Environmental Impacts of Road Vehicles
Book review by Valerio Ferracci
Cranfield University
v.ferracci@cranfield.ac.uk
ECG Bulletin February 2018
Cranfield University
v.ferracci@cranfield.ac.uk
ECG Bulletin February 2018
The 44th volume in the series on Issues in Environmental Science and Technology focuses on pollution from road transport, discussing its impact on air, water and soil. This topical analysis not only accounts for the “usual suspects”, but also highlights some of the less obvious consequences of road pollution.
Recent media coverage in the wake of the vehicle emission testing scandal and reports of poor air quality across the UK, particularly in London, have drawn renewed attention to pollution from road transport. Last year, the Environmental Chemistry Group hosted a one-day symposium (“Inside the Engine”, see ECG Bulletin, July 2017 https://www.envchemgroup.com/2017-inside-the-engine.html) illustrating the main environmental issues arising from road pollution as well as its detrimental effects on human health.
Recent media coverage in the wake of the vehicle emission testing scandal and reports of poor air quality across the UK, particularly in London, have drawn renewed attention to pollution from road transport. Last year, the Environmental Chemistry Group hosted a one-day symposium (“Inside the Engine”, see ECG Bulletin, July 2017 https://www.envchemgroup.com/2017-inside-the-engine.html) illustrating the main environmental issues arising from road pollution as well as its detrimental effects on human health.
This book, organised in nine self-contained chapters and freely available as an e-book to RSC members at http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/ebook/978-1-78262-892-7, provides an account of the complexity of this environmental issue. It first focuses on the two main vehicle technologies currently used (petrol and diesel), and their atmospheric implications in terms of greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, methane, N2O) and urban air quality (nitrogen oxides, ozone, particulate matter). It then expands on the impact of these vehicles on the environments beside roads, with a very clear description of the wash-off of pollutants from roads caused by rain, the subsequent contamination of soils and waters and the potential uptake of toxic substances (e.g. trace metals) by plants. Later chapters in the book focus on the development and assessment of alternative technologies to fossil fuels.
A recurring theme throughout the book is the importance of life cycle analysis for all vehicle technologies, old and new. A number of examples are provided to illustrate how the assessment of the environmental impact of vehicles would be incomplete without taking into account both direct (e.g. tailpipe emissions) and indirect (e.g. fuel extraction, vehicle disposal) processes. The importance of this “well-to-wheel” analysis is evident when comparing alternative technologies with fossil fuels; in the case of biofuels, any reduction in CO2 resulting from not burning fossil fuels may be partially offset by excess emissions of other powerful greenhouse gases (methane and N2O) from growing crops to produce biofuels. This type of assessment is even more critical for battery-powered electric vehicles, as the environmental benefits depend crucially on how electricity is generated.
A recurring theme throughout the book is the importance of life cycle analysis for all vehicle technologies, old and new. A number of examples are provided to illustrate how the assessment of the environmental impact of vehicles would be incomplete without taking into account both direct (e.g. tailpipe emissions) and indirect (e.g. fuel extraction, vehicle disposal) processes. The importance of this “well-to-wheel” analysis is evident when comparing alternative technologies with fossil fuels; in the case of biofuels, any reduction in CO2 resulting from not burning fossil fuels may be partially offset by excess emissions of other powerful greenhouse gases (methane and N2O) from growing crops to produce biofuels. This type of assessment is even more critical for battery-powered electric vehicles, as the environmental benefits depend crucially on how electricity is generated.
The chapter covering the impact of noise from road transport on human health was most interesting to me: this area is not as well-studied as other aspects of road pollution, and suffers from the absence of a “noise observation” network akin to those for local air quality. Nonetheless, current evidence seems to indicate that traffic noise may play a role in the development of hypertension and ischemic heart disease.
Food for thought abounds in the future scenarios described in the book: for instance, as electric vehicles are projected to become more widespread in the near future, new challenges will emerge in recycling large numbers of lithium-ion batteries when these vehicles arrive at the end of their life cycles. At the same time, particulate matter from tyre and brake wear-and-tear will still be an environmental issue regardless of the fuel used to power vehicles. It is evident that, even when our dependence on fossil fuels for transport is a distant memory, our efforts in safeguarding the environment will be far from over.
References
Environmental Impacts of Road Vehicles: Past, Present and Future; Issues in Environmental Science and Technology, Vol. 44, edited by R. E. Hester and R. M. Harrison, Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, 2017, pp xvi + 248. ISBN: 978-1-78262-892-7", DOI: 10.1039/9781788010221
Food for thought abounds in the future scenarios described in the book: for instance, as electric vehicles are projected to become more widespread in the near future, new challenges will emerge in recycling large numbers of lithium-ion batteries when these vehicles arrive at the end of their life cycles. At the same time, particulate matter from tyre and brake wear-and-tear will still be an environmental issue regardless of the fuel used to power vehicles. It is evident that, even when our dependence on fossil fuels for transport is a distant memory, our efforts in safeguarding the environment will be far from over.
References
Environmental Impacts of Road Vehicles: Past, Present and Future; Issues in Environmental Science and Technology, Vol. 44, edited by R. E. Hester and R. M. Harrison, Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, 2017, pp xvi + 248. ISBN: 978-1-78262-892-7", DOI: 10.1039/9781788010221
