AIR QUALITY : NEW STRICTER EMISSION STANDARDS FOR HEAVY-DUTY VEHICLES.

The European Commission is tightening up limits on polluting emissions from heavy-duty vehicles with its adoption on 20 December of a proposal for a regulation to reduce by 2013 the volume of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter emissions from trucks and buses by 80% and 66%, respectively, from current limits (Euro V). The proposal and its impact assessment are available atahttp://www.europolitics.info/web/external-file/pdf/gratuit_en/216138-en-1.pdf

The new Euro VI standard will not only help improve air quality but will also be a step forward towards global harmonisation, since it foresees limit values similar to those set in the United States, explains the Commission.

Concretely, the Euro VI proposal sets common EU provisions for pollutants from heavy motor vehicles. The new regulation will reduce by 66% particulate matter emissions from vehicles with compression-ignition engines. While no specific technology is prescribed for achieving this reduction, doing so will de facto require the introduction of diesel particulate filters. To prevent the possibility that in the future open filters are developed that meet the new particulate mass limit but enable a high number of ultra-fine particles to escape, a new standard will be introduced at a later stage limiting the number of particles that can be emitted. For now...