Introduction Of Low Emission Zones Research Articles

Perspectives of Development of Low Emission Zones in Poland: A Short Review

Introduction of low emission zones (LEZs) in many cities is supposed to mitigate negative externalities from urban transportation, such as noise and GHG emissions. LEZ is present in most of Western European countries, but in Eastern and Central Europe they are rare, even though in this part of Europe the air quality norms in the cities are very often exceeded. The experience from many countries proves that introduction of LEZ should be preceded with the examination of social acceptance to forecast and overcome the potential barriers of adoption to new rules and regulations. It is especially important in country such as Poland, where LEZs are going to be introduced in the near future. Hence, this article aims to review the factors responsible for social acceptance of LEZ and to discuss the prospects of establishing LEZ in Poland in the light of the experiences of other countries, urban and transport challenges in Polish cities, and legislative, economic, and social aspects. The results of the study are presented by means of SWOT analysis, showing that well thought-out solutions and the gradual introduction of restrictions in car traffic can have a positive impact on the level of social acceptance and behavioral change. Measuring social preferences and opinions before the establishment of LEZ could help investigate the relation between the level of restrictions and behavioral adoption of the residents and car users. It is also recommended to take a lesson from the zones already existing in other cities and to follow the solutions that have occurred to meet the expectations of the society while leading to lower GHG emissions and higher standard of living.

ЩОДО ТЕОРЕТИКО-МЕТОДОЛОГІЧНИХ ОСНОВ СИСТЕМНОГО УПРАВЛІННЯ ЕФЕКТИВНІСТЮ ВИКОРИСТАННЯ ЕНЕРГІЇ ТА ЗАБРУДНЕННЯМ ДОВКІЛЛЯ ДОРОЖНІМ ТРАНСПОРТОМ

Suggestions for the development of theoretical and methodological foundations of system management of energy efficiency and environmental pollution by road transport in the life cycle are given. It takes into account all essential areas covering transportation, infrastructure, maintenance, also energy, chemical and automotive industries, raw material extraction, utilization, and related processes of energy consumption and environmental pollution, distributed in space and time. A universal structural scheme of the “supersystem” is proposed, which reflects the processes of consumption of energy, material and other resources, distributed environmental pollution through the functioning of road transport and related industries, and linked damage as well. The target function of the “supersystem” can be represented as the fulfilment during a certain period (covering the life cycle of the main elements – objects of influence (regulation) and investment of financial resources) of the specified volumes of certain types of transport work with the minimum possible and economically justified consumption of energy, consumables, materials, other resources (including those consumed by the transportation, infrastructure, maintenance, also energy, chemical and automotive industries, raw material extraction, utilization), the minimum possible losses due to artificial pressure on the recipients (human beings, fauna and flora, buildings, etc.) of directly the transport system and infrastructure, as well as side effects of processes in other elements of the “supersystem”, that may be reduced to the total cost of transport, taking into account the inflation index of monetary units. It is proposed to carry out a mathematical description of complicated sets, dynamically distributed in the space of objects that change the structure and properties over time, based on the further development of such a tool as the theory of multisets. In a simplified form, it is presented an example of a fragment of the management system based on measures to regulate the first access of vehicles to the market, further operation, and to certain elements of infrastructure, with the introduction of low emission zones in cities. The development, creation and effective functioning of the management system of transport and related sectors of the economy in those mentioned above and other parts, requires a coherent system approach based on forecasting (modelling) the consequences of decisions, which can be implemented using the tools described in this article. Keywords: wheeled vehicles, road transport, systems management, energy efficiency, environmental pollution.

The implementation of a low emission zone in a medium-sized Swedish city: estimated effects on mortality and morbidity

Title: The introduction of a low emission zone in a medium-sized Swedish city: estimated effects on morbidity and mortalityAuthors: Anna Oudin1,2, Erin Flanagan1, Ebba Malmqvist11.Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University, Sweden2.Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Umeå University, SwedenAir pollution is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The introduction of low emission zones has been implemented in some cities as a measure to reduce morbidity and mortality caused by air pollution. In other cities, such measures are being considered to be implemented. We undertook a health impact assessment to estimate effects on mortality and morbidity in Malmö by introducing a low emission zone. This was done in dialogue with the Malmö city’s environmental department, assuming adjusted emission factors according to the Handbook Emission Factors for Road Transport version 3.3 with all vehicles on municipal roads being euro6 or better and a mix of vehicles on state roads. The intervention would lead to decreased nitrogen dioxide-levels by in average 2.1 mikrogr/m3 per person (minimum: 0.2, maximum: 5.1 mikrogr/m3). We estimated that the cleaner air would prevent 1-2% of all deaths, depending on what dose-response function was assumed. This corresponds to 26-37 lives per year in Malmö. In comparison in average 7 people die in Malmö each year from traffic accidents. We will also present results regarding how morbidity would be affected.

Pollution Alert!

Russia is preparing for an introduction of low emission zones en masse. But despite rising pollution levels, not everyone is convinced they are the right solution.

LIFE MONZA: project description and actions’ updating

Abstract The introduction of Low Emission Zones, urban areas subject to road traffic restrictions in order to ensure compliance with the air pollutants limit values set by the European Directive on ambient air quality (2008/50/EC), is a common and well-established action in the administrative government of cities. The impacts on air quality improvement are widely analysed, whereas the effects and benefits concerning the noise have not been addressed in a comprehensive manner. As a consequence, the definition, the criteria for the analysis and the management methods of a Noise Low Emission Zone are not clearly expressed and shared yet. The LIFE MONZA project (Methodologies fOr Noise low emission Zones introduction And management - LIFE15 ENV/IT/000586) addresses these issues. The first objective of the project, co-funded by the European Commission, is to introduce an easy-replicable method for the identification and the management of the Noise Low Emission Zone, an urban area subject to traffic restrictions, whose impacts and benefits regarding noise issues will be analyzed and tested in the pilot area of the city of Monza, located in Northern Italy. Background conditions, structure, objectives of the project and actions’ progress will be discussed in this article.

Introduction and management of noise low emission zones: LIFE MONZA project

The introduction of Low Emission Zones, an urban area subject to road traffic restrictions in order to ensure compliance with the air pollutants limit values, set by the European Directive on ambient air quality (2008/50/EC), are common and well-established actions in the administrative government of the cities and the impacts on air quality improvement are widely analyzed, while the effects and benefits concerning the noise have not been addressed in a comprehensive manner. The definition, the criteria for analysis, and the management methods of a Noise Low Emission Zone are not yet clearly expressed and shared. LIFE MONZA project (Methodologies for Noise low emission Zones introduction and management—LIFE15 ENV/ IT/000586) addresses these issues. The first objective of the project, co-funded by the European Commission, is to introduce an easy-replicable method for the identification and the management of the Noise Low Emission Zones, an urban area subject to traffic restrictions, whose impacts and benef...

Impacts of low emission zones in Germany on air pollution levels

Since 2008 low emission zones (LEZ) have been introduced in many German cities to improve air quality and to protect human health. In order to assess the effectiveness of LEZ, both descriptive and statistical analyses have been conducted based on concentrations of air pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, NO, NO2, and NOx) from relevant monitoring stations in Germany from year 2002 to 2012. The results indicate that the introduction of LEZ has brought positive effects on reducing air pollutant concentrations. But the potential of further reduction by additional LEZ in Germany without further development of this measure seems to be small.

The impact of Low Emission Zones on particulate matter concentration and public health

A common policy for reducing particulate matter concentrations in the European Union is the introduction of Low Emission Zones (LEZs), which may only be entered by vehicles meeting predefined emission standards. This paper examines the effectiveness of LEZs for reducing PM10 levels in urban areas in Germany and quantifies the associated health impacts from reduced air pollution within the zones. We employ a fixed effects panel data model for daily observations of PM10 concentrations from 2000 to 2009 and control, inter alia, for local meteorological conditions and traffic volume. We apply the regression outputs to a concentration response function derived from the epidemiological literature to calculate associated health impacts of the introduction of LEZs in 25 German cities with 3.96 million inhabitants. Associated uncertainties are accounted for in Monte-Carlo simulations. It is found that the introduction of LEZs has significantly reduced inner city PM10 levels. We estimate the total mean health impact from reduced air pollution in 2010 due to the introduction of stage 1 zones to be ∼760 million EUR in the 25 LEZ cities in the sample, whereas total mean health benefits are ∼2.4 billion EUR for the more stringent stage 2 zones when applied in the same cities.

Wirksamkeit von Umweltzonen in der ersten Stufe: Analyse der Feinstaubkonzentrationsänderungen (PM10) in 19 deutschen Städten

It is not known/is disputed whether introduction of low emission zones (LEZs) leads to a reduction of fine dust pollutants. Data on PM10 concentrations obtained from measurement stations within and outside of LEZs from 19 German cities (Augsburg, Berlin, Dortmund, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt a. M., Hannover, Herrenberg, Ilsfeld, Karlsruhe, Köln, Ludwigsburg, Mannheim, München, Reutlingen, Stuttgart, Tübingen, Wuppertal) were analyzed in order to investigate the effect of banning vehicles ("tier 1") of the pollutant group 1 (without stickers) on the pollutant concentration, i.e, this study focused on LEZs that restricted cars of EURO 1 standard without appropriate retrofitting systems from entering these zones. For the period from about 2005 until the end of 2009, data from continuous half-hour measurements as well as gravimetrically determined daily measurements of PM10 were collected. The analysis consisted of four pairwise corresponding measurement values as matched quadruples of two index and two reference values (index stations are inside, and reference stations are outside the LEZs). One index value and the simultaneous reference value were measured during the active LEZ period, and the other pair of values was measured before the LEZ was introduced. The pairs of values had a difference in time of 364 days or a multiple of 364 days keeping the season, weekday and time of day constant within the quadruple. Differences in index values were regressed on differences in reference values while meteorological parameters (height of the inversion base, amount of precipitation, wind velocity), school holidays, period of environmental bonus paid, periods when trucks were banned as well as baseline data at index and reference stations were taken into account as covariates in so-called "fixed effects" regression analyses of the quadruples (difference score method in the two-period case). The statistical approach was successfully validated prior to this study in an analysis of simulated data from FU Berlin. 2,110,803 quadruples of continuous PM10 and 15,735 gravimetric quadruples were identified leading to 61,169 quadruples based on daily PM10 averages. The analyses showed that best LEZ effect estimates for fine dust reduction were (at all index stations) ≤ 0.2 μg/m3, i. e., a relative PM10 reduction ≤ 1 %. Best estimates at all index stations near traffic (excluding urban background and industry index stations) were below 1 μg/m3 (less than 5 %, respectively). Effects were smaller than predicted prior to the introduction of LEZs. This study is the first that investigated comprehensively the effectiveness of "tier 1" LEZs in Germany on PM10 reduction with a homogeneous approach in data collection and analysis and taking into account the most relevant confounding factors.