dimming”, increased particle pollution can potentially increase cloud formation,’ he adds.

‘Water vapour condensing around particles in the atmosphere leads to denser, more reflective clouds, which can then help reflect sunlight, acting like giant mirrors in the sky, reducing solar energy levels at the Earth’s surface, “dimming” light levels from the sun and keeping us cooler than we otherwise would have been.

There is a risk that the transition to EVs ‘merely shifts pollution flows’ to other countries and areas close to power plants.

‘This “dimming” process then has the potential to mask some of the warming from increased emissions.’

‘Particulate emissions in the West are mostly lower than they were, but global CO2 levels have been steadily growing,’ explains Dr Porter.

‘Some areas have therefore seen an acceleration of warming, which may be partly because that protective and reflective cloud cover has lessened as particulate pollution has fallen.

‘So now that air quality has improved, the warming that has been ‘masked’ by the global dimming effect is then felt in parts of the world that are now ‘brighter’ due to less particulate pollution and less extensive cloud formation’.

term approach in official circles that nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from diesel vehicles must be cut as quickly as possible, while petrol vehicles remain unaffected.

‘If we are to stay on a 1.5-degree trajectory, it’s pretty clear we will have to phase out both petrol and diesel vehicles’ explains Mr Hogg.

‘There is a lot of talk in the clean air debate about banning diesel in city centres, but you will have to ensure the demise of them both at some stage, either through bans, or developing incentives for people not to use them.

‘Instead of just taking a short-term view that we have to stay within legal obligation, we should also be looking at whatever strategy we put in place, for the medium or longterm, that we have to be driving CO2 emissions right down consistent with keeping warming within a 1.5-degree envelope.

‘If we do this, we will massively improve air quality, and be well within legal requirements on air pollution’.

Melting ice In some cases, Dr Porter says ash and soot from the combustion of fossil fuels and burning of biomass, through events such as tundra and forest fires, could accelerate the melting of snow and ice in regions such as the Himalayas.

The chairman of environmental consultancy Eunomia, Dominic Hogg, highlights that the combustion of fossil fuels which is largely responsible for climate change also lead to air pollution.

‘The question then becomes which concern trumps the other,’ he explains.

‘It’s my personal view that, in the past, people who have campaigned to address climate change have slightly undersold the co-benefits of improved air quality,’ Mr Hogg tells Air Quality News.

‘Whereas you have sceptics on climate change, I don’t think there are many air pollution sceptics. Most people understand that if you have high concentrations of air pollutants in the air we breathe, it’s not good news for your health. There’s a strong argument that you should sell the benefits of improved air quality when you are looking to address climate change.

‘But if you look at it the other way around and say what would addressing air quality objectives mean for climate change, this is where you end up with a problem that Clean Air Zones are facing at the moment.’

Mr Hogg says part of the problem lies with a short-

Mr Hogg singles out the Clean Air Zone in Bristol as being a good example of how the links between climate and air quality are not being drawn.

‘Bristol has a target to be carbon neutral by 2030,’ he adds. ‘The mayor of Bristol has said he will ban diesels from the city centre. So, people will switch from diesel to petrol.

He will meet his NOX target, but relative to the business as usual target, it will do nothing for CO2 emissions.

‘He’s missing a massive opportunity. He needs to integrate his thinking about climate change into his thinking about air quality, because people will then buy start to buy petrol vehicles because they can drive them into the city centre.

‘If he is serious about his climate change target, he will

airqualitynews.com

Bristol, which is proposing a diesel ban in its city centre.

11

Feature

go back to them in three years and say “we need to ban petrol cars as well”. You have to set out now how you want the world to look like in 10 or 15 years, not just try and meet the short-term air quality target as quickly as possible.

‘Otherwise, you will incur significant additional economic costs for no useful purpose.’

and recycling,’ he adds. ‘Electric drivetrains, motors, and batteries need lithium, nickel, copper, and aluminium, as well as critical materials, somewhat harder to find, such as cobalt and indium. Whether it’s a lithium mine in the desert of Bolivia or an oil well in Riyadh, you have to destroy many things to get either one,’ he adds.

‘And a shift from internal combustion engines to electric power for mobility is likely to increase consumption of electricity, and thus contribute to water scarcity.’

The director of the Energy & Climate Unit (ECIU), Dr Jonathan Marshall believes that while EVs will still create air pollution from ‘brake dust and kicking debris off the road’, it will be ‘nothing’ compared to the tailpipe of a diesel vehicle.

‘As the economy starts to move towards full decarbonisation, we should see a concurrent reduction in air pollution,’ Dr Marshall tells Air Quality News.

‘The main thing is to start making progress, especially in sectors where nothing has been done yet,’ adds Dr Marshall.

‘The government has no idea how to deal with the task of heating our homes. At the moment, we are still putting gas boilers in homes, which are a bad source of indoor air pollution. There needs to be a move towards more electrified sources of energy and away from fossil fuels.’

‘If we are to stay on a 1.5-degree trajectory, it’s pretty clear we will have to phase out both petrol and diesel vehicles.’

Glacial Warming Research; Dr Philip Porter University of Hertfordshire

12

No silver bullet While many people point to the rise of electric vehicles (EVs) as key to tackling both climate change and air pollution, some are unconvinced they will be the silver bullet to solve either crisis. The University of Sussex’s Professor of Energy Policy, Benjamin Sovacool, says there is a risk that the transition to EVs ‘merely shifts pollution flows’ to other countries and areas close to power plants.

‘EVs, in particular, can lead to externalities such as greenhouse gas emissions from electricity use, toxic pollution from battery manufacturing and disposal, and water consumption,’ says Prof Sovacool.

‘The move to EVs also raises concerns about toxicity

airqualitynews.com

While the executive director of the Aldersgate Group, Nick Molho, argues that a low-carbon transport system should go ‘hand in hand’ with delivering better air quality.

‘We think the government should put in place an integrated transport strategy,’ he says. ‘At the moment, we have a roads strategy and someone else is working on a rail strategy. Sajid Javid has now announced he is developing a bus strategy.

That’s all great, but if those strategies don’t talk to each other, you end up making different infrastructure choices in a silo.

‘There is also nowhere near enough focus in planning requirements to develop new homes or office blocks in areas that are well-connected and served by public transport and active travel systems, like cycling paths,’ argues Mr Molho.

‘These things tend to be bolted on afterwards. They need to be conceived together from the beginning. We also need a national network of clean air zones, but we need them to be ambitious and coordinated, rather than everybody doing something different.

‘It needs to be made clear to everyone what the standard rules are, and they should not be based around the lowest common denominator. The rules should be gathered around the highest denominator to make sure there is consistency.’

Climate change will likely continue to dominate the headlines for much of 2020, culminating in the United Nations COP 26 conference, which will take place in Glasgow in November. Let’s hope the UK seizes this opportunity and makes history on both climate change and air quality for all the right reasons.

Advertorial

Towards Clean Air - Carrot or Stick?

Siemens Mobility reviews a number of traffic technology approaches.

I

n the UK, air pollution is one of the most significant environmental risks to human health and many cities are now either implementing or actively exploring intelligent solutions to help meet their air quality targets.

As part of an integrated traffic management and control programme, these solutions can be tailored to provide different combinations of ‘carrot and stick’ to reflect each city’s requirements, as well as their approach to improving air quality.

In London for example, the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) which was introduced in 2019, means that most vehicles must either meet tight exhaust emission standards, or pay a daily charge to travel within the zone.

Siemens Mobility software is at the heart of ULEZ, integrating with the existing roadside sensors and ANPR cameras which form part of Transport for London’s established congestion charging scheme. From October 2021 the area will be expanded to include the whole of inner London, bounded by the city’s North and South circular roads, with the class-leading Siemens Mobility Sicore II ANPR camera used to enforce the larger zone.

The Mayor of London’s office has recently highlighted the impact ULEZ has already made, reporting 13,500 fewer older, more polluting, noncompliant vehicles detected in the zone and a subsequent reduction in roadside concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) of 36%.

Siemens Mobility is also now installing Clean Air Zone (CAZ) solutions in a number of UK cities, helping reduce air pollution by encouraging vehicle owners to transition to cleaner, less-polluting vehicles. The company’s intelligent vehicle recognition and analysis software means that charging can be set to apply to specific groups of vehicles, so for example only the worst polluting such as heavy goods vehicles, buses, and taxis would be subject to a charge.

The company has also worked with authorities to introduce schemes that

positively encourage the use of ultralow emission vehicles (ULEVs). For example, it has developed enforcement solutions that allow ULEVs to freely use bus lanes, using ANPR technology to enforce the scheme and so provide real journey time savings to drivers.

In London, the iconic, dieselpowered black cabs are being phased out and replaced with all-new electric versions. With around 9,000 electric cabs planned to be on the city’s roads by 2020, Siemens Mobility is supporting and enabling this significant change through the provision of the necessary electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

Wilke Reints, managing director of Intelligent Traffic Systems for Siemens Mobility in the UK, said: ‘We have the capability and operational flexibility, using our manufacturing facility in Poole, to meet the demand for clean air solutions. They play a vital role in not only improving air quality, but also changing driver behaviour. Our solutions help authorities manage traffic efficiently, delivering an enhanced environment for both road users and residents alike. In many cities, we are also supporting the increasing use of EVs by providing reliable, rapid chargers. All of these solutions contribute to a more efficient transport

airqualitynews.com

network and a cleaner, healthier and more attractive environment.’ In the longer term, as emission levels are lowered in line with targets, a balanced approach to traffic management and control is likely to be the most successful, using technology to improve traffic flow, with the addition of enforcement measures to help target the most polluting vehicles and provide a financial motivation to encourage behavioural change.

Technology from Siemens Mobility is at the heart of London’s Low Emission and Congestion Charging Zones

Contact: Stephen O’Sullivan stephen.osullivan@siemens.com +44 7921 701146 www.siemens.co.uk/green-revolution

13

Freight & Transport

New government, new emissions strategy?

The UK can’t decarbonise without support for the logistics sector, writes Rebecca Kite, environment policy manager, the Freight Transport Association (FTA).

W

ith a new UK government now in place, the FTA is renewing its call for politicians to design their decarbonisation policies with the needs of logistics businesses in mind.The postelection period provides the FTA with an ideal opportunity to highlight the value of logistics to every constituency and region of the UK; in the opinion of the organisation, businesses operating within this sector deserve a decarbonisation framework that is effective and sustainable, while fostering growth and opportunity.

While the logistics sector is determined to meet the government’s

14

target of becoming a zero-emission industry within the next few decades, it cannot be achieved without the right policies in place.

Firstly, the FTA is calling for the newly-formed government to provide active support and assist the development of the alternatively-fuelled vehicle market so that it becomes a viable option for businesses of all sizes; the road transport industry can only reach zero-emissions if commercial vehicle operators can shift to electric vehicles (EVs) from their current diesel, or petrol run counterparts, with minimal disruption or additional cost.

The first step, according to the FTA, is to develop a definition of an Ultra-Low

airqualitynews.com

Emission Truck (ULET). This would incentivise manufacturers to invest more resources into developing these vehicles; testing new technology can be expensive but a ULET definition would provide clear parameters and stimulate demand.

And with local governments across the UK implementing low emission zones, a clear definition would provide authorities with a criterion that can be applied consistently across the UK, preventing the patchwork of standards we are seeing emerge in places such as Oxford and Hackney.

The FTA will continue to assist the authorities in developing a single, clear and workable definition for ultra-low emission truck and vans.

Freight & Transport

Infrastructure investments In the view of the FTA, the government should make substantial, swift investments in infrastructure, including the installation of fastcharging stations across the road network and a nationwide upgrade of the National Grid to cope with the increased demand which will result from the sudden uplift in electric vehicle use.

Also, the FTA is asking the government to support the development of a broader range of vehicles; design a consistent regulatory regime; subsidise the second-hand market for alternatively fuelled vehicles and agree a single, clear and workable definition for ultra-low emission vans and trucks.

Businesses can also significantly reduce their carbon footprint by transitioning from road transport to rail wherever possible; as such, the government should incentivise businesses to shift to this transport

mode as an urgent priority.

Rail freight is, per tonne/km, the lowest environmental polluter when compared to other forms of surface transport, and every freight train can carry the same amount of cargo as up to 60 HGVs. Furthermore, rail has a clear route to decarbonisation: the complete electrification of the network.

Roads will still dominate Nevertheless, in the UK 82% of goods are still moved by road; even if the use of rail and maritime does increase, the predominance of the road as the key preferred mode of transport for logistics movements will remain, at least in the short to medium term.

That is why it is so important, in the view of the FTA, that the government actively supports and develops the alternatively-fuelled vehicle market.

The FTA’s additional policy asks of the newly formed government include

the protection of the seamless movement of goods post-Brexit; investing in road and rail infrastructure; the provision of sufficient driver facilities; backing for the Heathrow expansion plan; changing the Apprenticeship Levy to a Skills Levy to release much-needed funds and train the workforce of tomorrow; making longer semi-trailers a permanent fixture, and granting continued access to European workers post-Brexit.

Efficient logistics is vital to keep Britain trading, directly having an impact on more than seven million people employed in the making, selling and moving of goods.

With Brexit, new technology and other disruptive forces driving change in the way goods move across borders and through the supply chain, logistics has never been more important to UK plc.

For more information please visit www.FTA.co.uk

A breath of fresh air

AECOM – addressing today’s air quality problems and seizing tomorrow’s opportunities We are the UK’s leading air quality consultancy, providing comprehensive services across the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa. Our experts enable public and private clients to address the impact of pollutants emitted to the atmosphere from a wide range of sources, such as road vehicles and aircraft through to factories and water treatment works.

For more details: askenvironment@aecom.com or aecom.com/uk/environment-services/air-quality/

airqualitynews.com

15

Vehicles

Why Harrogate is striving to be the UK’s first ‘low emission bus town’ Thomas Barrett visits Harrogate to find out how the town’s residents have welcomed the new, award-winning and fully electric Volvo 7900E buses. the bus when it’s as good as this.

‘This is removing silly car journeys off the road. They cripple certain roads in Harrogate.’

All aboard

Harrogate Bus Company staff with local MP, Andrew Jones

16

P

assenger numbers have risen by 70% since Harrogate Bus Company introduced their fleet of electric buses and an innovative sponsorship model has ensured free travel for all passengers on Sundays.

They want to go further and make Harrogate the UK’s first ‘low emission bus town’.

Harrogate Bus Company’s chief executive, Alex Hornby, says residents are proud of their electric buses and he believes they are becoming a feature of the town like Betty’s tea shop or the Stray.

Above each stand at Harrogate Bus Station is a pantograph that connects to a bus and charges it whilst customers

get off and on. It lengthens the life of the vehicles during the day and means they don’t need trips to the depot for charging. It gives the buses enough of a boost for their 30 to 45 minutes local routes.

Hornby says the technology has resonated with people in the town. But he says the buses would need to be more than just zero-emission to get customers excited. The seats are wider, there are more tables and there are Wi-Fi and wireless charging points available.

‘The population of Harrogate tends to be interested in clever things,’ he says.

‘This is how we’ll get people to move out of their cars. I’m quite proud to use this because it’s a nice experience. I don’t feel ashamed to tell people I use

airqualitynews.com

Harrogate Bus Company won £2.25m from the Department for Transport (DfT) from its Low Emission Bus Fund which was matched by £1.7m from the company to help pay for the 8 electric eight fully electric Volvo 7900E buses that currently hum around the town, and Hornby believes they are ‘pioneers’ for this type of technology for a town of this size.

Their ‘Sunday Freeway’ promotion came about after the company looked for ways to remove barriers that people to take the bus, namely – cost.

Harrogate brands have jumped aboard including Harrogate Spring Water, Slingsby’s Gin and Harrogate Business Improvement District (BID), who have all had spells sponsoring the buses. The idea is to develop a fully Harrogate-owned product that is sponsored by the community and Hornby believes it’s the first model of its kind in the country.

‘The businesses want to give back to the town and trade-off the name Harrogate and they want the community to know that.’

‘Harrogate Bus Company is not just a name,’ he adds. ‘We really want people to feel that it’s the town’s bus company and for the town to be proud of it.

‘What better to support a flagship project for Harrogate and get people into the town centre and spending money in Harrogate.’

Free parking Harrogate has not been immune from the turmoil in the retail sector, and it’s once-prestigious high street now features several boarded-up units.

Vehicles

Businesses in the town are conflicted on how best to bring people back into the town to spend money, with some suggesting that car parking should be free.

For those working to get people onto public transport in the town, it could be a damaging solution and make air quality worse and undo the good work that Harrogate Bus Company are doing with its electric buses.

‘I don’t get why free parking is a good idea,’ says Hornby. ‘My brain can’t deal with it.’

‘We want to improve air quality how does free parking solve any of that?’

Hornby says bus passengers are ‘fiercely loyal’ and spend more money in the town centre than car users as they will spend longer in town shopping, having a coffee or beer or a glass of wine.

‘The thing that really baffles me is the high-value businesses are campaigning for free parking,’ he says.

‘Are they suggesting their customers who spend several thousand pounds in jewellers are put off by £3 car parking?

Get real!’

‘Do we want a town centre that we can walk around, with zero-emission buses, or do you want to cross narrow

streets with cars flying around, with no restrictions on pollution?’

‘There are more people travelling zero-emission by bus than any other mode of transport. We should be proud as an industry, country and as a town that it is buses are leading the way.’

World leading Air Quality Monitoring Systems Experts in Air

• Continuous Gas Analysers

• Real-Time Particulate Monitors

• Accurate, Low Cost AQ Sensors

• Service Contracts Providing the right tools, back-up and support to successfully measure and report Air Quality in accordance with legislation.

ET

enviro

technology services

www.et.co.uk

To find the right monitoring solution for you, call ET to speak to a specialist.

ISO 9001:2015, OHSAS 18001 and ISO 14001:2015 Certified

01453 733200 info@et.co.uk Kingfisher Business Park, London Road, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2BY, UK

airqualitynews.com

17

Vehicles

Air quality is a hot topic for the vehicle rental and leasing industry The will to improve air quality unites us all, but commercial operators need more support to move to low-emission vehicles, writes Andrea Davies, communications manager, British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVLRA).

T

he decarbonisation of road transport, the road to zero, the future of mobility, Clean Air Zones (CAZ), Ultra-Low Emission Zones (ULEZ), Low Emission Zones (LEZ), Zero-Emission Zones (ZEZ)… the terminology and acronyms continue to grow and it is becoming an increasingly complex landscape to navigate.

At the BVRLA, the UK trade body representing the vehicle rental, leasing and fleet sectors, these terms are fast becoming part of our daily vocabulary as environmental issues are a priority for our members.

Delivering Future Mobility is one of our strategic priorities at the BVRLA. Not surprising when you consider that our 1,000+ member organisations are responsible for over 5 million vehicles on UK roads and purchase around half of all new vehicles, sold in the UK, every year.

Add to that the fact that they sell 1.4 million vehicles annually, making them the largest single supplier of nearly new vehicles in the second hand market, and it is evident why our industry has a lot of skin in the game and can be a key driver

18

to delivering the UK’s zero-emission ambitions. As government and local authorities ramp up activity to develop policies and plans to tackle pollution, the range of different proposals emerging across UK towns and cities makes it difficult for even the most vehement air quality commentator to keep track of.

The BVRLA continues to call for a consistent approach, clear communication and clarity of rules and charges, to avoid confusion as drivers and fleet operators move between regional boundaries.

At the time of writing this article, Bath, Cardiff and Nottingham are amongst the latest to announce proposals and all are different. Local authorities need to get their heads together, as well as their acts together, when it comes to introducing air quality measures: lessons can be learnt, and knowledge shared, from those who are further ahead with trials and implementation of air quality measures.

A year after their van scrappage scheme was launched, Transport for London announced its decision to increase its financial support for local companies preparing for the tightening

airqualitynews.com

of the London-wide LEZ standards and upcoming expansion of the ULEZ, doubling the size of an incentive for small businesses to £7,000 to scrap polluting vans.

The scheme, previously restricted to micro businesses with up to 10 employees, will also be widened to include firms with up to 50 employees and the amount available to firms switching to electric will increase from £6,000 to £9,500.

This acknowledgement that businesses need more support is welcomed by the BVRLA. Commercial vehicle operators, many of whom are small businesses, cannot afford the cost of upgrading to CAZ-compliant vehicles and they need more time to upgrade their fleets.

As local authorities roll out their CAZ’s, LEZ’s, ULEZ’s, ZEZ’s and other schemes to tackle air pollution, an increasing number of individuals and businesses will look for cleaner vehicles to avoid incurring additional costs.

Vehicle rental and leasing can provide the most cost-effective solution for drivers and fleet operators looking for cleaner CAZ-compliant vehicles.

The BVRLA’s recently published Sustainability Credentials revealed that members have the cleanest vehicle fleet on the road with 100% of rental cars and 96% of lease cars being Clean Air Zone compliant, compared to 62% of the total UK car fleet. Whilst the van rental fleet is 88% compliant and lease van fleet 67% compliant, compared to 21% of the total UK van fleet.

An ever-increasing subscriptionbased culture and environmental considerations are two of the reasons why the vehicle rental and leasing industry remains strong. We will no doubt continue to see drivers moving away from vehicle ownership to usership as they look for cleaner, affordable vehicles.

AIR QUALITY SENSOR BASED MONITORS FOR AMBIENT AIR POLLUTION

FOR SALE OR HIRE

Investigation

Will Heathrow’s third runway lead to sky high air pollution?

A third runway at Heathrow Airport would increase the number of annual flights by 280,000, and the number of passengers will almost double from 72 to 130 million, with worrying implications for air quality.

By Pippa Neill

M

P’s have argued that this expansion is in the long-term interest of the UK’s economy, with benefits to the wider economy estimated as being upwards of £61bn.

However, campaigners argue that expanding one of the top polluting industries threatens to undermine the UK’s global efforts to meet the legally-binding commitments on climate change and it also poses an increased risk to residents and employees around Heathrow who will be exposed to greater levels of air pollution.

Aircraft engines generally combust fuel efficiently, but according to the Aviation Environment Federation, groundlevel emissions during take-off, climb and landing have a huge impact on ambient air quality.

According to the 2019 European Aviation Environmental

20

airqualitynews.com

Report, a two-engine aircraft carrying 150 passengers and travelling for one-hour releases 30kg of nitrogen oxide (NOx) into the atmosphere. In 2015, NOx released from aircraft accounted for 14% of all EU transport emissions.

Long-term exposure to NOx can decrease lung function and increase the risk of respiratory conditions, and exposure to NO2 can lead to an increased likelihood of respiratory problems and the development of asthma.

Ultra-fine particles Another major pollutant that is released from aviation is the smaller ultra-fine particles (UFP), which pose a considerable threat to human health.

They have been linked to many deadly diseases from

Investigation

heart disease, chronic lung disease and brain cancer.

Researchers at King’s College London identified that, when compared to other cities, London has the largest concentration of these ultra-fine particles and the source is often directly from aircraft at Heathrow Airport.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology estimated that air pollution released directly from aircraft is responsible for 16,000 premature deaths across the world and they believe that as the aviation industry continues to grow so will this death-toll.

The emissions released from the aircraft themselves are not the only problem when it comes to air pollution, it is also important to consider the increased traffic that a greater number of passengers travelling to and from the airport will inevitably bring.

Road traffic statistics have revealed that many of the roads around Heathrow, including the M25, M4 and A4 are already some of the busiest and most polluted in the UK. Bath Road, just outside of Heathrow Airport, is reported as having the worst air pollution in the whole of Greater London.

A spokesperson from Heathrow Airport told Air Quality News that Heathrow has strategies in place to mitigate air pollution from increased traffic: ‘We have been working to reduce the number of airport-related car journeys made by helping to improve bus and train links and incentivising our colleagues to take public transport over cars.

‘When the runway opens, we will also be introducing the UK’s first airport Ultra Low Emission Zone. This will incentivise the use of more sustainable transport and will reduce air quality emissions.’

to public health. ‘The last time we had a comprehensive overview of UK airports was in 2003 as part of the then Labour government’s aviation white paper. We would like to see these air quality measurements reassessed,’ he said.

More planes, more cars However, as well as plans to improve public transport links, the expansion also involves the development of the ‘world’s largest carpark,’ which will have a capacity for 53,000 cars.

Based on these plans it is clear that Heathrow Airport is expecting increased traffic and therefore, despite their pledges to increase public transport links, there are concerns that this will inevitably lead to lot more vehicles on what are already some of the most polluted roads in the U.K. The area surrounding Heathrow is currently the second most polluted part of London. Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) has 12 air monitoring sites in and around the airport, and daily mean particulate matter concentrations often exceed the 25μg/m3 World Health Organisation guideline.

In a report published in 2016 by the then Mayor of London Boris Johnson, it is estimated that the Heathrow expansion could increase the already dangerous levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) by 4-8μg/m3. Activist group AirportWatch estimate that this would put 47,000 homes at a greater risk from air pollution, which would compromise the health of 121,377 people and would cost the NHS £10.8m through increased hospitalisations.

Tim Johnson, director of Aviation Environment Federation (AEF) told Air Quality News that evidence is emerging all the time about the dangers of air pollution

‘The other issue that the Heathrow expansion raises is the difference between complying with legal limits and the detrimental health impacts that these legal limits can still have. Legal limits often do not capture the whole range of harmful impacts,’ he continued.

‘New research is emerging all the time regarding the dangers that ultra-fine particles have on human health, it is clear that we still don’t understand the full picture, this means that policy often falls behind scientific knowledge.’

Cait Hewitt, deputy director of AEF also commented: ‘The idea of further developing an airport that is already one of the most polluted parts of London is a major concern.’

airqualitynews.com

21

Advertorial

How can smart cities monitor air quality?

What are Smart Cities and why is air quality such an important subject?

Smart cities are more than a movement they are the future. It is estimated that more than 60% of the world population will be living in cities by 2050. Rapid urbanization is leading to the need for smarter cities where the environmental, social and financial aspects of urban life are improved through technology. A key issue of the smarter city initiative is the way in which modern cities monitor and control their levels of air quality. It is well known that air pollution has a significant effect on public health but poor air quality is in fact the largest environmental risk to public health in the UK. According to the UK Government, it is estimated that long-term exposure to man-made air pollution in the UK results in 28,000 to 36,000 deaths per year.

22

Things�, a collaborative effort to collect real-time data in an urban environment by deploying more than 100 Air Quality Monitors within greater Chicago area.

By delivering accurate data the air quality monitors can provide important information that can help the city managers to make decisions such as changing traffic routes, creating low emissions zones, incentivising the use of public transportation, and developing new bike lanes.

Air quality monitors need three things to function effectively, all of which are easily available in smart cities power, communication, and mounting points. Smart cities reduce the cost of employing air quality monitoring networks by providing their own power and communication infrastructure.

How can smart cities improve the standards of air quality monitoring and overall air quality?

What problems do Smart City integrators typically face whilst trying to implement better air quality monitoring and how do Campbell Associates offer the best solution?

Smart cities around the world are now paying much closer attention to their local air quality levels. One example is the Chicago “Array of

There are a wide variety of problems faced by smart city integrators. These include sensors outputs being affected by changes in

airqualitynews.com

temperature and humidity, sensors being cross-sensitive to gases, sensors being not sensitive enough to measure pollutants at the levels they occur in ambient air and monitors using machine learning algorithms that adjust the incoming data. All of these issues can lead to inaccurate air quality data.

The solution is to use cost effective, reliable instrumentation and data services, this is just what Campbell Associates has to offer with their market leading product - The Aeroqual AQY Micro Air Quality Station.

This monitor delivers accurate air quality data offering features such as a PM2.5 optical particle sensor with humidity correction, Nitrogen Dioxide (0-0.5 ppm NO2) gas sensor with O3 interference correction, Aeroqual Connect instrument operating software, and more.

We are hugely excited to be working with Smart City integrators to add more value to their networks by providing them with our highquality monitors. The benefits to cities, communities, and individuals are immense.

To find out about solutions Campbell Associates can offer your smart city project, please contact us 01371 871030 or email us at hotline@campbell-associates.co.uk.

Advertorial

Aeroqual sensors tested in colocation study

A

new sensor the AQY Micro is proving itself in south east London. Campbell Associate’s AQY Micro model is a sensor based solution to practial monitoring problems.

The AQY provides air quality information that’s scientifically credible and relevant to where you live, work and play. Set up as a single device or deployed as a network of monitors, the AQY reports key urban pollutants in real-time.

It focuses on particulate matter, ozone and nitrogen dioxide because they are the three main pollutants in most cities, and the pollutants known to have the greatest impact on the people who live in them.

It is available as the AQY Micro and AQS1 Mini. Historically, so-called nitrogen dioxide electrochemical and

Aerial view of reference monitor location

Southwark’s reference air quality monitor solid-state sensors have responded equally to both ozone and nitrogen dioxide but could not distinguish between them, due to the complicated way in which the gases interact.

To deal with this, web-based algorithms have been used to estimate the proportions of these very similar gases, but results have been variable.

More recently some sensors have been developed using a filter system to remove ozone, but this gets “used up” so the differentiation breaks down with time.

Aeroqual’s patented GSS (gas sensitive semiconductor) sensor measures ozone without any NO2 cross-response, while its unique ABC (automatic baseline correction) technology ensures its

calibration remains stable long-term.

The monitor works by using one sensor to measure the total ozone plus NO2 level and the GSS sensor which responds to ozone only. Calibration factors are then applied to calculate the difference. This simple calculation is done within the instrument, thus removing the need for a constant connection to a web-based server.

Measurements have repeatedly demonstrated excellent correlation to bigger and more expensive reference analysers, not only in the USA, China and New Zealand, but also when compared to industry approved reference analysers at an AURN site in the UK. That’s the theory - how does it work in practice?

Colocation testing at Elephant and Castle, London, UK 2019 The AQY Micro Air Quality Monitor is a system designed for ambient air quality measurement. The system measures PM2.5, PM10, NO2 and ozone, which are key pollutants that are detrimental to health and closely associated with traffic. The London Borough of Southwark have a permanent reference air quality monitor Elephant and Castle to monitor ambient air quality. The location of the monitor is close to a busy intersection in an urban environment.

Three Aeroqual AQY Micro air quality monitors were positioned on the roof of the permanent station as pictured on the right:

The systems were run in parallel for a period of one week and the data compared. The results clearly demonstrated that the AQY measurements closely tracked those from the reference monitor. The data showed the AQY unit returned excellent R2 values from 0.8 to 0.92 for NO2.

• Comprehensive information on Campbell Associates’ complete product range of air, dust, sound and vibration monitoring systems, together with details about our calibration service can be found on our website www.campbell-associates.co.uk Our products are available for sale or hire.

For a no obligation demonstration of

airqualitynews.com

our air quality monitors, or any other product please call our sales team on 01371 871 030.

AQY monitor mounted on top of reference monitor

23

Feature

Are you having trouble with ‘air indoors’?

Air pollution from transport has hogged the spotlight in recent months, but poor air quality inside our homes and workplaces can be even more damaging.

By Jamie Hailstone

E

ven the most battle-hardened environmental sceptic will accept that there is air pollution on Britain’s streets. Anyone who is a regular visitor to London, or any other of the UK’s larger cities, cannot fail to notice the faint aroma of exhaust fumes as they traverse this nation’s highways and byways. But how many of us think about the air that we breathe inside our homes? Is it as clean as you might think?

A joint report published last month (January) by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and the Royal College of Physicians linked indoor air pollution to a range of health problems that particularly affect children, including asthma, wheezing, conjunctivitis and eczema.

The report recommends councils provide free indoor air testing for residents, as well giving local authorities the power to requirement improvements where air quality fails to meet minimum standards.

The authors of the report also warned that indoor air

24

airqualitynews.com

quality tends to be worse in low-quality housing, where there might not be sufficient ventilation.

‘We’re finally paying attention to the quality of our outdoor air and this is long overdue,’ says Professor Jonathan Grigg, a paediatric respiratory consultant from the RCPCH.

Studies show that air can be unhealthy to breathe when people cook in kitchens with poor ventilation.

‘It’s harder to get population level data on the quality of indoor air, but the evidence in this report paints a worrying picture.

‘Children in the UK spend most of their time indoors, with just 68 minutes spent outside on an average day.

Too many of our homes and schools are damp and poorly ventilated,’ adds Professor Grigg. ‘This is adversely affecting the health of children.’

Research published last year by the Clean Air Day

Feature

campaign claimed ultrafi ne particle pollution levels are on average 3.5 times higher inside than outdoors and at some points in the day, it can peak at 560 times outdoor air pollution.

Indoor pollution can come from some unexpected sources and everyday activities. Even burnt toast can send indoor air pollution through the roof.

The research also found that 55% of parents said their children spent more time indoors when they are not at school or college than they did at their age, which means they could be exposed to more indoor air pollution than previous generations.

‘With children spending increasing hours indoors exposing them to ultrafi ne particles of pollution, which can enter the bloodstream and could have a greater impact on vital organs, urgent action needs to be taken to address this issue of indoor air pollution,’ says leading expert, Professor Stephen Holgate.

Indoor pollution can come from some unexpected sources and everyday activities. Even burnt toast can send indoor air pollution through the roof.

‘Most people are aware that dust and pollen can cause allergies and breathing difficulties, such as asthma but there are other sources that are less well known and equally as

toxic,’ explains the chief executive of air quality monitor manufacturer Airthings, Øyvind Birkenes.

‘Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), like formaldehyde, are off-gassed by common items such as furniture and mattresses.

‘Traditional paint and related products, such as polyurethane, can include a whole host of toxic chemicals

Everyone wants clean air Roadside

Work

Home

Professional, reliable Air Quality Monitoring System

www.em-monitors.co.uk 01539 727878

airqualitynews.com

25

Feature

which are slowly released over time and carpets emit high levels of VOCs in the first few days after they have been installed,’ he said.

‘Asking for low VOC products and educating yourself on how some products are made is a good way to better understand what you are bringing into your home. Scented candles, wood-burning stoves, chemical cleaning products and air fresheners all emit VOC’s.

‘We don’t want people to think they can’t use their favourite products, but we want people to know when chemical levels are rising so they can take control and keep their family safe and healthy,’ adds Birkenes.

‘For decades we have looked at solving the problem of reducing our heating bills with scant regard for the effects it could have on our health.’

The social media manager of air quality masks manufacturer Airinum, Maria Ahnlund, says the kitchen is also another source of indoor air pollution.

‘People use a variety of heat sources to cook food, including gas, wood, and electricity,’ she tells Air Quality News.

‘Each of these heat sources can create indoor air pollution during cooking. Natural gas and propane stoves can release carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and other harmful pollutants into the air, which can be toxic to people and pets.’

‘Cooking can also generate unhealthy air pollutants from heating oil, fat and other food ingredients, especially at high temperatures. Self-cleaning ovens, whether gas or electric, can create high levels of pollutants as food waste is burned away. Studies show that air can be unhealthy to breathe when people cook in kitchens with poor ventilation,’ adds Ms Ahnlund.

26

airqualitynews.com

She also adds it is important to have a properly installed, high-efficiency hood over a kitchen stove to ensure good ventilation.

But it is not just in kitchens that poor ventilation can be a problem and contribute to poor indoor air quality, as the founder and CTO of heating systems manufacturer Logicor, David Bowen, explains: ‘In all homes, we find (VOC) present. Furthermore, we see humidity occurring, an inevitability of the current practice of creating air-tight homes. This provides a perfect breeding ground for many difficult to see creatures such as dust mites to thrive,’ he says.

‘When their waste comes into contact with our skin or is inhaled, it can result in a range of allergic reactions that we can visibly see such as watering of the eyes, itching, asthma attacks, eczema, sneezing and a runny nose.

‘Equally, many homes are affected by Radon gas, particularly in areas with high proportions of granite. It is a colourless, odourless radioactive gas formed by the decay of small amounts of uranium that occur naturally in all rocks and soils.’

When this occurs it produces other radioactive elements which attach themselves to dust particles in the air and, if inhaled, they will stick to the airways of the lung. The World Health Organization has linked Radon exposure to between 3-14% of all lung cancer cases.

Damp in our homes most commonly occurs because of condensation, and if left untreated will eventually lead to mould growth. This is because if it is left to develop over time then damp patches may start to appear on walls and in the end black mould will grow.

This leads to musty smells, damage to the fabric of the house and it can also result in health problems, adds Mr Bowen.

‘Good ventilation is key to resolving the above issues.

The problem we face is that, historically, we have heated our homes with convection heating (warming the air) which has led to a practice of making our homes as airtight as we can to trap hot air for as long as possible.

‘For decades we have looked at solving the problem of reducing our heating bills with scant regard for the effects it could have on our health, instead of looking at technologies that would allow ventilation and heating to co-exist such as infrared central heating.

‘To me, it’s worse because I’m not entirely convinced that we didn’t know what we were doing. It’s entirely understandable that a baker or candlestick maker might not know that poor ventilation could lead to a raft of health problems but, I find it difficult to believe that others, responsible for our health policies, didn’t know,’ adds Mr Bowen.

As building techniques evolve and new homes become more energy-efficient, the issue of ventilation will become even more important, but there are plenty of simple steps to help improve indoor air quality, like opening the windows from time to time and where possible, keeping a lid on a frying pan.

That way, to paraphrase Arthur Daley, you can stay out of trouble with ‘air indoors’.

Advertorial

New leasing options for biogas infrastructure

B

uses play a critical role in delivering sustainable transport in our towns and cities and provide rural connectivity to a broad cross - section of the UK population. However, existing diesel buses are a source of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

The UK Government is committed to limiting climate change through a package of policy measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Road transport is currently responsible for around a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the UK. Improving local air quality is now fixed on the government’s environmental agenda with the Bill to support net - zero by 2050 currently going through Parliament. Some 80% of roadside oxides of nitrogen emissions (NOx) from road transport are caused primarily by diesel vehicles.

Recently crowned UK Bus Operator of the Year 2019, Nottingham City Transport (NCT) has completed a record breaking year of new biogas bus investment, worth around £20m.

The purchase of 67 new biogas double - decks in 2019 will allow NCT to complete its upgrade to a fully compliant

Euro VI fleet standard and helps Nottingham City Council meet its’ objectives of the Clean Air Plan to improve air quality for all Nottingham residents.

In terms of infrastructure, Roadgas has successfully expanded NCT’s station to support the expanded fleet with the addition of two new compressors and an additional three dispensers to maximise fill times for the operator.

David Rix, managing director, said: ‘The capital investment required to support the introduction of biogas into a fleet of any size is significant and that is why we have developed a range of financial options to help Transport Fleet Directors & Managers transition to the use of gas as an alternative fuel.’

Roadgas offers options to either lease or buy capital equipment which allows small to large operators work out the best solution for their business going forward.

If you would like to discuss the options for CNG or biogas, the leasing or purchasing of infrastructure and / or the service & maintenance of existing equipment please call David on 0115 822 5530 or email davidrix@roadgas.co.uk

airqualitynews.com

27

Advertorial

How many hours of your life is air pollution stealing from you and your loved ones?

Air pollution is one of the most pressing societal topics for a generation with shocking results being published from various studies over the last two years with headline grabbing statements such as ‘Air pollution causes up to 36,000 early deaths a year in the UK’ and ‘A child born today might not breathe clean air until they are 8.’

“CAZaaS(TM) helping achieve your Air Quality goals”

28

T

he UK government reaction, prompted by legal action from Client Earth and the EU, has directed various towns and cities across the UK to implement Clean Air Zones in order to achieve legal air quality limits in the shortest possible time.

In some instances this “direction” results in a degree of conflict with local politicians from those regions, who looking to defend their local businesses and residents from incurring significant potential cost, in order to be continue to operate and thrive in those regions in a compliant manner.

The funding vehicle put in place

by DEFRA provides access for the towns and cities to support them in the development, delivery and support of CAZ schemes. In all but the largest of UK Cities, there is a real resource challenge in order to define and execute on these programmes, against

the backdrop of very clear deadlines established by DEFRA before which penalties shall be applied in the event of “shortest possible time” is not achieved.

The challenge is not necessarily one of willingness but often simply one of experience as the CAZ and enforcement market is often new for the Authority.

What kind of challenges I hear you ask? Neology’s work across the UK with numerous Local Authority transport and environmental teams reflects some common threads including: • “I’m being told to go and buy ANPR cameras I have done some research (google!) and found there are a lot of ANPR cameras on the market used for different applications. How do I know which type is right? Can a Parking one be used for a CAZ? What if I already have ANPR cameras in my town? Can I use these?”

• “How do I know where to put them?

airqualitynews.com

What is the correct strategy for installing this equipment? Who will fix it if it goes wrong?“ • “What happens if the system isn’t precise enough - I’m being told that systems are 95% accurate but that means that 5% of detected vehicles are wrong. I have X million vehicle transactions per year which means I potentially have a lot of incorrect data to filter out!”

• “I’m really worried about confusion inside my town about whether individuals or residents need to pay for a CAZ. How do I make sure that there is clarity around this with residents?”

• “My business case needs to have whole life costs of the solution how do I calculate this?”

• “What happens when the city is deemed to be compliant, do I still need the cameras? Who will pay for them to be decommissioned?”

Advertorial

If these are questions which you and your team have been debating, then you are not alone!

Neology is probably not a name which is familiar to many of you, although some may recognise our daughter brand of PIPS Technology who have been providing ANPR technology to some of the largest cities and transportation agencies across the world. Neology are one of the leaders in the Road User Charging and Smart Mobility arena, our solutions process tens of billions of transactions per year across a range of tolling, city charging, enforcement and low emission zones.

Our ANPR technology has been helping London to achieve both Low Emission Zone and, as of April 2019, Ultra Low Emission Zone objectives since 2008 as a headline noted at the end of 2019 “ULEZ is working: How London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone is changing travel behaviours”. Who wouldn’t want to achieve similar compliance adherence of 77% within 6 months of going live!

Our experience in the design and delivery of these complex systems, coupled with the outpouring from the market about their challenges and struggles to achieve objectives has prompted Neology to consider how we can best help those customers. This has culminated in the launch of CAZaaS™ “Clean Air Zone as a Service”

by Neology.

What is CAZaaS™? Very simply, CAZaaS™ solves the problems for the Local Authority when it comes to the design, delivery and deployment of an ANPR based service which is fully compliant to DEFRA/JAQU standards under the VCA guidance for Clean Air Zones. For a monthly fee, Neology models your unique scenario, based on geography / boundary conditions and term (typically Local Authority modelling is suggesting compliance to air quality parameters within 3-5 years) to generate a monthly fee per system/ camera.

This monthly fee provides a cost effective yet wholly transparent model to plug into Business Case calculations and avoids the need to invest in an asset which may be redundant within 3 years! Upon approval of the Business Case, the system can be deployed

“COMPLIANT” “NONCOMPLIANT”

rapidly and integrated into existing National (JAQU) and Local Authority PCN /UTMC systems, or even extend into the “CAZaaS™ PLUS” models whereby Neology are able to handle also PCN processing services on your behalf.

What differentiates CAZaaS™ from the other solutions on the market place can be summarised in the performance, coverage and accuracy of the system.

CAZaaS™

only by Neology

A typical ANPR Camera on the market in 2019 would provide around 96-97% accuracy covering 2 lanes of traffic in order to achieve the VCA CAZ standard for 140 pixels per license plate “closeup” view. In comparison, the Neology

airqualitynews.com

solution provides a full 3 lane coverage, achieving the “close up” requirement whilst achieving accuracy of more than 99%.

A performance improvement of 3%, for a standard “Large Town” with a boundary which detects 150 million vehicles p.a. results in 4.5million improvement in ANPR performance.

This is significant in the delivery of the programme and achievement of business case objectives through improved compliance, reduction of manual review costs (to correct any incorrectly processed vehicles) and potentially avoid awkward headlines like “I was charged £20,000 for driving my car into the Korfield Council CAZ” due to incorrect recognition of license plates.

“We have carefully listened to the market, the concerns and aspirations when it comes to the deployment of CAZ systems over the next 2-3 years.

CAZaaS™ solves many of the problems highlighted by those Council leaders and their teams in delivering what is such a crucial element in the battle against poor air quality in some of our most densely populated areas of the country” said Luke Normington, Managing Director of Neology.

“CAZaaS™ supports the “shortest possible time” element which many towns and cities are trying to achieve in an incredibly cost effective manner”

29

The Big Interview

Ben Fogle, TV presenter and environmentalist Air Quality News spoke to environmental campaigner Ben Fogle about accusations of hypocrisy, moving his family out of London due to air pollution and why we need to get back to basics to rescue our troubled environment.

From the lush mountains of Thailand to the remotest reaches of the Arctic, it’s fair to say Ben Fogle has more experience than most in breathing in the world’s cleanest air. But when he’s not travelling the world, his here and now experience of life in London is no different to the 8.9 million other people who inhabit the city.

‘My children go to school under the Westway and it’s off the scale in how bad the air quality is,’ he says. ‘As a parent, you can’t help but worry. We’re actually moving out of the city and it’s one of the reasons. I want my children to have a healthier start in life.’

Fogle is one of the UK’s most well-known environmentalists, making television programmes from every corner of the globe, but his own carbon footprint is something he’s wrestling with.

‘It’s probably important to headline this chat and talk about the elephant in the room – by making these shows I’m creating an air pollution problem myself with my air travel,’ he says.

‘I’m the first one to admit my own failings and shortcomings.

My work over 20 years has involved a great deal of air travel.’

If you dare to put your head above the parapet, you stand to be accused of hypocrisy or being a tree hugger.

‘It’s the only way I’ve been able to get efficiently and economically to faraway places in order to make the shows.

But there’s an ironic hypocrisy going to New Zealand to make a film about Extinction Rebellion activists who are trying to save the planet, whilst I have my own negative impact.’

As part of his role as an ambassador for the government and industry electric vehicle campaign, Go Ultra Low, his family has converted to an electric vehicle. He says it’s a small thing

30

airqualitynews.com

his family is doing to improve air quality, but it’s a frustration that he still receives criticism for it.

‘There’s a notion of accusing people or picking people up for their shortcomings, rather than celebrating the positive contributions they give, which is slightly disingenuous,’ he says.

‘But sometimes you have to make the least-worst decision.

That’s sometimes where you have to go in life. Too many people are seeking perfection and perfection smothers progress. If we tried to only make the decisions that have a 100% positive change, then we’re not going to convince anyone.’

Extreme arguments Anyone who has taken a look at social media following a freak weather event, or even listened to the President of the United States talk about climate change, will see how polarising the environment seems to be now, where ‘winning’ the argument has become all-important. Fogle says it’s making people afraid to make positive environmental changes in their lives, for fear of criticism.

‘I’m slightly saddened that environmentalism has become so polarised and politicised,’ he says.

‘For years it was the stuff of scientists making scientific warnings and people who felt passionate about nature acting on it.’

‘Now, if you dare to put your head above the parapet, you stand to be accused of hypocrisy or being a tree hugger. It’s one extreme or another. That’s not helpful for anyone.’

‘We need to listen to all of those in the middle. The extreme arguments are so loud and so vocal that the sensible folk in the

The Big Interview

middle are lost in the din of all the shouting. I don’t think that’s helpful to the cause and it doesn’t empower people.’

‘People are too scared because they might be called a hypocrite. Or they don’t like to be told how to change their lives. They want to make that decision on their own terms.’

It could be argued that the environmental schism that we have seen over the past few years was catapulted with Extinction Rebellion’s provocative headline-grabbing stunts.

Fogle says the ‘doom-mongering’ and ‘guilt-making’ was an important way to start the conversation but the movement needs to do more to positively convince people to make changes in their lives, however small.

‘I think if we empower people rather than reduce them to anxious wrecks, we’re likely to get more done,’ he says.

‘Empowerment breeds optimism and determination.

That’s what we need as a global worldwide population of 7.5 billion to get things done.’

to see so many enthusiastic youngsters taking up the cause.

Perhaps apathetic and cynical adults could learn something from them.

‘You look at the worldwide movement of youth and youngsters who have catapulted the pressures on the environment into headlines all around the world and it’s incredible,’ he says. ‘As much as some people might criticise or feel threatened by them. I think that the passion and drive of our youngsters will make things happen.’

When Fogle talks to school children, he likes to use an analogy involving his own experiences in the wild. He believes that only by going back to basics can air pollution and climate change be properly tackled.

‘I don’t stand up hectoring people saying “you must drive an electric car!” I’m sharing my own experiences to empower people to make a similar change to their life.

‘We have to take personal responsibility. We can’t keep looking to government to make decisions for us. People power has a long history of profound political power when people really want it. I don’t mean rising up in demonstrations, I mean making the changes yourself.’

‘The way we need to live is similar to expedition life. You’re still having a negative impact but you become much more resourceful, much less wasteful, you value the energy you have from the sun that goes into your battery bank for your satellite phone.’

‘You value the water that you keep in your bottle that you collected from a stream that you might not see again for days.

You value your sleep and shelter.’

‘We’ve lost a connection with cause and effect.

Consumerism is now about want rather than need. We’ve almost become blinded by a system that we don’t necessarily need to subscribe to.’

Consumerism Air Quality News is speaking to Fogle from a school in Gloucester where he’s meeting the winners of a UK-wide competition to see who could rack up the most ‘zero-emission miles’ to and from school in a week. He says it’s inspiring

If we empower people rather than reduce them to anxious wrecks, we’re likely to get more done.

Ben Fogle is an ambassador for Go Ultra Low, the joint government and business campaign for electric vehicles.

airqualitynews.com

31

Local Government

The challenges and opportunities of being England’s first Clean Air Zone In July, Birmingham City Council will launch its ambitious Clean Air Zone (CAZ). Cllr Waseem Zaffar discusses how the (CAZ) is informing their wider climate ambitions.

M

ake no mistake, we are in the midst of a national public health crisis due to poor air quality.

In Birmingham alone, hundreds of premature deaths each year can be attributed to man-made pollution, which is linked to heart disease, diabetes, asthma, obesity, cancer and dementia, as well as stillbirths, infant deaths, low birth weight and organ damage.

We wouldn’t let our children drink dirty water so why are we allowing them to breathe dirty air?

This is completely unacceptable, which is why Birmingham is already working on a range of measures to tackle air pollution, the most visible of which will be the introduction of a Clean Air Zone.

From July this year, vehicles whose engines do not meet nationally set emissions standards will have to pay a charge if they wish to enter the Clean Air Zone. The idea is to discourage the most polluting vehicles from entering the Clean Air Zone in the first place, rather than generating income if someone is driving a compliant vehicle then they will not have to pay and if they have a non-compliant vehicle then we hope they will either switch to a cleaner vehicle or consider walking, cycling or using public transport instead.

This represents a radical change for Birmingham, for both

32

airqualitynews.com

individuals and businesses, and we totally recognise that this has not been a popular decision but it is the right decision and one we had to take for the sake of our children, their children & future generations to come.

We spent the summer of 2018 carrying out a six-week public consultation into our Clean Air Zones, not to see if people wanted it but to find out how it would impact on those living and working here and, crucially, how we could support them in making the switch to cleaner, compliant forms of transport.

We had around 11,000 responses the biggest response ever for a Birmingham City Council consultation and this feedback helped us to shape a range of measures designed to help those likely to be impacted the most by our plans.

However, the Clean Air Zone is just one element of a much bigger, long-term journey to cleaner air in Birmingham. Last year, Birmingham City Council declared a climate change emergency with a vow to take action to ensure that the city becomes carbon-neutral by 2030.

We are also about to start consulting on our draft Birmingham Transport Plan, which sets out our bold vision for the future of transport in our city a future in which the car will no longer be king and where walking and cycling will be people’s preferred mode for travelling around their local areas, while longer journeys into the city will be made by public transport.

This work has already started. We have invested heavily in improved cycle infrastructure, including the opening last year of the city’s first fully segregated two-way cycle superhighways, and we are working with our partners at Transport for West Midlands and National Express to improve our public transport offering.

A fleet of hydrogen-powered buses is also set to be rolled out as part of a pilot scheme, while the council has also committed that all new buses procured in the city centre will be zero-emission from 2025.

To encourage more people to use the bus, we have already introduced bus lanes to ensure quicker, more efficient bus journey times, and we will be adding more ahead of the Clean Air Zone’s launch. We have seen 8 million more bus journeys made across the West Midlands in 2018/19 compared to the previous year, bucking a national trend which has seen bus usage fall elsewhere in the country.

We still have a long way to go, but we are already laying solid foundations for a city where our children can breathe in the clean air to which they are entitled. We now need to continue working together with our citizens, businesses, partners and other cities, as well as real leadership and proper funding at national government level too, in order to achieve this common goal.

GREENER ENVIRONMENT, CLEANER AIR

UP TO 60% PM2.5-10 REMOVAL

Ivy planted natural screening panel Removes between 40-60% of the PM2.5 - PM10 particles in the air* Stimulates the biodiversity around schools and public open spaces Creates a secure and natural boundary Has a positive effect on communities *Research commissioned by Atkins at the Green Wall Centre, Staffordshire University

Visit our website for more information: www.mobilane.co.uk T +44 (0)203 741 8049 E office@mobilane.co.uk

Local Government

Is Whitehall ‘scrimping’ on the cash to improve air quality?

Local authorities have seen central government funding slashed over the past decade, but there is widespread recognition that they will need some serious investment from Whitehall if they are to meet air quality targets.

By Jamie Hailstone

I

f there is one subject guaranteed not to get pulses racing, then it is probably local government finance.

To make matters worse, it has become an increasingly complex area over the last decade. Apart from the twin pillars of council tax and business rates, there is the revenue support grant and a dazzling array of smaller Whitehall funding pots, many of which are tied to specific aims or objectives.

For many councils, the funding landscape can be something of a financial minefield, with different Whitehall departments offering various programmes, all of which must be applied for, with no guarantee that bids will be successful.

Figures obtained by Air Quality News under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) reveal the shifting landscape with more money available for local authorities but whether the funding is sufficient, as local authorities develop plans for clean air zones and declare climate emergencies, is up for debate.

According to these figures, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) gave councils a total of £61.9m to investigate and tackle air quality between 2016 and 2019.

The breakdown of these figures reveals £5m was awarded in 2016/17, £13.6m in 2017/18 and £43.3m in 2018/19. This includes money awarded as part of Defra’s Air Quality Grant Programme. In October, Defra invited councils to apply for a slice of at least £2m, which will be available for the 2019/20 round of the programme.

Defra and the Department for Transport (DfT) also jointly run a nitrogen dioxide (NO2) programme for local authorities to investigate or improve air quality.

The FOI figures show the DfT has provided a total of £133.4m to local authorities between 2016 and 2019, with just £1m in 2016/17, which rose to £22.4m in 2017/18 and £110m in 2018/19.

The DfT also administers the Clean Bus Technology Fund which, according to official figures, awarded £19.7m to various councils in 2017/18 and £19.9m in 2018/19.

Air Quality News also sent a series of FOI requests to councils around the country to see how much money they had received from Whitehall to deal with air quality in their regions. The results show a wide variation, with some local authorities being quite successful, while others have received nothing. In response to an FOI request, Oxford City Council

34

airqualitynews.com

replied it received £443,500 from Defra’s Air Quality Grant Scheme in 2018 and 2019, along with £2,334,480 from the DfT’s Clean Bus Technology Fund.

Newcastle City Council responded that it received a total of £2.7m under Defra’s Air Quality Grant Funding Scheme in 2018 and 2019, and a total of just over £1m from the Clean Bus Technology Fund.

Southampton City Council replied that it received £291,583 from central government to undertake a clean air zone feasibility study and develop a business case for a local nitrogen dioxide plan in 2018/19, along with £1.8m for the delivery of the nitrogen dioxide plan.

But it is a different story for other local authorities. The London borough of Camden stated it has ‘not received any funding from central government for air quality improvement’ and instead that it relies on core council funding and money from external bodies.

Westminster City Council replied that it received a £9,000 grant from Defra in 2018/19 for an officer to receive training in the ‘appropriate application of the requirements for the Clean Air Act’.

And Manchester City Council and Cornwall Council both replied that they received nothing from the Air Quality Grant Scheme in either year. Oxford City Council’s cabinet member for zero-carbon Oxford, Cllr Tom Hayes, said that while it is ‘great’ to see an increase in funding from central government in the area of air quality monitoring and action, it needs to be seen in the context of ‘severe cuts’ over the last 10 years.

Local Government

‘This financial year, my council will receive zero money from central government as part of its regular funding streams,’ Cllr Hayes tells Air Quality News. ‘The government have got us to a place where we are only funded for specific duties now.

‘The amount of money which is coming to us from central government really is insignificant when you place that in the context to the wider bill for health-related issues, and the inaction they are taking around certain vehicle types, like diesel and petrol cars, which they are continuing to be allowed to be sold as new vehicles in this country until 2040.’

And with more councils declaring climate emergencies around the country, the need for additional funding has never been greater, but Client Earth’s UK clean air lawyer, Katie Nield, says it is seeing local authority requests for clean air zones being ‘squeezed by government’.

‘There are many instances where local authorities have asked for lots more than what they have received in the end from the Treasury,’ she tells Air Quality News.

‘Our major concern is that these plans need to reach compliance as quickly as possible and that ministers should not be scrimping on people’s health in that context.

‘Nor should they be making local authorities bear the financial burden when their jobs have already been made much more difficult by central government’s historic failure to act.

These legal limits came into force in 2010 and it’s only now that plans are coming into force.’

‘This is not just about funding clean air zones and other pollution reduction measures, it’s also about ensuring that

people and businesses in these areas have support to move to cleaner forms of transport, such as targeted scrappage schemes,’ adds Ms Nield.

‘It really is central government’s responsibility to make sure these things happen, but they are increasingly left to local authorities to deal with on limited budgets.’

In response, a government spokesman says: ‘We are taking bold and ambitious action to ensure clean air for the nation, with our forthcoming Environment Bill putting legally-binding air quality targets in place.’

‘Government investment in this ambitious work has risen sharply over the last three financial years, with nearly £200m going to local authorities to boldly target the pollution on our roads and truly tackle the scourge of polluted air.

‘We are working closely with local authorities across the country, providing financial and expert support to develop and introduce innovative charging clean air zones in 2020.’

Although it is early days for the new government, the chancellor, Sajid Javid, has promised a ‘decade of renewal’ in next month’s Budget. The chatter around Westminster has also been about a wide-ranging reshuffle later this month (February) with the possibility of new, or merged Whitehall departments. However, whether this will mean more money on the table for local authorities, or a simpler funding process remains to be seen.

One thing is for certain, if the government’s net-zero targets are to be met, local authorities will have to be given the means to make those targets a reality.

airqualitynews.com

35

Legislation

Clean Air Zones - the legal obstacles facing local authorities 2020 will be the year of the Clean Air Zone (CAZ), but councils are anxious of the legal risks that they could bring, writes BDB Pitmans lawyer, Rahul Bijlani, who has worked closely with several councils on their CAZ plans.

C

AZ schemes in Birmingham, Leeds and Bath are due to come into operation this year and several other cities are developing and finalising their proposals. However, although CAZs form a central plank of government policy on air quality after all, road transport is the biggest source of nitrogen oxides emissions in the UK- the process of introducing them has been complicated by a lack of practical and legislative support.

It is worth reminding ourselves how the proposed network of CAZs came about. The UK government is under a legal duty under the Air Quality Directive to meet specified NO2 limits but failed to do so, and it took three legal challenges by ClientEarth before an appropriate plan was put in place. Central to this was the requirement that local authorities

36

in areas of NO2 exceedance should implement CAZs. The effect of this approach was to transfer a host of procedural burdens and legal risks to those authorities.

Authorities who are ‘directed’ by central government must develop a CAZ proposal, consult on it and make an order implementing the scheme, all of which could be the subject of legal challenge. Because of central government’s tardiness local authorities are also under a duty to achieve compliance with NO2 limits in the shortest possible time.

CAZs are novel and potentially controversial so the risks are considerable. Local authorities often find themselves in an invidious position, caught between pressure from the likes of ClientEarth - who are naturally seeking to ensure CAZ schemes are as stringent as possible

airqualitynews.com

- local pressures to minimise the socioeconomic impacts of CAZ charges, and pressure from central government to justify the costs of doing so. They must therefore tread a very narrow path.

Despite these challenges, numerous authorities have forged ahead and Leeds and Birmingham were due to implement their schemes early this year. However, a centrally-provided online charging portal has been running behind schedule, meaning that these schemes have had to be postponed.

This is emblematic of a lack of effective support from central government. For example, CAZs are introduced under existing transport legislation governing ‘road user charging’ schemes, which can be an awkward fit with the specific requirements of a CAZ. A local authority CAZ cannot, for example, include the strategic road network (trunk roads, motorways etc.) although these roads make a significant contribution to NO2 levels.

Central government, which could implement charges on such roads, has resisted calls to do so.

Unfortunately, the muchvaunted new Environment Bill is another missed opportunity. Instead of introducing a new statutory framework for CAZs (as the draft Clean Air Strategy promised), or even seeking to rectify some of the issues with the current procedure, it remains silent on the subject.

However, CAZs are coming, and as they become an established part of the legal and political landscape the process will become more familiar and the complexities and risks should diminish. The second wave of CAZs will hopefully face a smoother road to implementation, and bring about a significant improvement in NO2 levels over the coming years.

International

Christmas Day in the most polluted city in the world AQN editor Thomas Barrett was in Hanoi, Vietnam over the recent Christmas period. He encountered a country that is trying to balance a booming economy with an increasing air pollution problem.

I

t’s December 25 in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Thick smog has enveloped the country’s capital city for days, giving a whole new meaning to the term ‘white Christmas’. Face masks are ubiquitous, and the haze gives the 5000-year-old city an unnerving, spectral quality.

Vietnam’s economy has grown exponentially over the past two decades which has resulted in a deadly concoction for air quality. Flying into Hanoi’s airport you see the factories on the city’s outskirts and driving

into the city from the airport there are agricultural fires, hallmarks of a still developing country.

When you get to the city, construction workers seem to be on every street, building the latest office tower or apartment complex.

Combine these with a burgeoning middle class who are driving more cars than ever before. And of course, the motorbikes, which have become a cultural icon of sorts for Vietnam.

In 2019, Swiss monitoring app AirVisual was a hugely popular

airqualitynews.com

download for Hanoians who now check daily air quality levels like they would the weather. The results have not been pretty, consistently giving ‘unhealthy’ AQI readings of 151-200.

‘Very unhealthy’ readings over 200 are also common and on several occasions during December 2019 it topped 300, making Hanoi, at one point, the most polluted city in the world.

Vietnam’s one-party communist government has been accused of being slow to act. Only in December did they

Hanoi, Vietnam

37

International

Alliance on Health and Pollution that air pollution kills over 70,000 people every year. Statistics like these are now resonating with a younger and more health conscious population.

70% of Vietnam’s population is under 35. Speaking to a couple of young Hanoians, it’s clear that air pollution is taking its toll on a generation that have been told to welcome the new economic opportunities that Vietnam’s booming economy is bringing.

Ngoc, in her 20s, says: ‘Every morning, I used to exercise outside.

But over the past year, the pollution in Hanoi has got so bad. Because of particulate matter, we’ve been warned now not go outside by experts.

So I’ve had to stop my morning exercise routine.’

Similarly, Phuong, also in her 20s, doesn’t believe the situation will get improve anytime soon. If anything, she believes it will get worse before

offer the public health advice on how to protect themselves from exposure.

They’ve announced a rollout of new monitoring stations, but there is scepticism. Many have seen how Vietnam’s rapid development has damaged the environment, with worsening air quality seemingly an accepted consequence.

Investment money has flowed into Vietnam from China, Japan and South Korea in recent years. But there are signs that investor confidence is already shaky due to the plummeting air quality.

Miura Nobufumi, chairman of Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) told the Vietnam Business Forum that prolonged air pollution will lower foreign companies’ investment in Vietnam, adding that if it continues it has the potential to clip its wings and bring about an economic slowdown.

It’s also been claimed by the Global

it gets better. ‘I am not very positive,’ she says. ‘It is really hard to change citizen’s habits when the public transport system is not changing. The air pollution makes me feel sick, my nose is constantly blocked,’ she added.

‘Besides, the increasing of numerous high building is also polluting the environment and contributing to air pollution. This will not change.’

Can you grow an economy like Vietnam’s without damaging air quality? A landmark report published in January 2020 by Hanoi’s National Economics University is already changing attitudes. It shocked the country when it said air pollution is costing the economy up to £13bn a year.

For a country that aims to compete with the regional likes of Singapore and South Korea, figures like this could jolt the country in action.

It can’t afford not to.

‘An admirably clear book and an appropriately urgent one.’

The Sunday Times

NORTHERN AIR QUALITY •• CONFERENCE

Midland Hotel Manchester

28th April 2020 Keynote Speaker • Andy Burnham,

Mayor of Greater Manchester

• Dr Gary Fuller

Kings College London

• Katie Nield Client Earth

Limited delegate places To reserve your place visit/call:

airqualitynews.com 01625 614 000

38

‘Takes us on a breathless, alternative tour... Fuller pulls no punches.’

Evening Standard

Out now in all good bookshops

airqualitynews.com

NewStart Magazine

Making Better Places Since 1999 New Start is a digital magazine which is ‘articulating the alternative’ for places. Writing about a new local economics. Sharing ideas and solutions.

New Start was launched as the UK’s first regeneration magazine in February 1999.

Since then it has told the stories of the people and projects creating social and economic change in local areas in the UK and internationally

Subscribe to New Start – from 14 pence per day!

• • • •

Learn from the best ideas for creating better places Read case studies on practical initiatives in towns and cities Network with people creating local social and economic change £49 a year (plus VAT) for an individual subscription.

newstartmag.co.uk/subscribe Email: subscriptions@newstartmag.co.uk Call: 01625 666399

www.newstartmag.co.uk

Marketplace ESU1

Your partner for total pollution monitoring solutions.

Whether you’re a local authority looking to maintain ambient monitor equipment or extract and prepare data to technical standards, a buyer looking to source approved monitoring equipment at the best prices, or perhaps a maintenance provider looking to engage a partner to help deliver services during pinch points, call us now to find out why ESU1 is the cost effect solution for your requirement.

AS Modelling & Data Ltd

AS Modelling & Data provides dispersion and deposition modelling using the latest version of ADMS for a wide range of clients including farms, the waste water industry, waste management, general manufacturing and Local Authorities. Our team can provide the expertise, modelling, data and reports for odour, ammonia and air quality assessments including detailed modelling of emissions from ammonia scrubbers and innovative ventilation systems.

AS Modelling & Data can also provide meteorological station data and site-specific Numerical Weather Prediction data for any site location in the world, which can be converted for use within ADMS. We can provide data for meteorological parameters on request and data can be provided quickly at affordable prices. stevesmith@asmodata.co.uk

ANV Measurement Systems

ANV Measurement Systems with Partners TSI are setting new levels of service and reliability in the near-reference particulate monitoring sector.

Our UK calibration laboratories aim for a 5 working day turnaround. We can offer 3 and 5 year comprehensive cover on our particulate monitors and efficient, friendly, expert help is assured.

ANV’s multi- parameter ‘LivEnviro’ system provides real-time web- based monitoring of Noise, Vibration, Dust and Weather on a single user-friendly web platform using certified and site proven sensors, offering strategic and practical control using your computer, phone or tablet.

Live PM10 is based on the TSI Environmental Dust Track.

Better Indoors

Better Indoors is a leading commercial and residential solutions provider to the air purification and ventilation verticals. Our products comprise the latest innovations and leading technologies. Our range of services includes site surveys, air monitoring and testing plus design, specification, installation and commissioning of integrated air purification and BBA approved ventilation systems performed by industry qualified engineers.

Our problem solving solutions are guaranteed with long warranties. Whether your problem is condensation and mould, or lingering odours, or you have concerns about dust mites, allergens, radon, VOCs, or sick building syndrome symptoms at home or work, or concerns about air pollution affecting indoor environments in homes, schools or hospitals, we can be trusted to properly understand your problem and then permanently solve it.

T: 0800 030 4970 enquiries@esu1.co.uk

T: 01952 462500 www.asmodata.co.uk

T: 01908 642846 www.noise-and-vibration. co.uk

T: 0333 014 7669 www.betterindoors.com

Air Purification Technology

Plasma Clean

Air Quality Monitoring Sensors

Imperial

Why wait years for air quality to improve? Make a difference now.

We offer an outdoor air purification system which creates a corridor of clean air 100m long. Ideal for pavements, crossroads, railway stations and other busy areas.

For indoors (and portable personal systems), a range of products which purify and then sterilise the air. Get rid of PM2.5, NO , etc, but also ² bacteria, viruses and nanoparticles.

Tel: +44 (0)20 8202 8743 martin@founze.com

40

Let’s clear the air!

We know outdoor air quality is already under huge scrutiny, but emissions generated outside buildings are finding their way into the built environment through the fresh air supply. Given we spend 90% of our time indoors this is affecting people at home and at work – especially those close to busy road networks – impacting on health and wellbeing. At Plasma Clean we specialise in providing solutions to improved indoor air quality (IAQ) in the workplace, finding ways of making sure that HVAC systems – the lungs of a commercial building – are delivering the freshest possible air supply.

Call us for more information and to set up an IAQ assessment in your workplace today.

T: 0161 870 2325 email ask@plasma-clean.com www.plasma-clean.com

Videalert has launched a new generation of air quality monitoring sensors to measure levels of airborne particulates, from 1-1800µgm³, including nitrogen dioxide and carbon dioxide. It transmits real-time data to Videalert’s digital video platform, which supports multiple traffic, parking, school safety, clean air and crime prevention applications simultaneously.

The sensor integrates with Videalert’s enforcement cameras to cross correlate the impact of improved driver compliance with the improvements in air quality realised as a result of these measures. The data can also be ‘visualised’ to show the levels of gas and particulate matter at different times throughout the day.

T: 020 3931 6556 www.videalert.com

airqualitynews.com

Our fully integrated traffic and permit management systems provide effective, efficient and end-to-end service solutions for Clean Air Zones, Low Emission Zones, Congestion Charges and Free Flow Tolling programmes.

We have pioneered the development and delivery of infinitely variable and user-friendly permit management systems to help authorities maximise air standards while also ensuring safe, sustainable and fair access to our towns and cities. And our proven service solutions deliver dynamic pricing and effective enforcement through to reliable and responsive payment processing and recovery.

Contact us today for more information.

T: 0117 925 1700 www.imperial.co.uk

Marketplace Enviro Technology Services

GRAMM SmogStop

Founded in 1983 and now active in over 60 countries with a multimillion pound turnover and has evolved over 34 years to become a global provider of air quality and emissions monitoring systems and servicing. The company sell and lease equipment, systems and services covering the monitoring of ambient air quality (AQM), continuous emissions (CEM) and indoor air quality. ET also supplies cutting-edge analytical equipment for scientific, process and research monitoring including the Enviro Technology Services (ET) was.

The company operates out of a custom-designed 1700m2 factory featuring fully air-conditioned calibration and repair laboratories, in-house system manufacturing and dedicated testing and training facilities.

GRAMM is the UK leading specialist in the design, supply & installation of environmental acoustic barriers. We have constructed literally 1,000’s of Km’s of acoustic barriers of all types of materials throughout the UK and Europe.

GRAMM SmogStop Barrier reduces air and noise pollution levels in surrounding neighbourhoods, and takes a two-pronged approach to reducing air pollution from major roads, highways and railways.

The patented aerodynamic design reduces pollution levels by enhancing dispersion. At the same time, a proprietary coating on the barrier actually breaks down the NOx and VOCs that produce smog, transforming them into harmless by-products

T: 01453 733200 www.et.co.uk

T: 01323 872243 www.smogstop.co.uk

T: 08000 71 71 91 www.CarTakeBack.com info@CarTakeBack.com

T: 01606 330020 www.turnkey-instruments.com

Air Monitors

Ashtead

EnviroVent

Campbell Associates

Air Monitors represents some of the world’s leading environmental monitoring technology manufacturers.

Providing monitoring solutions which encompass the very best products, technology and services, Air Monitors offers technical support, maintenance, calibration, operation, analysis and reporting services in addition to the sale or hire of monitoring equipment.

Typical applications include the monitoring of particulate matter and gaseous pollutants in both workplace and ambient air.

With decades of experience and high levels of expertise, Air Monitors is able to select the best instruments from leading global manufacturers. These include Aethlabs, Bertin, Cozir, Environics, AQMesh, Lufft, Magee Scientific, Palas, Thermo and others.

T: 01684 857530 www.airmonitors.co.uk

CarTakeBack

CarTakeBack is the UK’s largest network of scrap car recycling centres with over 300 sites across the UK. CarTakeBack provide a scrap vehicle recycling service to the public and businesses including vehicle manufacturers, dealerships, police forces, auction houses as well as local authorities and government bodies.

CarTakeBack recycle vehicles to the highest standard and have a successful history of handling and supporting vehicle scrappage schemes - including government and local authority schemes as well as vehicle manufacturer and dealership lead schemes.

Ashtead Technology provides rental, purchase and calibration solutions for air quality and emissions monitoring equipment.

Parameters include: PM10, 0.8µm Diesel Particulate Matter (DPM), Respirable (PM4), PM5 (China Respirable), PM2.5, PM1, Temperature, Relative Humidity, Air Velocity, CO, Cl2, EtO, HCN, H2S, NO, NO2, O2, SO2, CO2, VOCs and Hydrocarbons.

Covering personal, indoor and outdoor applications, equipment is available from leading manufacturers including TSI Instruments Ltd, Testo, RAE Systems and Inficon. The ability to rent or purchase means we can offer an equipment solution to meet your financial and technical requirements.

Alongside equipment rental and sales, we also offer calibration and maintenance.

EnviroVent is the UK’s leading manufacturer, supplier and installer of energy efficient and sustainable ventilation products to improve indoor air quality and control the humidity levels which cause condensation and mould problems.

EnviroVent has tackled condensation and mould in over a million properties. Our award winning range of condensation control products come with longterm warranties, and are fitted by qualified professional engineers.

Consistent with our commitment to develop sustainable products, our UK manufacturing plant also provides the perfect facility to recycle worn out components, eliminating the wasteful disposal of plastic to landfill.

T: 01462 679 020 ashstead-technologhy.com

T: 0345 27 27 810 envirovent.com

airqualitynews.com

Turnkey Instruments Ltd

Turnkey Instruments design and manufacture a range of easy-touse dust monitors, created to continuously measure and record the concentration of airborne particles. Our instruments feature two modes; in environmental mode they simultaneously monitor the concentrations of TSP, PM10, PM2.5 and PM1 particles, while their workplace mode monitors the inhalable, thoracic and respirable fractions. Every product includes a proprietary nephelometer, produced by ourselves, that analyses the individual particles of an air sample as they pass through a laser beam; the particles are then collected on the reference filter. This advanced technology allows fractions to be determined at concentrations up to several mg/m

Campbell Associates supply a market leading range of Air Quality Monitors from Aeroqual, to monitor PM2.5, PM10, NO2, Ozone and other gases, all in the one small box.

The product range includes both hand-held and complete fixed monitoring systems for indoors and outdoors, as well as a range of Ambient Air Quality Analysers.

The AQY Micro and the AQS 1 Mini Air Quality Monitoring Systems record ozone and nitrogen dioxide levels, without the need for webbased algorithms. Aeroqual have created analysers which are not only low cost, low maintenance and deliver data without an internet connection, they produce data of a quality previously only possible from reference equivalent analysers.

T: 01371 871030 campbell-associates.co.uk/ air-quality

41

Jobs Combining evidence & experience in the pursuit of 21st century leadership

Not everyone’s a needle.

And the marketplace is no longer a haystack. It’s a very organised network of unique candidates with every connection and conversation at their disposal. But how do you get them to notice you?

We understand what good leadership looks like. Our insight, informed by decades spent supporting organisations to hire and develop leaders, is underpinned by the latest academic research.

We focus on the on the behaviours, values and attitudes which define effective 21st century leadership – whatever someone’s background.

Find out more at penna.com

For more information, please contact Martin Tucker T

0121 312 3755

E

mtucker@faerfield.co.uk

W

faerfield.co.uk

FIND | EXCITE | SECURE

1773 BPR Faerfield_Air_Quality_Mag_qtr_page_ad_125x88mm_v1.indd 1

LEADERSHIP THAT DELIVERS. EVERY TIME. Providing interim managers and independent consultants to help your organisation cope with business challenges and deliver change more effectively.

TILE H I LL TILE H I LL EXECUTIVE RECRUITMENT

TILE H I LL INTERIM MANAGEMENT

42

TILE H I LL EXECUTIVE SEARCH

The Stanley Building Seven Pancras Square London N1C 4AG

T 020 3371 1780 hello@tile-hill.co.uk www.tile-hill.co.uk

airqualitynews.com

24/10/2019 09:33

NO2

03

PM10

PM10

NO2

PM2.5

NEXT GENERATION CLEANTECH Hyper-local Air Pollution Monitoring 03

PM2.5 NO2 PM10

03

PM2.5

• Full end-to-end system NO2 • Multiple pollutant gas & particulate matter sensing • Fully automated & continuous monitoring • Web based intuitive user interface with analytical tools • Configurable dashboards & alerts • Self-healing wireless mesh network • Air Quality Monitoring as-a-Service

#MakingTheInvisible_Visible vortexiot.com

@VortexIoT

Rising Bollards

UNIQUE CCTV PLATFORM SUPPORTS IMPROVEMENTS IN AIR QUALITY AND TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT 3 3

POLICE ANPR in use

3 3 3

Integrates enforcement of CAZ, LEZ and traffic contraventions on single platform Best in class multiple pollutant gas and particulate matter sensor • Simple install and add-on to enforcement cameras • Cost effective for rapid high density/hyper local deployments • Provides cloud based real-time data visualisation Transfers real-time air quality data via existing camera SIM Validates impact of improved driver compliance on air quality Delivers lowest total cost of ownership

www.met-police.uk

THINK TRAFFIC, THINK CCTV, THINK VIDEALERT

www.videalert.com For UK and International enquiries: Videalert Ltd, Clock House, Paines Lane, Pinner, Middlesex, HA5 3BY, UK

+44 (0) 20 3931 6556

info@videalert.com