Newcastle University

The Transport Operations Research Group (TORG) at Newcastle University has been awarded grant funding via DEFRA’s Local Authority Air Quality Grant Programme 2011/12 to research emissions of primary nitrogen dioxide from road transport, and how these emissions vary by vehicle type and engine technology. Many UK local authorities have declared air quality management areas due to exceedances of EU limit values for nitrogen dioxide, but there is significant uncertainty regarding the contribution of different vehicle types and technologies to the air pollution problem, particularly for new diesel engines.

Working in partnership with the City of London Corporation, the London Borough of Ealing, and King’s College London, TORG researchers are implementing roadside remote sensing surveys in central London and Ealing to measure pollutants in vehicle exhaust emissions, including nitrogen dioxide and nitric oxide, using absorption spectroscopy techniques. Specialist spectrometers have been loaned to the project by colleagues at the University of Denver in the United States to measure nitrogen dioxide.

Glyn Rhys-Tyler, Principal Investigator for the project at TORG, has organised and implemented the surveys in cooperation with the project partners, which are taking place in the period May – July 2012. Data analysis and reporting to DEFRA will take place during the summer and autumn of 2012, with a dissemination event planned at the end of the project. The research builds on earlier work carried out at TORG based on remote sensing data collected in London in 2008 (Rhys-Tyler et al 2011).

The new knowledge generated by the project will provide EU, national and local policy makers with an evidence base to inform future policy interventions to mitigate the nitrogen dioxide pollution problem, which may include the development of Low Emissions Zones or traffic management schemes, and more generally support the development and implementation of air quality Action Plans.

References:

Rhys-Tyler GA, Legassick W, Bell MC. The significance of vehicle emissions standards for levels of exhaust pollution from light vehicles in an urban area. Atmospheric Environment 2011, 45(19), 3286-3293. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2011.03.035