Future air quality in Danish cities due to new emission and fuel quality directives of the European Union

Abstract

The impact of new European Union (EU) vehicle emission and fuel quality directives on the future air quality in Danish cities has been modelled for comparison with new limit values in the new EU directive on assessment and management of urban air quality. The assessment is carried out for the reference year 1995 and the scenario years 2000, 2005 and 2010 for selected streets in Copenhagen, Denmark. Modelled health related substances include NO2 (NOx), O3, CO and benzene. Preliminary assessment of particulate matter is based on expert judgement. Nested modelling was applied using air quality and emission models to predict concentration levels in the regional background, urban background and in the street. Air pollution levels were predicted to decrease for all pollutants except for ozone and the results show that the levels will not exceed the new EU limit values in 2010 despite expected increases in traffic.