Europe's Foul Plan on 'Clean' Diesel

Simply because Renault is smaller, much less prominent and -- through early reports at least -- less duplicitous than Volvo is no reason to write off Europe's latest emissions-testing scandal. That's because the larger invective here is Europe's flawed emissions-testing system.

French investigators possess raided offices of Renault, including those involved in regulating certification and engine-control techniques. Testing by a watchdog team had already shown which Renault's cars were giving out as much as 25 times the amount of nitrogen oxides permitted by the European Union. Nitrogen oxides, which are common in diesel powered exhaust, are carcinogenic as well as form a main component of smog. They also contribute to climate modify, albeit not as much as the co2 that gasoline engines launch. More than half of new cars bought from Europe are diesels.

Rumours is widespread that the Renault raid is meant to find proof of a "defeat device" like this used by VW to video game U. S. emissions screening. Device or not, if it ends up Renault's cars are spewing more emissions than had been measured by Europe's easily-outmaneuvered testing-lab system, then they have to be taken off the road. Unfortunately, European countries seems intent on maintaining them there.

Largely in the behest of Germany, in whose auto industry is the planet's fourth-largest, the European Legislative house has been moving to significantly water down NOx requirements. Under the new plan, vehicles would be able to exceed future nitrogen oxide limits in on-road testing by up to one hundred ten percent until January 2020, and by 50 percent thereafter. Upon Thursday, an imminent political election on the diluted standards had been delayed until early Feb after the body's environmental panel overwhelmingly recommended rejecting all of them. The extra weeks will give producers more time to make their situation.

A Renault scandal appears unlikely to change this politics picture, in part because the France government itself owns 20% of the company. But set up EU wants to cling to the dream of "clean diesel, inch European countries and cities must not.

The German government, particularly, should rethink its choice to reject a suggestion to raise taxes on diesel-powered cars. Many European towns have their own clean-air regulations that could be applied to bus and also taxi fleets or to trying to keep polluting cars out of crowded metropolitan centers, as Paris offers pledged to do by 2020. Such local restrictions they might put pressure carmakers to reduce all emissions. And wherever both national and local regulators refuse to act, environmental organizations can look to the lawful system, where they have experienced success before.

The potential problem with curbing nitrogen oxides is the fact that carmakers may simply change back to carbon-dioxide-belching gasoline-powered automobiles. A better strategy would be to purchase truly clean, high-mileage diesel engine engines. Or, better, the actual market toward hybrid along with electric vehicles, sales which boomed in Europe a year ago even as they fell in the actual U. S.

In the end it might be up to consumers to pressure change. After all, while environment change caused by carbon dioxide is really a somewhat abstract concept, the particular choking effect of NOx emissions is not just in front of but in their own very eyes.

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