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Satellite low emission zones are needed in London to reduce an estimated 3000 pollution-related deaths in the capital each year, a London Assembly report has warned.

The study has called for a number of urgent measures to improve air quality and says emissions - “mainly from diesel engines” - are contributing to a wide range of health problems.

Government figures estimate pollution-related health costs for the UK have reached £20 billion a year.

The Assembly Environment Comm...Read the full article

Autocar:

The Assembly Environment Committee now wants London mayor Boris Johnson to look into using biofuel for all public transport

And how would biofuel help?   It will probably produce more emissions and toxic gasses!   Where's the evidence to back up that a bio fuel would be better than normal diesel?

Simply get rid of all the old diesel engines from public transport and replace them with modern ones.   Especially target the taxis!

Autocar:

Satellite low emission zones are needed in London to reduce an estimated 3000 pollution-related deaths in the capital each year, a London Assembly report has warned.

I believe there are about 12 million people in greater London, which means that London air is responsible for keeping 11,997,000 people alive each year.  Why do these people always focus on the negative?

Symanski:

Simply get rid of all the old diesel engines from public transport and replace them with modern ones.   Especially target the taxis!

Modern diesel engines are still causing the same issues. I gather they are just as responsible for causing asthma in the young and old as well as other breathing issues for the entire population. Diesel is a very dirty fuel no matter how fancy the diesel engine.

I had heard some time ago that the tax on diesel for none heavy commercial vehicles and private cars is to shoot up to persuade people to use petrol and possibly petrol hybrids. Only time will tell.

The funny thing is, the 2 places with the most polluted air in England are both bus stations. At number 1 is Marylebone bus station in London and at number 2 is Parker Street bus station in Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester.

I'm not sure if the VM Motori lump in taxis can be described as modern, and I'm fairly sure the ones in buses can't, but switching both to electricity could save a lot more lives that the proposed 50 mph speed cut, and the toxicity levels are blatantly illegal under EU rules.

Never been on a bus in London, but does the passenger buy a ticket off the driver? This seems ridiculous, as this causes causes congestion nevermind the stopped bus with its engine running, why not a self service ticket machine on the bus and random ticket inspectors, if they already do this please ignore me, I live out in the sticks, thanks.

PS Could the excessive pollution be caused by traffic planners who will not allow left turns, endless one way loops which may increase average speed but triple your journey distance and cutting back on parking spaces.

Symanski - you've sort of missed and hit the point at the same time. Boris is perhaps confusing particulates with CO2, but on the other hand where's your evidence to suggest that a bio fuel would be worse than normal diesel?

230SL - last time I was in London I had to buy the ticket from a machine at the bus stop or use a travel card.

3000 deaths a year is comparable to the number of road deaths in the UK in a year (never mind deaths due to alcohol, smoking and obesity). Draw your own conclusions...

 

Symanski:

Simply get rid of all the old diesel engines from public transport and replace them with modern ones.   Especially target the taxis!

And add a Hybrid system or a system like BMW's efficient dynamics with Stop Start technology. If every new bus and taxi had a hybrid system it would reduce total emissions of public transport by tonnes per year of CO2. 

I find these types of reports disturbing and alarming. Not because of I fear for my health, but because of the use of headline grabbing figures.

What exactly does 'pollution related' mean? There seems to be an automatic link whereby pollution = vehicle emissions, when in reality vehicles are only part of the problem.

Labeling diesel as the main source of the problem is not technically correct either. Whilst diesel is a dirtier fuel than petrol, it is how the diesel is burnt that is the main problem. Buses and taxis have a lot to answer for!

Is it really surprising that London is polluted when so many people are crammed into such a small space? I am far more concerned about the state of the sewage system in London and the poor quality housing stock.

 Scrap the bendy-buses and bring back trolley-buses......

Of course , in the days of trolley-buses air quality in London was much worse than it is now because smokeless domestic fuels hadn't been introduced. The people writing these reports are too ignorant to realise that.

Symanski:

And how would biofuel help?   It will probably produce more emissions and toxic gasses!   Where's the evidence to back up that a bio fuel would be better than normal diesel?

Actually, there's lots of evidence backing up the fact that biodiesel is better than mineral diesel. You get significantly lower Carbon Monoxide emissions, same with particulates. NOx emissions can be higher, but if the engine is modified (relatively simple valve retardation) then NOx emissions are no higher.

 I have no doubt we can also look towards using bioethanol (petrol alternative). Some buses in the UK are already running on this fuel. Gives the advantage that E85 actually produces more power than ron95 - so buses can use smaller, lighter engines. Fuel consumption is higher, but that is offset and still works out better in terms of CO2. In terms of other pollutants a modern petrol engine, bioethanol or not is incredibly clean.

The problem does like in buses and taxis - older ones especially. Yet don't forget trucks/lorries that clog up London's roads - these are also running diesel and can be pretty nasty.

 Air quality in London is better than it has been for a very long time, but there is no reason why it should not be even better - with a little bit of thought and maybe some money...

theonlydt:

 Air quality in London is better than it has been for a very long time, but there is no reason why it should not be even better - with a little bit of thought and maybe some money...

The EU say, London has breached safe air quality regulations for many years and is not getting better. Something drastic will have to take place for this to improve, let alone meet the regulations.