LondonLow Emission Zone

StudyDavid Hutchinson

International Union of Air Pollution Prevention and Environmental Protection Association in association with theIntegrated Program on Urban, Regional and Global Air Pollution Mexico City January 19-23 2004

The Mayor’s StrategiesThe Greater London Authority Act requires

the Mayor to prepare strategies for

• Transport • Economic

development • Biodiversity• Air quality• Culture

• Spatial development

• Municipal waste management

• Ambient noise• Energy

Cleaning London’s AirThe Mayor’s Air Quality Strategy

MAYOR OF LONDON

A hierarchy of strategies

EU Directives

National Air Quality Strategy

The Mayor’s Air Quality Strategy for London

Local Air Quality Management

Air Quality Strategy for England,

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

fine particles nitrogen dioxide

sulphur dioxide carbon monoxide

lead benzene 1,3-butadiene ozone

polyaromatic hydrocarbons

Air quality in London in 2005 NO2

Belowtarget

Abovetarget

Sources of pollution

Nitrogen oxides

Road transport

Rail, aviation, ships

Regulated industrial processesGas use in commercial and residential buildings

Gas use in non-regulated industrial facilities

Other

Fine particles

What more can London do?

Introduce a Low Emission Zone?

What is a Low Emission Zone?

A Low Emission Zone is a zone

from which vehicles which fail to meet a specified emission standard

(such as Euro II) are excluded

London Low Emission Zone Feasibility Study

Undertaken by consultants for:• Greater London Authority• Association of London Government• Transport for London• London Boroughs• Department for Transport• Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs• National Society for Clean Air• Energy Saving TrustReport completed July 2003 and available at:http://www.london-lez.org

London LEZ options

Vehicles Lorries

London Buses

Coaches

Vans

Licensed taxis

Private hire

Cars

Start date

2005

2007

2010

Emission criteria Euro 1

Euro 2

Euro 3

Euro 4

RPC

Recommended London Low Emission Zone options

Operation & enforcement

Manual

Automatic

Area Central London

Inner London

Greater London

Up to the M25

Heathrow

Outer London

Area of the Zone

Same as the Congestion Charging Scheme

Up to - but not including - the North South Circular

Heathrow

The Greater London boundary

Up to - but not including - the M25

An outer London area (stand-alone

Sources of pollution from vehicles

Nitrogen oxides

Lorries

Buses

VansDiesel cars

Petrol cars

Other

Fine particles

Which vehicles?

0 5 10 15

Articulated lorry

Bus/Coach

Rigid lorry

Van

Car Grammes of NOX per kilometre travelled

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5

Articulated lorry

Bus/Coach

Rigid lorry

Van

Car Grammes of PM10 per kilometre travelled

Lorries, buses and coaches have the highest emissions per kilometre travelled

Recommendations in relation to vehicles

• If a Low Emission Zone is established, it should start with a scheme that targets lorries, London buses and coaches, as these vehicles have disproportionately high emissions per vehicle. Targeting them produces the greatest emissions reduction at the lowest cost.

• The Low Emission Zone should later be extended in later year to include vans and taxis. However, taxis could also be included earlier through the licensing process.

• The study does not recommend that cars are included in the Low Emission Zone scheme. However, it does recommend that some action is taken, in addition to the LEZ, to remove very old cars and vans from the fleet (those built before 1993).

Emission criteria

• The study recommends that lorries and buses should meet a criterion of Euro 2 with particle traps in 2007, and the criterion should be tightened to Euro 3 with particle traps in 2010.

• A NOx reduction retrofit scheme should also be considered for 2010.

• The initial scheme could develop over time into a rolling

scheme, combining Euro standard and age-based criteria.

• If vans are to be included in the Low Emission Zone scheme, the study recommends that they should meet an age-based criterion. This should be a rolling ten-year-old age limit. A similar age-based standard is also recommended for taxis, both for licensed taxis and private hire vehicles.

Numbers of vehicles

6,000 20,500 30,000

3,70,000

60,000

340,000

10,500

4,900,000

150,000

440,000

0Lorries Vans Coaches Buses Taxis Hire

carsCars

Low estimate High estimate

Costs and benefits UK £ millions

Benefits (+) of scheme

Costs (-) of scheme

30

Environmental benefits in first year

Coaches

Potential costs to industry (excluding grants)

Start up costs - first year Annual

revenues (penalties)

Annual costs

25

2.8

11.8

70 Lorries (low)

0.4

8.8

5.53.9

Man

ual

Au

tom

atic

Man

ual

Au

tom

atic

Costs

• The cost to vehicle operators is likely to be significantly higher than the costs of setting up and operating a London Low Emission Zone.

• The exact costs would depend on operator behaviour in response to the zone.

• Existing Government grants could offset some of these costs, but the numbers of vehicles affected by a Low Emission Zone in London would far exceed the existing grant levels.

2007

2010

Baseline NO2 With Recommended LEZ

2007

2010

Baseline PM10 With Recommended LEZ

Reductions in emissions and exceedence area

2007 2010 2010Lorries Lorries Lorries,

and buses and buses buses, vansand taxis

NOX 1.5% 2.7% 3.8%

PM10 9% 19% 23%

NO2 4.7% 12% 18.9%

PM10 0% 32.6% 42.9%

Reduction in emissions

Reduction in area exceeding targets(relative to baseline)

(relative to baseline)

• London should meet the target forPM10 in 2007 but the target for 2010 is more stringent

Conclusions

• Even the most severe Low Emission Zone would not, on its own, result in London meeting all the air quality targets.

• The progress towards the air quality targets also has to be

seen against a natural background of improving air quality.

• The study has found that a feasible London Low Emission Zone would have modest benefits in improving overall emission levels and absolute air quality concentrations

• However, it would make a slightly larger contribution to

reducing exceedences of the air quality targets.

A joint decision on whether to implement the zone between the Mayor and London Boroughs together with the Government

Agreeing the approach with TfL London Buses and the Public Carriage Office (responsible for bus regulation and taxi licensing)

Agreeing the format of the TRO and any associated Bill or Regulations to decriminalise offences (if applicable)

Agreeing the definition of the national certification system between DfT and its agencies

Agreeing the funding and division of responsibilities

Public consultation over the preferred scheme design, and agreement over any proposed modifications

Next steps?

Information on the Low Emission Zone study can be found at

http://www.london-lez.org

Strategies can be found at

http://www.london.gov.uk

http://www.london-lez.org