Aim
To what extent would the introduction of increased parking charges on high polluting car models in Kingston upon Thames impact air quality?
Objectives
1. Identify which models of cars are emitting the most pollutants.
2. Identify the percentage of cars parking in Kingston upon Thames that are within this group.
3. Identify whether individuals parking in Kingston upon Thames would be influenced by increased charges on particular car models.
Introduction
As seen in the aims and objectives above, this research project will consider air quality and the impacts that vehicle emissions have on air quality within Kingston upon Thames. As shown in figure 1, Kingston upon Thames is a borough within Greater London. As of 2017, the borough had a population of 176,107 (The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, 2017) and in 2015, it was identified that the annual mortality rate directly linked to air pollution was 5.1%, 0.4% higher than the rate for England (The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, 2017). This shows that air quality is poorer in Kingston upon Thames than in the rest of England. As Kingston upon Thames covers 38.7km2 (Kingston Data Observatory, 2014, p. 5), the Borough has been divided by its wards, and all the sites for data collection are in Grove, shown in figure 2.
Figure 1. Map of Kingston upon Thames in Greater London
Figure 2. Map of Kingston upon Thames Wards, Highlighting Grove Ward
Literature review
Air Quality and the Nature of Emissions
Kudesia (2008) defines air pollution in his work as "the addition of foreign material to the air which may change the properties of the air" (Kudesia, 2008, p. 3). There are a number of primary air pollutants that are directly linked to vehicle emissions. These are known as 'low' emission sources as pollutants as they remain less than 10m above ground level and as a result they don't diffuse efficiently (Hertel & Goodsite, 2009, p. 3). The primary emissions from vehicles are;
1. Carbon monoxide (CO)
2. Carbon dioxide (CO2)
3. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
4. Hydrocarbons (HCs)
5. Nitrogen oxides (NOx)
6. Particulate matter (PM) (Batterman & Zhang, 2013, p. 307)
The Impact of Emissions on Health
To understand the importance of investigating air quality, it is necessary to consider the impact that vehicle emissions have on human health. A range of studies have looked at this and have linked vehicle emissions to a number of health conditions.
The World Health Organisation has identified that "there are over two million premature deaths each year that can be attributed to the effects of air pollution" (World Health Organisation, 2005).
A study conducted by Delucchi and McCubbin modelled how emissions impact health by estimating motor-related emissions and exposure to pollution and then compared this to epidemiological studies on the impacts of air pollution on health. This found that minor conditions such as sore throats and eye irritation, and fatal conditions involving the respiratory and cardiac systems can all be directly linked to vehicle emission related pollution (Delucchi & McCubbin, 1999, p. 253).
In terms of premature deaths and serious health conditions, particulate matter is of most significance (Maynard, 2009, p. 109). Studies in Europe have shown that for every additional 10μm/m3 of PM10, there was an 1.0% increase in the number of hospital admissions for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and a 0.5% increase for cardiovascular disease admissions (Brunekreef & Holgate, 2002, p. 1235). A study carried out by the US Cancer Society also concluded that "long term exposure to a increment of 10μm/m3 of PM2.5, a pollutant that's main source in urban areas is vehicle emissions, is associated with a 6% increase in death from cardiovascular disease" (Maynard, 2009, p. 113), as well as this, this increase in level of PM2.5 is also associated with a 14% increase in the risk of lung cancer (Maynard, 2009, p. 114).
Current Vehicle Emissions
Before identifying how new policies on vehicle emissions would impact air quality in an area, the current emission policies and regulations and their impacts on air quality should be considered. To cover a range of scales, emission regulations in the EU, UK and London have been researched.
European Union (EU) Vehicle Emission Regulations
Within Europe, the European Commission sets strict standards that all European cars must adhere to. The Commission Regulation (EU) 2017 report states that light duty vehicles (such as cars or vans) "must be tested in accordance with the New European Driving Cycle" (The European Commission, 2017). The standards, known as Euro 1 to 6 have been in place since 1992 and aim to control emission levels from vehicles sold in Europe. Euro 6, the latest standard, aims to "reduce NOx emissions from diesel vehicles" (The International Council on Clean Transport, 2016) with the allowed limit of NOx being reduced from 0.18g/km in Euro 5, to 0.08g/km in Euro 6 (The International Council on Clean Transport, 2016).
Alongside then standards, low emission zones (LEZs) have also been in place in Europe since 1996. In these zones, cars that emit over a set amount of emissions are charged as a way to encourage drivers not to drive high polluting vehicles in these areas. Low emission zones (LEZ) were first introduced in Sweden in 1996. When LEZs were first introduced in Sweden, they were only used in Stockholm and the policy looked at heavy duty vehicles (HDVs), completely banning old HDVs and newer HDVs were only allowed within the zone if they had been fitted with a "certified emission control device" (Antunes, et al., 2016). There are now 200 low emission zones within Europe. The impacts of these zones have varied. The Transport and Research Group has reported that one year after its implementation in Stockholm, the LEZ had led to a 20% reduction in particulate matter, 9% reduction in HC emissions and a 8% reduction in NOx emissions from heavy vehicles (Transport and Travel Research , 2006).
UK Vehicle Emission Regulations
The UK has a set of national Air Quality Objectives that sets out target pollutant levels and timeframes for these targets to be met by. The pollutants that are focussed on within this are PM10, PM25, NO2, (ozone) O3, (sulphur dioxide) SO2, HCs, benzene (C6H6), 1,3-butadiene (C4H6), CO, lead (Pb(NO3)2) and NOx (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 2017). Through EU membership, all vehicles sold in the UK are subject the EU Euro Standards (1-6).
London Emission Regulations
As the study area for this research is within Greater London, it is relevant to consider what impacts the emission regulations in other areas of London have had on the city's air quality.
Transport for London (TfL) have a number of policies in place that aim to improve air quality through a reduction in vehicle emissions. These include the London Congestion Charge (LCC) and the London Low Emission Zone (LEZ).
The London Congestion Charge (LCC) was introduced in 2003 in response to extremely high levels of congestion through central London. The LCC meant that any cars driving or parking between 7am and 6.30pm on weekdays within the eight square mile zone would have to pay a charge of £5 (which was later raised to £8 in 2005). (Leape, 2006, pp. 158-159). Studies looking at the changes in levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx), nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3) have found that two years after the implementation of the LCC, at the City of London site, there had been a 14% reduction of NOx, a 21.1% reduction of NO, a 1% increase in NO2, and a 13.8% increase in O3 (Anderson, et al., 2009, p. 5493).
The London LEZ was first introduced in 2008 and was implemented as the emission levels of PM10 and NOx in London failed to meet the EU and UK air quality standards (Ellison, et al., 2013, p. 25). In an attempt to reduce these levels, all vehicles with a weight of over 12 tonnes were required to meet the Euro 3 standard or pay a daily charge of up to £200 to drive within the zone. Prior to the zone being implemented, a study carried out by Allen, Anderson and Browne investigated the likely behavioural responses to the LEZ. Questionnaires and interviews were used to ask goods vehicle operators about the LEZ. It was found that operators would try to comply with the LEZ regulations by changing their vehicles to those that fit emission standard (Allen, et al., 2004). Studies by the European Commission have found that the London LEZ had reduced average concentrations of nitrogen dioxide by 0.12μm/m3, and has reduced PM10 average concentrations by 0.03μm/m3 (European Commision, 2018).
Air Quality in Kingston upon Thames
Air quality in Kingston upon Thames has already been subject to investigation following the borough being declared "an Air Quality Management Area" (The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, 2018) due to acceptable pollutant levels being exceeded in a number of sites. A consequence of this is that levels of pollutants in the air require continuous monitoring to ensure that set levels from the National Air Quality Objectives are not exceeded. The pollutants that are considered in 'The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Air Quality Annual Status Report for 2016' are nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter 10, particulate matter 25 and sulphur dioxide (Trew, 2017, p. 4). In this report it was found that of the 40 sites where air quality was measured, 23 sites exceeded the annual mean level of nitrogen dioxide (40 μgm-3) (Trew, 2017, p. 13). This is an increase in the number of sites exceeding the annual mean concentration of nitrogen dioxide in 2015 as in 2015 only 21 sites had exceeded this mean (Pascarella & Trew, 2016, p. 12). As Batterman and Zhang identified, nitrogen dioxide is a primary vehicle emission (Batterman & Zhang, 2013, p. 307) and as a result, a reduction in the number of high pollutant vehicles driving and parking in Kingston upon Thames would likely reduce the number of sites where the annual mean level of nitrogen dioxide is exceeded.
Methodology
Data Collection
In order to establish which vehicles, have the greatest impact against air quality in Kingston upon Thames it will be essential to collect secondary data on this. This information is available from the Equa Index (Emissions Analytics, 2013). The Equa Index is a dataset that simplifies air quality data on models of new cars through its own rating on the amount of NOx produced. The Equa Index uses more categories to separate vehicles based on their emissions as there is 9 categories (whereas the Euro standards separates vehicles into 6 categories), as seen in table 1.
Table 1. The Equa Air Quality Index Vehicle Categories (Emissions Analytics, 2013)
Rating Allowed NOx g/km Euro Limit Comparison
A+ 0.00 – 0.06 Euro 5/6 limit for petrol
A 0.06 – 0.08 Euro 6 limit for diesel
Euro 4 limit for petrol
B 0.08 – 0.12 Meets 1.5 conformity factor under Euro 6 Real Driving Emissions Regulation
C 0.12 – 0.18 Euro 5 limit for diesel
D 0.18 – 0.25 Euro 4 limit for diesel
E 0.25 – 0.50 Euro 3 limit for diesel
F 0.50 – 0.75 6-8x Euro 6 limit
G 0.75 – 1.00 8-12x Euro 6 limit
H 1.00 > 12+ x Euro 6 limit
The Equa Index tests vehicles to establish their emission levels in real time rather than under laboratory conditions used in the 'World Harmonised Light Duty Test Protocol' which is the current approval test that all new vehicles must undergo prior to their sale. In this test, real life performance and emission levels are not accurately reported as vehicles are only tested within a laboratory and therefore are not tested under regular traffic flow and road gradients (Emissions Analytics, 2013).
With the knowledge of which car brands and models are the most emission polluting and therefore having the greatest impact on air quality, it will need to be established how what percentage of the cars parking in Kingston upon Thames are within this category. To collect this data, the number of cars that are the models recognised as highly polluting that are parked in Kingston upon Thames will be recorded. This data will be collected in a number of car parks, shown below in figure 3.
Figure 3. Map showing the location of car parks to be investigated (Google Earth, 2016)
Alongside this data collection, in order to establish whether individuals would be discouraged to park their cars within Kingston upon Thames, a survey will be conducted to determine this. This survey will contain questions to determine whether additional parking charges would discourage parking and if so, how much would the charge need to be to reduce parking.
Data Analysis
Once the data has been collected, methods of analysis will be carried out. Statistical analysis using SPSS will be carried out on the questionnaire data to investigate the relationship between increased parking charges and the number of cars parking in Kingston upon Thames. The data collected on the number of cars within the high polluting group currently parking in Kingston upon Thames will allow the percentage of cars that would be affected by increased charges to be calculated, and therefore it can be estimated how much pollutant levels would be reduced by a reduction in the number of these cars parking in Kingston. The data from the survey will also be analysed through statistical analysis to establish if there is a relationship between increased parking charges and a reduction in the number of cars parking within Kingston upon Thames. This data, used in conjunction with the data on the number of cars parked in Kingston upon Thames that fall into the category of high pollutants will allow predictions to made on the reduction of cars parked in Kingston, based on a range of proposed parking charges.
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