Current vehicle emission standards will not mitigate climate change or improve air quality

Andrew Jiaxuan Law; Ricardo Martinez-Botas; Phil Blythe

doi:10.1038/s41598-023-34150-7

Current vehicle emission standards will not mitigate climate change or improve air quality

Sci Rep. 2023 Apr 30;13(1):7060. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-34150-7.

Authors

Andrew Jiaxuan Law¹, Ricardo Martinez-Botas², Phil Blythe³

Affiliations

¹ Turbo Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK.
² Turbo Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK. r.botas@imperial.ac.uk.
³ Future Mobility Group, School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.

Abstract

The vehicle emissions testing programme was conducted by the UK Department of Transport in 2016 in response to emissions tampering exposed in the Volkswagen (VW) emissions scandal. The programme identified large emissions discrepancies between real-world and in-lab testing across a range of Euro 5 and Euro 6 diesel passenger vehicles. The large vehicle test fleet reflects the current challenges faced in controlling vehicle emissions. This paper presents the following findings: NO_x emissions are altered due to exhaust gas recirculation mismanagement. A new Real-Life Emissions methodology is introduced to improve upon the current Real Driving Emissions standard. A large and concerning emissions divergence was discovered between the achieved NO_x improvement and deterioration of CO₂. The findings act as catalysts to improve vehicle emissions testing beyond standards established since the VW scandal, aiding in the development of better climate change mitigation strategies and bring tangible air quality improvements to the environment.