Kolhapur Road Transport Authority bans diesel-run autos to curb air pollution in city

6 June 2014: "In a bid to bring down pollution in the urban areas, the Kolhapur Road Transport Authority has decided to ban autorickshaws running on diesel in the jurisdictions of Kolhapur Municipal Corporation and Ichalkaranji Municipal Council. Only autorickshaws running on petrol and LPG will be allowed to ply on the roads."

Kolhapur Road Transport Authority bans diesel-run autos to curb air pollution in cityhttp://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/policy/kolhapur-road-transport-authority-bans-diesel-run-autos-to-curb-air-pollution-in-city/36137767

Norway Municipalities to Ban Diesel Cars

The Nordic Page Norway reports on the 23.06.2014: "Liberal Party (Venstre) and Socialist Left Party (SV) proposes to change a number of state laws and regulations that will let municipalities to ban diesel car from traffic and introduce high emission fees. (...)

Elvestuen notes that the main source of acute air pollution in Oslo is high NO2 emissions during winter days and that diesel cars are the biggest reason of high NO2.

In this frame, two party make the proposal to Parliament on three specific changes.

First, they want municipalities to have the authority to ban diesel cars to run on the day of acute air pollution also on highways.

Also, they want municipalities to be able to impose so-called low emission zones, in which the most polluting cars are banned or have to pay high fees in some areas. Both Oslo and Bergen want such zones.

Moreover, they want to provide municipalities the right to introduce local environmental taxes."

http://www.tnp.no/norway/panorama/4525-norway-municipalities-to-ban-diesel-cars

Interesting policy moves and activism we would also love to see in other countries.

New Markets for Diesel Fuel and Direct-Injection-Motors? Seriously?

USA / CHINA

"Bosch overview of global diesel markets;
optimistic about US, China"

"7 August 2013: (...) Bosch, a leading supplier of technology for diesel engines, recently provided an overview of trends it sees in the diesel engine marketplace globally. In addition to the ongoing strength in the European market and India (the second-largest diesel market after Europe, Bosch sees potential strength in North America and China."

United States: Diesel boom on the horizon
http://www.bosch-presse.de/presseforum/details.htm?locale=en&txtID=6355

Bosch wants to introduce their Diesel engines to China and the US. There are clear indications that this will exacerbate the problems with ultrafine carcinogenic Particles. Policy-wise it might be time to focus on toxicity of emissions."

Will anybody dare to hold Bosch accountable?
If you call a hazardous technology that is known to cause massive health problems around the world the "Best Available Technology" then suddenly everybody will just go along with that?

from the news-section of:

http://www.agluftverschmutzung.org/

Are the people from the EPA aware of what a Diesel Boom in the US would mean?
http://www.epa.gov/cleandiesel/ncdc-cmt.htm#whereyoulive
Are they aware that "Clean Diesel" to date is in fact a fraudulent claim?

Addendum: Is the climate change debate which is focusing solely on CO2 emissions (instead of NO2, Black Carbon, toxic ultrafine particles etc.) actually just a marketing-tool to introduce new Diesel Cars all over the US as it also was the case in Europe 10 years ago? If that is the case, and regarding the automotive industries goal to introduce over 40 new diesel cars on the US-market till end of the year, it is no surprise that even Greg Page from Cargill is buzzing about new CO2 regulations. As we know from the european Diesel-Desaster, focusing solely on CO2 emissions by introducing widespread use of Diesel-Cars has not helped the climate and the environment in any way.
http://www.thenation.com/article/180420/chairman-largest-private-company-america-just-told-1-percent-worry-about-climate-chan

London Leads the EU in Car Pollution; Diesel Fuel Blamed

"London has a dirty secret: Levels of the air pollutant nitrogen dioxide (NO2), as measured by a monitoring station in the central city, are the highest in Europe. Concentrations of the compound are greater even than in Beijing, where smog alerts are common.


The European Union’s fight against climate change has favored diesel over gasoline, because diesel engines burn fuel more efficiently and emit less carbon dioxide (CO2), the leading cause of global warming. But a byproduct of burning diesel is NO2. “Successive governments knew more than 10 years ago that diesel was producing all these harmful pollutants, but they myopically plowed on with their anti-CO2 agenda,” says Simon Birkett, founder of Clean Air in London, a nonprofit. “It’s been a catastrophe for air pollution, and that’s not too strong a word.”


The World Health Organization says NO2 is linked to asthma and can inflame respiratory passages and aggravate bronchitis in children. In addition to NO2, diesel combustion also generates easily inhaled fine particulate matter, which probably killed 3,389 people in London in 2010, the government agency Public Health England said in April. Because the fine particles and NO2 commingle, it’s hard to distinguish deaths caused only by NO2, says Jeremy Langrish, a clinical lecturer in cardiology at the University of Edinburgh. But researchers think NO2has harmful effects independent of particulate matter, says Frank Kelly, a professor of environmental health at King’s College London. (---)


http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-06-05/london-leads-eu-in-car-pollution-diesel-fuel-blamed

and http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-27/london-s-dirty-secret-pollutes-like-beijing-airpocalyse.html 


Switch to diesel engines is significantly to blame for poor air quality in UK cities, experts sayhttp://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g3033

PS. and here is the article: 

Critical evaluation of the European diesel car boom – a global comparison, environmental effects and various national strategies. by Michel Cames and Eckhard Helmers.
Results: "Expected greenhouse gas savings initiated by the shift to diesel cars have been overestimated" and
"We conclude that the European diesel car boom did not cool down the atmosphere."
"Moreover, toxic NOx emissions of diesel cars have been undestimated up to 20-fold in officially announced date."
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186%2F2190-4715-25-15#page-1

PS II. and here Clean Air in London (CAL) calls out Mayor Boris Johnson for his bad track record
Stop hiding air pollution and ban diesel exhaust in two stages to 2020 as coal was banned 60 years ago  CAL regrets that the Mayor’s track record on similar schemes has been very poor. For example: i. delaying Phase 3 of Mayor Livingstone’s low emission zone from October 2010 to January 2012; ii. scrapping the western extension of the congestion charging zone despite adverse air pollution impacts expected; iii. 100% discount for diesel vehicles entering the CCCZ i.e. Greener Vehicle Discount that was recently scrapped because of the problems it created;- See more at: http://cleanairinlondon.org/hot-topics/stop-hiding-air-pollution-and-ban-diesel-exhaust-in-two-stages-to-2020-as-coal-was-banned-60-years-ago/#sthash.W8bg1erq.dpuf

India’s Diesel Subsidy Spurs Pollution Worse Than Beijing

“I have no doubt, 100 percent, that diesel exhaust is contributing to a rise in asthma, respiratory illnesses and hospitalizations,” said Dr. T.K. Joshi, director of the Centre for Occupational & Environmental Health in Delhi at Maulana Azad Medical College.(...)


Lethal Particles

Carmakers from Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz to Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. to General Motors Co. have all introduced new diesel models since 2010.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-27/india-s-diesel-subsidy-spurs-pollution-worse-than-beijing.html

An estimated 60 percent of French vehicles currently run on diesel.

"No politician now wants to be associated with Paris's new diesel buses and Anne Hidalgo, current mayoral frontrunner, has vowed to eliminate diesel entirely from the area of Paris under her jurisdiction. This crisis could well be the beginning of the end of France's love affair with diesel."

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2014/03/air-quality-woes-may-finally-force-paris-rethink-its-love-diesel-fuel/8649/


________________________________________________________

Anne Hidalgo: "Mon plan contre le diesel à Paris"

"D'ici à trois ans, nous aurons réussi l'éradication du diesel dans la flotte de la Ville. Il reste 30 % de véhicules municipaux qui roulent au gasoil. Il faut que d'ici à deux ans, il n'y ait plus de bus de la RATP au diesel à Paris. J'interdirai les cars de tourisme au diesel dans la capitale..."

http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2013/04/26/anne-hidalgo-mon-plan-contre-le-diesel-a-paris_3167066_823448.html

À Paris, le plan de la mairie pour lutter contre la pollution

"...Mme Hidalgo demande que la future métropole du Grand Paris, dont la création est programmée pour le 1er janvier 2016, adopte « dès les premiers mois de son existence » « un plan d'amélioration de la qualité de l'air assorti d'objectifs et d'actions précises ».
http://www.lemonde.fr/paris/article/2014/05/15/paris-la-feuille-de-route-antipollution-d-anne-hidalgo_4418756_1779311.html

"Nous voulons vous parler de l’amélioration de la qualité de l’air dans Paris. Ce n’est pas possible ces niveaux de pollution ces dernières semaines, toujours supérieurs au 65% et des fois au 80%."

http://www.leroicoquelicot.com/carte-ouverte-des-plantesde-paris-a-anne-hidalgo/?lang=fr