The Acorn Road planning group heard an excellent presentation on traffic emissions and air quality by Professor Margaret Bell CBE, Newcastle University, on 18 July 2013 at Jesmond Legion.
Conclusion:
• a sustainable future rests with ‘doing things differently’
• a substantial reduction in vehicle kilometres driven is essential
• spatial and transport planning is key as journeys can be kept short, green and healthy
Some key points of the talk:
• UK has a binding target to reduce CO2 by 67% by 2010 over 2010 level, and to meet air quality objectives for NO2 and PM10 (Newcastle context: carbon emissions to be reduced by 34% from 1990 levels by 2020)
• currently many set targets are not being met and data might be ‘complex’
• emissions are highest in Newcastle at Haymarket bus station where there is much pedestrian activity (and often empty buses driving in)
• 50,000 deaths were accelerated by poor air quality in 2010 in UK
• air pollution is a silent secret killer – smog for example used to be highly visible but due to composition changes in pollutants it is now invisible
• traffic volume and congestion is the main cause of carbon emissions and is damaging both health and the economy, providing for walking and cycling is a win-win
• poor driver behaviour (eg over-revving and sloppy gear changing) is more polluting but is not considered in standard EURO emissions testing when rating cars
• sustainable future rests with doing things differently – policies need to be integrated across sectors and involve food and food production, waste, energy supply and demand
• ‘home working’ may generate more carbon emissions than it saves through reduced travel