Singapore: Air Pollution Closes Schools 

Posted on September 25, 2015 by Respro® UK Ltd

Singapore will close all primary and secondary schools on Friday as worsening pollution causes air quality to deteriorate, the Ministry of Education said Thursday. Smoke from slash-and-burn farming methods in Indonesia has created a choking haze over Singapore for weeks. The three-hour Pollutant Standards Index reading rose to 314, and the 24-hour figure was 223 to 275 on Wednesday night. A reading over 300 indicates “hazardous” air quality, and 201 to 300 is “very unhealthy,” the National Environment Agency said.

Source: Singapore: Air Pollution Closes Schools – The New York Times

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Majority of Utahns in favor of changing behavior to cut air pollution — but actions might speak louder 

Posted on September 24, 2015 by Respro® UK Ltd

Three-quarters of Utah residents want to see air emissions decrease 40 percent by the year 2050 — even when they were told they would have to curtail their driving by 25 percent, enact new building codes, remodel their home and buy a new car to achieve that goal.

According to Envision Utah survey results released Wednesday, the majority of respondents chose one of two proposed versions of Utah’s future that saw air pollution decrease by 40 percent. Another 19 percent voted to decrease emissions by just 30 percent, and only 7 percent voted to reduce emissions by 20 percent — a scenario that would require little additional action from the average Utahn but would not bring the state into compliance with federal health standards.

That strong support for clean air and the willingness to change is good news, said Bryce Bird, director of the Utah Division of Air Quality. But it’s also surprising.

Utahns have become increasingly vocal in their calls for clean air, Bird said. But he has observed that when curtailing air emissions begins to affect individuals, Utahns rarely come to the table.

“This is maybe contrary to the pushback that we receive when we try to find a solution to our air quality problems,” Bird said. “The problem is any time we find a solution, it impacts somebody — somebody has to make a change, somebody has to make a choice.

“When you go through the regulatory process, that’s when the impact is realized, and those people oppose it or provide feedback that the impact is not fair in their eyes … whenever you put a regulation in place, that’s when you see more pushback.”

That has led the Air Quality Board to move toward incentives programs that use a carrot, rather than a stick, to convince residents to make choices that will improve air quality, Bird said.

For example, he said, a recent incentive program that allowed residents to trade their gas-powered lawn mowers for electric models was highly successful. As the state grows and its emissions increase with its population, incentives may be the way to go, Bird said.

At the same time, he said, there’s still a battle to be fought when it comes to education. An Envision Utah survey conducted in 2013 found that most Utahns underestimate the emissions contributions made by their homes. According to that survey, Utahns estimated that vehicles are responsible for 44 percent of Utah’s air emissions, industry for 39 percent, and homes and buildings for the remaining 17 percent. But the state’s scientific estimates put cars at 57 percent, industry at 11 percent and homes and other buildings at 32 percent.

The fastest-growing sources of air pollution in Utah aren’t industrial smokestacks, Bird said, but increased urban density and all the things associated with it — restaurants, homes, cleaning products, even nail polish.

Matt Pacenza, executive director of the advocacy group HEAL Utah, disputed the state’s low estimate of industry contributions, but he said residents’ misunderstanding of their own impact is a longstanding problem.

“The truth is our boilers and hot water heaters are basically invisible to us,” he said, “and the emissions they put out our chimneys literally are.”

But overall, Pacenza said, the 2015 survey results seem encouraging.

“I think what’s interesting is that people have been very supportive of policies that, let’s say, increase the cost of gas slightly,” he said. “Or that increase the cost of a car slightly, or increase the cost of a new home slightly, and those are the kinds of policies that we’re talking about. I think we can get to the 40 percent if we do stuff like that.”

Pacenza said he just hopes such programs’ public support translates for lawmakers. In the past, he said, bills that call for stricter building codes for new homes have been blocked by lobbyists.

“Some of the ways that we get to improving building policies require a willingness to take on powerful interests, including Realtors and homebuilders,” he said, “and so far, we haven’t seen that.”

Source: Majority of Utahns in favor of changing behavior to cut air pollution — but actions might speak louder | The Salt Lake Tribune

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India’s doctors blame air pollution for sharp rise in respiratory diseases 

Posted on September 24, 2015 by Respro® UK Ltd

Cases are up 30% since 2010 in country where decline in air quality is shifting from acute to chronic in more than just Delhi

A sharp rise in cases of chest and throat disease in India is being blamed by doctors on worsening air pollution in the country, which is now home to 13 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world.

According to India’s National Health Profile 2015, there were almost 3.5m reported cases of acute respiratory infection (ARI) last year, a 140,000 increase on the previous year and a 30% increase since 2010.

The number of ARI cases has risen steadily in India over the last 15 years, even when population growth is taken into account. In 2001, less than 2,000 cases per 100,000 people had an ARI. In 2012 the number was 2,600 per 100,000, statistics show.

The rise has occurred despite steady improvements in medical care and nutrition, as well as a shift away from using wood as fuel in rural areas. Together this has mitigated many factors long blamed for the high levels of respiratory diseases in India.

Doctors are blaming the increasing severity of the problem on unprecedented decline in air quality across India.

“Due to the awareness drives conducted about diseases like swine flu and influenza, people have become more aware … Yet air pollution is playing a major role in [increasing] the numbers of such diseases,” Dr Jugal Kishore, head of community medicine at Delhi’s Safdarjung hospital, told the local India Today news magazine.

Attention to the problem of air pollution in India has so far focused almost exclusively on the capital. One study found that half of Delhi’s 4.4 million schoolchildren would never recover full lung capacity.

But the rest of India has received less attention, though in many cases the problem is almost as acute, or possibly worse. The latest government figures show high numbers of lung and throat infections in the eastern state of West Bengal, the central state of Andhara Pradesh, as well as in tourist favourites Kerala and Rajasthan.

Mumbai also has pollution levels which, though lower than in Delhi, exceed safe limits set by the Indian government many times. Those limits are significantly higher than those set by international experts and western governments.

This summer, some reports suggested that Chennai experience worse pollution than anywhere else in India. Though the data has been challenged, it is clear that the levels of hazardous gases such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and ozone, as well as of deadly fine particulates, in the southern city have consistently breached the World Health Organisation’s maximum safe limit.

“I always thought there was some washing off of pollution here due to the coastal breeze. But that seems to be wishful thinking,” said Prof Sudhir Chella Rajan, a specialist in urban air pollution at the Indian Institute of Technology Chennai.

Campaigners point out that the focus on Delhi has distracted from problems elsewhere. “Some reports are alarmist but in general, for sure, parts of Chennai are definitely worse than Delhi,” said Shweta Narayan, an activist.

Other major regional centres, such as Mumbai, Bangalore, or Bhopal are also badly affected.

“The older parts [of the Bhopal] have horrendous air. There’s no mass transit system, lots of very old substandard vehicles, open fires. It’s very serious,” said Nityanand Jayaraman, an environmental campaigner who regularly visits the Madhya Pradesh capital.

A report this summer highlighted the damage air pollution is causing the famous Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab.

Blackspots within individual cities around India are rarely identified by official figures, either on the prevalence of respiratory illness or air quality.

The worst affected areas of Chennai, which has a population of around 4 million people, lie on its northern rim, where petrochemical works, car factories and coal-burning power stations exist close to residential areas. In July, levels of deadly PM2.5 particulates in the Manali neighbourhood were four times the WHO safe limit. These particulates lodge in the lungs and allow heavy metals to enter the bloodstream.

In other cities across the country the problem was even worse. In Ahmedabad, in the west, levels of PM2.5s peaked at eight times the WHO limit for a 24-hour average. In Lucknow, in the north, levels reached seven times the limit. Levels of CO2, nitrogen dioxide and ozone in less known cities have also regularly exceeded WHO guidelines by huge margins.

India has the highest rate of death from respiratory disease in the world, according to the WHO,. The rate was 159 per 100,000 in 2012, about 10 times that of Italy, five times that of the UK and twice that of China.

Officials in Chennai say they are aware of the problem, and point to measures from the new $3bn (£2bn) metro to the construction of traffic islands as evidence of their intent to tackle it.

But similar mass transit systems across India do not have a significant immediate impact on pollution, experts say. Most are too small and have been built too late. Studies show that Delhi’s metro users previously travelled on buses, by bicycles or on foot, not in cars.

One effective, and considerably cheaper, scheme in Chennai has been the introduction of minibuses on smaller roads between the major bus routes. “It has worked and been very popular,” said Narayan.

The problem has a broader cultural aspect too. In India, as in the west in the 1950s and 1960s, cars bring not just mobility and convenience but are tangible symbols of social success.

On a sheet of paper pinned to a wall of the spotless Alandar station, contented passengers have scrawled their impressions of Chennai’s month-old metro. “Very wonderful, fantastic, unforgettable,” they gush.

Natarajan Ramesh, an off duty policeman buying a ticket in the station’s cavernous entry hall, was also impressed. “It is very nice. It is the need of the hour. It will help commuters travel in such a quick span of time and is very clean too,” he said.

However, Ramesh’s own ambitions are less environmentally sensitive. “My dream is to have a car,” he said. “Trains are all nice and useful but not the same as a car. I would like a Honda, or maybe a Volkswagen.”

The number of vehicles, including motorbikes, on Chennai’s roads has more than trebled in 15 years. In Delhi and many other cities the increase has been even greater. Hundreds of smaller towns, for which there are no reliable air quality figures available, have horrific congestion and pollution from ageing power stations and poorly regulated industry.

There is still hope for improvement, though only in the long term. Officials in India no longer deny there is a problem and air pollution is fast becoming a significant political issue for many wealthier urban residents.

On Tuesday, a joint initiative by police and local businesses led to a “car free day” in Gurgaon, a satellite city of Delhi. Though only a limited number of roads were shut, pollution levels dropped dramatically, local newspapers reported.

Pollution expert Raja worked for five years at the Californian Air Resources Board. The air in the US state, once infamous for its smoggy cities, is now cleaner than in decades, even though problems remain.

“They have done an enormous amount … but it took 40 years. Here [in India] air pollution is probably going to be very severe for a couple of decades before it gets any better,” he said.

Source: India’s doctors blame air pollution for sharp rise in respiratory diseases | World news | The Guardian

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The rise of diesel in Europe: the impact on health and pollution 

Posted on September 23, 2015 by Respro® UK Ltd

In a bid to reduce CO2 emissions in the 90s, Europe backed a major switch from petrol to diesel cars but the result was a rise in deadly air pollution

Volkswagen’s rigging of emissions tests for diesel cars comes after nearly 20 years of the technology being incentivised in Europe in the knowledge that its adoption would reduce global warming emissions but lead to thousands of extra deaths from increased levels of toxic gases.

Diesel was a niche market in Europe until the mid-1990s, making up less than 10% of the car fleet. Diesels produce 15% less CO2 than petrol, but emit four times more nitrogen dioxide pollution (NO2) and 22 times more particulates – the tiny particles that penetrate the lungs, brain and heart.

Following the signing of the Kyoto protocol climate change agreement in 1997, most rich countries were legally obliged to reduce CO2 emissions by an average of 8% over 15 years.

Japanese and American car makers backed research into hybrid and electric cars, but the European commission was lobbied strongly by big German car makers BMW, Volkswagen and Daimler, to incentivise diesel. A switch to diesel was said by the industry to be a cheap and fast way to reduce the carbon emissions that drive climate change.

Screen Shot 2015-09-23 at 09.10.53

The subsequent EC 1998 Acea agreement with all European car makers was backed by then EU transport commissioner Neil Kinnock and UK environment secretary John Prescott. It committed passenger car-makers to reduce CO2 emissions by 25% over 10 years.

“It was practically an order to switch to diesel. The European car fleet was transformed from being almost entirely petrol to predominantly diesel. Britain, along with Germany, France and Italy, offered subsidies and sweeteners to persuade car makers and the public to buy diesel,” said Simon Birkett, director of the Clean Air London group.

Screen Shot 2015-09-23 at 09.11.53The European auto industry ramped up diesel engine production. Under EU pressure, governments kept the diesel price below that of petrol. In the UK, the amount motorists paid in vehicle excise duty was linked to cars’ CO2 emissions, effectively incentivising people to buy diesels.

“Diesel cars should attract less vehicle tax than their petrol equivalents because of their better CO2 performance,” said then chancellor Gordon Brown in 1998.

The results were dramatic, says the Society of motor manufacturers and traders (SMMT). From being a quirky choice, diesel went mainstream in Europe. Its market share in the UK rose from under 10% in 1995 to over 50% in 2012. Britain now has 11.8m diesel cars in use, making up one of the greatest diesel car fleets in the world.

But the trade-off between reducing climate emissions and increasing health problems was not widely debated, say civil servants and politicians. In addition, they say, carmakers found it easy to cheat the system.

“Diesel was seen as a good thing because it produces less CO2, so we gave people incentives to buy diesel cars,” said Martin Williams, professor of air quality research at King’s College London since 2010, and former head of the government’s air quality science unit.

“The [emission] tests were simply not stringent enough. They were devised by a UN committee based in Geneva called the World Forum for Harmonisation of Vehicle Regulations, which was dominated by people from the car industry.

“What’s more, it was easy for some manufacturers to calibrate cars’ computers to spot when the car was being tested and reduce emissions until the test was over,”he told the Sunday Times in July.

Screen Shot 2015-09-23 at 09.12.49

David Fisk, chief scientist and policy director in the department of environment and transport in the 1990s, told the Guardian that there had been “concern” in government when it was proposed that diesel be backed over petrol.

“The motor manufacturers made a démarche to the department of the environment, showing that a major switch to diesels would lead to a substantial drop in CO2 emissions,” Fisk said. He added that the air quality division in the then-Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Detr) saw there was a problem he said – that local air pollution would increase as a result – so a national system of air quality standards was created.

Former Greenpeace UK chief Stephen Tindale, who was working on air pollution in the department of the environment at the time, remembers a battle between environment and air pollution divisions.

“Air quality was just not on the political agenda in the late 1990s. In 1997, Labour’s policy was for a 20% cut in CO2 emissions by 2020. Tony Blair wasn’t obsessed with climate but he saw the political and soundbite advantage. The department of health was dozy, with Frank Dobson and then David Blunkett in charge.”

A senior civil servant, now retired, who worked in the department for transport but asked not to be named, said that cost-benefit studies of a switch to diesel were done by government but climate change was “the new kid on the block” and long-term projections of comparative technologies were not perfect.

“We did not sleepwalk into this. To be totally reductionist, you are talking about killing people today rather than saving lives tomorrow. Occasionally, we had to say we were living in a different political world and everyone had to swallow hard,” he said.

But Michael Meacher, environment minister 1997-2003, said he could not recall ever being consulted on the UK’s switch to diesel. “If it had been a question of a trade-off between carbon emissions and health, much as I would have wanted to reduce climate emissions, the medical effects would have trumped it. I would have been keen to see a major reduction in [carbon] emissions, but I would not have wanted that to be at the price of lives.”

As new research shows that diesel fumes are worse than expected for health, triggering cancers, heart attacks and the stunting of children’s growth, many politicians have admitted a major environmental mistake.

Shadow environment minister Barry Gardiner told C4 last year that that it was the “wrong decision” to incentivise diesel. “Hands up — there’s absolutely no question that the decision we took was the wrong decision. But at that time we didn’t have the evidence that subsequently we did have.”

Screen Shot 2015-09-23 at 09.13.23

Source: The rise of diesel in Europe: the impact on health and pollution | Environment | The Guardian

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Volkswagen emissions scandal: millions of Britons could be driving illegal cars

Posted on September 22, 2015 by Respro® UK Ltd

Millions of diesel cars could be recalled if manufacturers are found to have rigged emissions tests like Volkswagen

Millions of British motorists could be driving illegal cars which have been doctored to mask dangerous levels of emissions after Volkswagen admitted to rigging pollution tests.

The German manufacturer is facing fines of $18 billion after accepting it had systematically installed software in VW and Audi diesels since 2009 to deceive regulators who were measuring exhaust fumes.

On Monday night the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) widened its investigation to other car manufacturers as campaigners warned that the practice was likely to be widespread across the industry, affecting motorists worldwide.

Air pollution is thought to account for 30,000 deaths each year in Britain. But health experts have long argued that there is far too much nitrogen oxide (NOx) in the air for car industry emissions figures to be accurate. They claim levels should have halved in recent years and yet they have remained stubbornly high.

“Volkswagen seems unlikely to be the only manufacturer attempting to game their emissions in this sort of way.”
Professor Alastair Lewis, University of York

In Britain and the rest of Europe, all new diesels should have met the Euro 6 emissions standard from September 1 but a recent report by campaigners Transport & Environment (T&E) found just one in 10 complied.

One BMW was pumping out more than 10 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide.

If more manufactures are drawn into the scandal it could lead to millions of cars, which have been bought in Britain over the last six years, being recalled.

Greg Archer, T&E’s clean vehicles manager said: “The Volkswagen example is clearly just the tip of the iceberg and there will be a lot more companies dragged into this.

“Exactly the same technology is used in Europe as it is the US, and tens of millions of cars have been sold since 2009.

“That means that there are potentially millions of cars that are being driven illegally. Obviously it is not the drivers’ fault, but it is likely we will see huge numbers of recalls.”

On Monday night German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt ordered an examination of all Volkswagen diesel cars. The company also makes Seats, Skodas, Bentleys, Lamborghinis, Bugattis and Porsches. Motoring experts said it was a ‘disaster beyond all expectations.’

Shares in the company plunged by 20 per cent on the back of the admission by Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn that the company had used ‘defeat’ technology to evade emissions test.

The software works by sensing when a car is being tested and injecting urea into the exhaust system to clean up fumes. It allows cars to appear ultra-clean when in fact they emit up to 40 times more nitrogen oxide than the legal limit.

In Britain, the number of diesel cars has risen from 1.6 million to 12 million since 1994.

The European Commission said it was in contact with Volkswagen and US regulators to find out how widespread the deception had gone. So far regulators have found 482,000 diesel cars which were sold in the US between 2008 and 2015 based on false information.

RAC chief engineer David Bizley said: “Motorists on this side of the pond will be looking for reassurances that vehicles sold in Britain – which are subject to stringent European emissions standards testing – are not affected by today’s Volkswagen announcement.”

Health experts warned that road transport is the primary source of deadly nitrogen oxide and that failures to cut emissions could be causing thousands of deaths each year.

Professor Alastair Lewis, of the department of atmospheric chemistry at the University of York said “The widespread mismatch between real-world emissions and those being reported by manufacturers when new vehicles take tests in labs is a very serious problem.

“Volkswagen seems unlikely to be the only manufacturer attempting to game their emissions in this sort of way.

“The lack of improvement in European air quality in city centres, particularly for NO2, can be traced back to these inaccurate figures. This will translate directly through into reduced public health and increased mortality.”

Dr Heather Walton, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Health, King’s College London added: “If manufacturers were able to ensure that real-world emissions were as good as those in laboratory tests, this would lead to substantial reductions in emissions. Substantial reductions in emissions would be expected to lead to worthwhile reductions in health effects.”

Many car manufacturers have spoken out to distance themselves from the scandal with Daimler and BMW publically stating that the allegations did not apply to them.

And Mike Hawes, CEO Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said emissions tests were more difficult to fix in Europe.

“The EU operates a fundamentally different system to the US – with all european tests performed in strict conditions as required by EU law and witnessed by a government-appointed independent approval agency,” he said.

“There is no evidence that manufacturers cheat the cycle. Vehicles are removed from the production line randomly and must be standard production models, certified by the relevant authority – the UK body being the Vehicle Certification Agency, which is responsible to the Department for Transport.”

However the Department of Transport has warned that cars would be immediately recalled and banned from sale if they were found to have breached European regulations.

“All cars on UK roads must adhere to Europe-wide regulations on emissions. Any car found to be noncompliant can be recalled and taken off the market,” said a spokesman.

Carmakers have already been accused of using a range of techniques to ensure that their cars perform far better under test conditions such as over inflating tyres, stripping components to reduce weight, and using super-smooth test tracks.

There are plans to introduce a new on-road test that will measure the real-world emissions of diesel cars, but it will not apply to all new EU cars until 2018 at the earliest and the car industry want it pushed back until 2020.

Source: Volkswagen emissions scandal: millions of Britons could be driving illegal cars – Telegraph

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Air pollution linked to 3,500 deaths in Scotland 

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Respro® UK Ltd

AIR pollution may be contributing to a larger number of deaths in Scotland than previously thought, according to environmental campaigners.

Friends Of The Earth Scotland said there could be more than 3,500 early deaths from air pollution in Scotland every year, substantially more than the previous estimate of around 2,000.

The charity criticised attempts to address the air quality issue as “incomplete, vague, and lacklustre” but the Scottish Government said progress had been made.

The new figure draws on early analysis from the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on the impact of nitrogen dioxide (NO2).

Defra’s draft plan for improving air quality in the UK estimates that the effects of NO2 on mortality are equivalent to 23,500 deaths annually in the UK.

Previously only estimates for the impact of fine particles, known as PM2.5, was known.

A 2010 report by the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants concluded that exposure to these particles had an effect on mortality equivalent to nearly 29,000 deaths, or around 2,000 in Scotland.

The charity produced a Scotland estimate for nitrogen dioxide by assuming a similar impact as that from fine particles.

Friends Of The Earth air pollution campaigner Emilia Hanna said: “Air pollution is probably killing more than 3,500 people in Scotland every year, which is nearly twice as many as previously thought.

“This new health evidence is truly shocking, hugely alarming and demonstrates that air pollution is a major public health disaster.”

The Supreme Court has set a deadline for the UK and Scottish Governments to produce plans for reducing air pollution levels in order to comply with European Union (EU) law on limits for nitrogen dioxide in the air with consultations ongoing.

Ms Hanna added: “The Scottish consultation on new air quality plans is incomplete, vague, and lacklustre.

“The law requires that the low-emission strategy and related regional air quality plans have a clear set of actions to reduce air pollution, specific timetables for action, and estimates of how much each measure will improve air quality.

“When the Scottish Government launches its low-emission strategy in November, the strategy needs to fully comply with the letter and the spirit of the law.”

The charity is calling for “fully funded” low-emission zones in major cities with air pollution problems by 2018.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Since 1990 nitrogen oxide emissions in Scotland have fallen by 67% but further progress is required.

“Following consultation earlier this year on a low-emission strategy, the Scottish Government is working with partners such as local authorities and Transport Scotland to finalise the strategy for publication later this year.

“This will draw together in one place a range of existing and additional actions which will support delivery of further improvement in air quality, supporting individuals and communities across Scotland.”

Sarah Boyack MSP, Labour’s environmental justice spokeswoman, said: “This is a major public health risk and the toll is unacceptable. In air pollution hot spots throughout our urban areas, EU limits are regularly breached.

“We need an effective strategy from the SNP Government, which is properly funded, addresses the need for low-emission zones and includes a timetable for action.

“The response from the SNP Government looks utterly complacent. The point is that current action is not working, so telling us what is currently happening in a glossy document doesn’t cut it. We need better than that.”

Source: Air pollution linked to 3,500 deaths in Scotland – The Scotsman

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Volkswagen under investigation over illegal software that masks emissions 

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Respro® UK Ltd

California and EPA accuse VW of installing ‘defeat device’ software that reduces nitrogen oxide emissions while a car is undergoing official tests

The US government has ordered Volkswagen to recall almost 500,000 cars after discovering that the company deployed sophisticated software to cheat emission tests allowing its cars to produce up to 40 times more pollution than allowed.

The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday accused VW of installing illegal “defeat device” software that dramatically reduces nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions – but only when the cars are undergoing strict emission tests.

“Put simply, these cars contained software that turns off emissions controls when driving normally and turns them on when the car is undergoing an emissions test,” Cynthia Giles, an EPA enforcement officer said. “We intend to hold Volkswagen responsible.

“VW was concealing the facts from the EPA, the state of California and from consumers. We expected better from VW,” she said. “Using a defeat device in cars to evade clean air standards is illegal and a threat to public health.”

The EPA accused Volkswagen of using the device in 482,000 four-cyclinder Volkswagen and Audi diesel cars in the US since 2008. VW must recall all the cars, remove the defeat device and improve the cars’ NOx emissions, which creates smog and has been linked to increased asthma attacks and other respiratory illnesses.

“A sophisticated software algorithm on certain Volkswagen vehicles detects when the car is undergoing official emissions testing, and turns full emissions controls on only during the test,” the EPA said in a statement. “The effectiveness of these vehicles’ pollution emissions control devices is greatly reduced during all normal driving situations. This results in cars that meet emissions standards in the laboratory or testing station, but during normal operation, emit nitrogen oxides, or NOx, at up to 40 times the standard.”

Richard Corey, executive officer of the California Air Resources Board (Carb), said: “Our goal now is to ensure that the affected cars are brought into compliance, to dig more deeply into the extent and implications of Volkswagen’s efforts to cheat on clean air rules, and to take appropriate further action.”

The EPA said Volkswagen could face other action and fines for the alleged breach of the Clean Air Act. The maximum fine for violations of the act is $37,500 per vehicle, which works out to a maximum possible fine as high as $18bn.

The EPA and Carb discovered the “defeat device” software following independent analysis by researchers at West Virginia University, who were promoted into action by the International Council on Clean Technology, an NGO.

When confronted with the EPA and Carb’s evidence, VW admitted that its cars were fitted with the “defeat device”.

VW refused to comment.

Source: Volkswagen under investigation over illegal software that masks emissions | Business | The Guardian

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Indonesia arrests executives of ‘haze-causing’ companies

Posted on September 18, 2015 by Respro® UK Ltd

Indonesia arrests executives from seven companies accused of being behind illegal forest fires causing air pollution in the region.

Correspondents say such arrests are rare, but could result in fines and prison sentences of up to 15 years.

Haze caused by forest fires is an annual problem but this year has been one of the worst in Indonesia.

Indonesia has declared a state of emergency in Riau province, and nearby countries are also affected.

Malaysia and Singapore have seen deteriorating air quality from the haze, which stretches hundreds of kilometres across South East Asia.

The fires are said to be caused by corporations as well as small-scale farmers who use the illegal slash-and-burn method to clear vegetation for palm oil, pulp and paper plantations.

The problem has accelerated in recent years as more land has been cleared for expanding plantations for the lucrative trade.

Under Indonesian law, executives of companies which are accused of committing “environmental mismanagement” can be criminally prosecuted.

Indonesia has for many years promised to step up enforcement of laws on illegal fires.

But our correspondents say there have been few arrests, and none of those held responsible so far have been from large companies. The arrest of senior executives is thus a significant move.

Indonesia’s police chief Gen Badrodin Haiti said on Wednesday night that the seven companies were based on either Sumatra or Kalimantan on Indonesian Borneo, where most of the fires have taken place. He did not say how many executives were arrested.

Those arrested face charges of illegal burning of vegetation to clear land, which has a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail and a 10bn rupiah (£447,000; $692,000) fine, and illegal burning of forests, which has a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail and a 1.5bn rupiah fine.

Gen Badrodin said another 20 companies, and a total of 140 individuals, were also being investigated.

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo has vowed to hold “disobedient” plantation companies responsible for illegally clearing land by burning, and for the first time the government has threatened to revoke the licenses of firms found guilty of environmental crimes.

Gen Badrodin has also said police investigations could target high-level executives and even shareholders.

But analysts and environmentalists say they have heard similar promises before and are waiting to see if these tough words result in prosecutions, say our correspondents.

Indonesia is facing pressure at home and abroad to quickly solve the issue. The haze has led to school closures in Malaysia and sparked regional authorities to issue health alerts.

The organisers of the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Singapore, a highlight on the city’s tourism calendar, have announced that the night races this weekend will continue as planned despite uncertainty over the air quality.

Source: Indonesia arrests executives of ‘haze-causing’ companies – BBC News

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