Air Quality: The Shift in Propulsion is Not Enough!

Voluntary self-commitment, the "the market regulates everything" concept often propagated by Union and FDP politicians, has once again failed: It wasn't until lawmakers drastically tightened emission limits in the wake of the diesel scandal and made regulations stricter that automakers got moving. They started producing diesel engines that were relatively clean, though not emission-free, even in cold conditions and city traffic. An enormously complex mix of in-engine measures, exhaust gas recirculation, particulate filters, often double SCR filtration of nitrogen oxides along with the second operating fluid AdBlue, was necessary to achieve this goal without increasing CO2 emissions. "Push and Pull" is the magic formula: optimize combustion engines while promoting electric vehicles.

Emission limits need an update for 2022

As a result of all these technical efforts, the air quality in the cities has significantly improved according to the latest UBA analysis, and hardly any measuring stations exceed the - albeit quite outdated - limit. Much like the emission standards and technology for diesel, these limits urgently need an update to incorporate new scientific findings presented by the WHO. For this reason, the air in the cities is far from being harmless to health. According to an estimate by the European Environment Agency (EEA), 54,000 premature deaths in Germany in 2019 were attributed to poor air quality.

Nevertheless, it once again shows that environmental standards are an incentive and necessary if one wants to make progress in climate and environmental protection, which should actually be called "protection of human health". Because especially on heavily trafficked roads, pollutant levels have significantly decreased. However, this is no reason to rest on our laurels, as UBA chief Messner also warned.

Besides the "luxury problem", in the truest sense of the word, of trendy domestic hipster wood stoves, the primary goal must be to reduce urban car traffic. Because without a general reduction in the number of vehicles, further decreases in particulate matter won't be achievable.

Even electric cars produce abrasion, potentially more than combustion engines, especially if the manufacturers' pubescent and counterproductive power excesses continue.

Here, no technical solution like the SCR catalytic converters for diesel will likely help, even if there are some tentative experiments with active particulate filters in vehicle floors. In doubt, this will make cars even more expensive, and the effort required will be enormous. With the Euro 7 standard, however, "non-engine" emissions, meaning other types of emissions, are also to be addressed.

However, it would be even better if emissions did not arise in the first place, whether CO2, nitrogen oxides, or particulate matter. A factor that is unfortunately far too often forgotten in the whole debate about climate protection, in an effort to avoid any change in the accustomed and ingrained lifestyle and to maintain the status quo at any cost: Less is more. First step: reduction. Second step: electrification. Third step: regeneration.

The Ministry of Economy and Climate, under green leadership, should revive the old "I am an energy saver" campaign from the 1980s. It has never been more relevant than today, amid the energy crisis consciously fueled by Russian neo-tsar Putin. The autocrat in the Kremlin knows exactly where the "pain points" of energy-dependent Western societies lie. The quickest effective weapon against this is: efficiency.

But for energy autonomy and further improvements in air quality, a true "system change" is needed, and instead of just a propulsion change, a genuine mobility shift.

As demanding as the exhaust gas cleaning of an oil burner might have been for manufacturers, the true challenge still lies ahead for society as a whole. The advantage: Improving the microclimate in the cities simultaneously improves the macroclimate of the planet. It's time to dust off our toolbox. And our brain box.