Should Car Pollution Tests Be Tougher?

The aftermath of the VW scandal has caused ripples across many aspects of legislation in Europe, not least on the rigorousness of the testing which allowed the faulty vehicles to slip through its net. The German-based manufacturing giant installed sophisticated software which was capable of “cheating” car pollution tests, thus meaning that the real world emissions were significantly higher than those projected in testing.

Indeed, in some cases, cars are predicted to emit as much as 11 times the allowed level by EU law, with the majority emitting somewhere between four and five times the recommended amount. Clearly, the tests need to be revamped to make sure such trickery is not repeated again, for the sake of our atmosphere if nothing else.

European Parliament Imposes Strict Targets

The European Parliament are the latest body to enter the car pollution testing debate, asserting late last month that a tougher regime should be introduced no later than 2017 and that real-world emissions should be penalised at the same time.

This declaration is somewhat harsher than that proposed by the European Commission, which had previously suggested allowing higher levels of pollution until September 2019. At this point, the maximum of 80mg/km of NOx gases would be imposed. Many governments around Europe were more favourable to this position, believing that 2017 would be too early for many carmakers to fall in line with the projected figures.

“The reliability and robustness of the test procedure for vehicles is of crucial importance for the attainment of the emission limits and thereby for the protection of public health and the environment in the EU,” stated a spokesperson for the Parliament. The resolution, which is still open to debate, was agreed upon on Tuesday the 27^th October in Strasbourg, France. It outlined that no infringement of the NOx allowance should be accepted, except “only the possible tolerances of the emissions measurement procedure in place by 2017”.

An Urgent Need

Clearly the declaration from the Parliament is an acknowledgement that improving air quality and reducing transport-related pollution is of paramount concern in today’s society. With mounting worries about the cleanliness of the air we breathe and the state of our planet’s health in general taking centre stage in many a political forum, the need for improved and stricter car pollution testing is there for all to see.

However, while harmful emissions from exhaust fumes do play an integral part in the contamination of our air, they are far from the only problem. Big industry, including factories, mines and plants which consume fossil fuels and produce all manner of goods, are responsible for a significant amount of the NOx in the world, as well.

In fact, Chinese power plants emit as much NOx as all of the world's passenger cars combined, a 2011 study showed. The Asian superpower has long been recognised as one of the biggest offenders when it comes to air quality, but has made certain strides in improving its policies in this respect in recent years.