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The human body has an internal mechanism by which a lot of the pollutants getting into our lungs are expelled from the body. But, there are adverse effects on human health due to long exposure to pollutants such as:
Regulators, automobile and oil industries owe a responsibility to society to minimise the health effects.
Diesel is the norm worldwide for heavy vehicles to transport goods. Except for a few cities where CNG buses have recently been introduced, diesel is the fuel for mass transportation. Diesel offers compelling economic advantages. Traditionally, petrol has been the fuel for passenger cars. Technological advances have now made diesel driven cars extremely popular in the advanced countries of Europe. In Europe, diesel has little or no price advantage over petrol. However diesel cars are gaining greater popularity, and are likely to increasingly do so in future. One out of every three cars sold in Europe runs on diesel; one out of every two cars sold in France runs on diesel. Diesel engines are finding increasing acceptance even in sports and luxury vehicles like BMW - 7 series and Mercedes - S class.
With other options being seen as impractical, green diesel may well turn out to be the fuel of the future. Emission from diesel may be an concern, but with oil producers and manufactures constantly ensuring cleaner emissions, diesel could well be the fuel of choice. A clean environment is the concern of the entire society, and a holistic approach is required to ensure it. Important components of the holistic approach to reduce air pollution are:
(Issued in public interest)
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There has been a noticeable degradation of the ambient air quality in urban India in the past few years - a result of our rapid and uncontrolled
industrialisation and development. Such air pollution has been caused by emissions from power plants, industrial units, burning of refuse, dust, vehicles, etc. The transport sector is one of several sources of pollution. Although, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) estimates, the transport sector contributes, in some cases, as low as 10% of pollutants, the fact remains that vehicles do pollute, whether they run on petrol, diesel or natural gas (CNG) - and older the vehicles, more the pollution. In fact,10% of the older vehicles contribute as much as 50% to air pollution.
Automobiles with old engines run on obsolete technology and tend to pollute more than newer, more energy-efficient and 'cleaner' vehicles. Today, thanks to emerging state-of-the-art technologies, modern automobiles emit only a fraction of pollutants that earlier automobiles emitted. Improvements in engine technology and fuel quality go hand-in-hand for reducing emissions. To meet advanced emission standards, it is
essential to have better quality of fuel. Reducing the content of sulphur in diesel and petrol (and also benzene in petrol) is absolutely vital for any air quality
improvement strategy, because fuel quality not only affects new vehicles but also the large population of old in-use vehicles. Rampant fuel adulteration - a pernicious practice in our country - also needs to be checked. Compliance with requisite fuel quality standards needs to be strictly
enforced, with regular inspection and monitoring at retail outlets, storage and transportation terminals.
Much has been debated about which of all the fuel options available - petrol, diesel or compressed natural gas (CNG) - is the 'cleanest' in terms of pollution. The common image of diesel is that of a vehicle belching
black smoke. However, with new state-of-the-art technologies and increasingly stringent emission control norms like Bharat Stage II (akin to Euro II) and availability of cleaner fuels, emissions from diesel engines have been reduced by as much as 80%. But the wrong image persists and diesel has been labelled as a dirty fuel and has borne the larger share of the blame for urban vehicular pollution. The fact is that all fuels pollute to varying degrees.
Most statements about health effects of diesel exhaust are based on insufficient epidemiological data. In a recent study on diesel exhaust and its health consequences, the U.S. Environment Protection Agency has downgraded the cancer risk potential for diesel exhaust. The California Air Resources Board too has allowed the use of diesel even for school buses. Most advanced countries are trying to minimise the risk to human health by moving towards more stringent emission norms and
cleaner fuels. The risk to human health is also weighed against cost to the industry, the government and the public, and even an advanced country like the U.S.A allows fuel which do not pose a "significant risk".
Hydrocarbons
Major advances in diesel engine technology and R&D in recent years have resulted in significant improvements in the process of fuel combustion and introduction of exhaust gas after-treatment technologies like vehicle exhaust gas
re-circulation, oxidation catalysts and electronic engine management. Coupled with better quality fuel, today's diesel engines are capable of achieving emission levels comparable to or lesser than petrol and natural gas engines. And tomorrow's diesel engines will be amazingly cleaner and far better. Diesel technology is an engine of economic growth and contributes to significant value addition in key sectors of the economy such as transportation, agriculture, manufacturing and services. Replacing diesel technology with the "next best" would hamper economic growth.
The "International Engine of the year" Awards (U.K) point to the emerging trends for the future. Several categories have been won by diesel engines. They include the Best Fuel Economy Award and the best in the Environment-friendly category (second only to hybrid electric-gasoline engine). This obviously is an over-riding vote in favour of diesel, both in terms of fuel economy and environmental concern. The threat of global warming - green house effect - is real and will probably get worse. Of all fuels, diesel emits the least green house gases. Diesel's fuel efficiency means less carbon dioxide per kilometer travelled. Added to this, the availability of clean, low-sulphur diesel, improvements in engine technology and exhaust gas treatment device now mean that diesel engines emit a lower mass of pollutants than petrol engines.
Significant
achievements have already been made in sulphur-content reduction, with the amount of sulphur in fuels from a high of 10,000 ppm in 1996 to a low of only 500 ppm by March 2001 in a couple of metro cities. The rest of the country must also get the clean fuel. This, of course, means that the oil industry and the auto industry will have to make enormous investments in order to produce low-sulphur fuels and better technologies. Government expenditure on infrastructure to improve roads and highways will have to increase considerably.
