diesel pollution

[mustang1]

Seems like whenever I read anything about diesel pollution, much is made of cars polluting the roads. In my experience the cars are pretty clean: clean(er) engine, stop/start mode, etc.

The real pollutants I see are
Buses
White vans
HGV

And with buses going towards hybrid tech, I've only noticed one bus that exhibited this feature. I noticed because when it accelerated, it made no noise until it reached about 15mph which in though was wonderful. The bad news is I've seen hybrid buses which never seem to be in electric mode.

Seems like all the anti a pollution measures are proposed against cars which IMO do not need them. It sthe other vehicles that are polluting but whoever controls these things doesn't have the bite to tackle the real polluters.

 

[young Ed]

does my dads blue van with a 2.5l engine not pollute then?
i will still be driving an incredibly polluting landy at 17 and won't be thinking about electric, hydrogen (the way forward IMO), or LPG any time soon
Cheers Ed

 

[Drago]

My knackered old pick up truck emits only chanel number 5 from the tailpipe.

 

[the_mikey]

I hate driving behind tired old Ford Transit pickups, they seem to spew out thick black stuff without exception.

 

[Brandane]

Seems like all the anti a pollution measures are proposed against cars which IMO do not need them. It sthe other vehicles that are polluting but whoever controls these things doesn't have the bite to tackle the real polluters.

A lorry weighing 40 tonnes will do about 7mpg.. A diesel car weighing 1 tonne will do about 50mpg.. Who are the real polluters then?

 

[classic33]

does my dads blue van with a 2.5l engine not pollute then?
i will still be driving an incredibly polluting landy at 17 and won't be thinking about electric, hydrogen (the way forward IMO), or LPG any time soon
Cheers Ed

Hydrogen isn't exactly new as a fuel for cars. Got a taxi in the 80's in Dublin, powered by Hydrogen.
Also you can actually refill the gas tank/bottle of your car at many petrol stations.

 

[young Ed]

Hydrogen isn't exactly new as a fuel for cars. Got a taxi in the 80's in Dublin, powered by Hydrogen.
Also you can actually refill the gas tank/bottle of your car at many petrol stations.

never said it's new but not very mainstream yet
never seen hydrogen taps at petrol stations yet but maybe i'm just not looking hard enough
if i were to build a hydrogen car i would build a water splitter thingy at home so i could just refill at home
Cheers Ed

 

[Drago]

Hydrogens a chimaera at the present state of affairs. It simply moves emissions from the tailpipe to a coal burning power station.

I run my old heap on veg, which cuts particulate emissions by about 75%. So low that at the last test Mr MOT had to keep resetting the machine because the particulate smoke levels were so low they weren't triggering it. Who would've thought being tight would have other benefits?

 

[BrianEvesham]

The real pollutants I see are
Buses
White vans
HGV

.

A lorry weighing 40 tonnes will do about 7mpg.. A diesel car weighing 1 tonne will do about 50mpg.. Who are the real polluters then?

Or to put it another way, one 40 tonne truck with a payload of say 26 tonnes can do the same work as 26 small Vans.
One double deck bus carrying 70 passengers replaces 70 cars!
So who IS polluting more per tonne/person being transported ?

 

[albion]

London is becoming like Beijing and is bad for your health mainly because of diesel.
The diesel particulate filter will not 'regenerate' in the city so instead noxiously offloads it all into London. (who hasn't had to backtrack or cover their mouth for an accelerating diesel car?)

With up to 50% of many cars now diesel it is becoming catastrophic for Londoners. Its almost enough to say sod it, I'll have a fag.

 

[Drago]

If a particulate filter doesn't regenerate it simply blocks. The cough of soot is usually due to either big miles wear and tear, poor maintenance, or inappropriate use of a diesel car...such as regular use in a low speed urban environment, where what little matter that does get past the filter settles in the exhaust and gets blown into your lungs when they do eventually floor it.

 

[young Ed]

Or to put it another way, one 40 tonne truck with a payload of say 26 tonnes can do the same work as 26 small Vans.
One double deck bus carrying 70 passengers replaces 70 cars!
So who IS polluting more per tonne/person being transported ?

in actual fact most almost all vans will have a 1.5 or more ton payload
and our car, like most can take 5 people (and often does) but many now days will take 7 or 8
Cheers Ed

 

[BrianEvesham]

in actual fact most almost all vans will have a 1.5 or more ton payload
and our car, like most can take 5 people (and often does) but many now days will take 7 or 8
Cheers Ed

I was taking a simplified look at it @young Ed to make the point that they are both doing more work than there smaller counterparts for the Amount of pollution produced.

 

[albion]

...or inappropriate use of a diesel car...such as regular use in a low speed urban environment, where what little matter that does get past the filter settles in the exhaust and gets blown into your lungs when they do eventually floor it.

Yes, likely exactly why London gets a big load of the lung destroyer big time. Remove diesel and I bet London meets air quality standards easy.

The saddest thing is that the proposal is to wait 6 years.before doing anything about it.
On a bad day it is compared to smoking 60 cigarettes.

 

[Drago]

Of course, pollution can be linked economy - burn more crap and your exhaust will expel more rubbish. So this is an interesting angle...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/11146868/Smallest-cars-worse-for-fuel-economy.html