Euro 5 to lay out the future for emission-reducing technology

By Anna McLauchlin

Date: 24/03/05

The future of emission-reducing technology will depend on limits laid down in the next round of EU emissions standards for cars - known as Euro 5.

The big issue is how much carmakers will have to adapt diesel models to comply with standards on nitrous oxides (NOx) and particulates. As well as contributing to acid rain and ozone, higher concentrations of these emissions lead to higher rates of asthma, allergies, cardiovascular problems and even cancer.

Carmakers had feared that the European Commission might reduce the NOx emission limit under Euro 5 so far below the current level of 250mg/km as to force them to fit de-NOx catalysts on all new cars. So far only Toyota currently markets such NOx-reducing technology on its cars.

But the Commission now says that such an obligation is unlikely, and sources close to the situation give several reasons. First, they argue that NOx emissions are not carcinogenic, unlike diesel particles. Second, a study published by the UK's department of trade and industry found that the cost/benefit ratio for fitting filters would be unnecessarily expensive. And third, the Commission also sets safety standards and does not want to overburden car manufacturers with both environmental and safety costs.

This position has not convinced environmentalists. "NOx emissions may harm the body in different ways from particle emissions but that does not mean that they are not harmful," says Karsten Krause from the European Federation for Transport and Environment.

Krause adds that car manufacturers have often over-estimated the cost of certain technologies, citing the example of catalytic converters, which were estimated to add around e600 to the cost of a car but in reality only cost an extra e40.

"The key problem of policymakers is their lack of knowledge on innovation," he says. "They do not know what the industry could deliver and at what costs."

But Dirk Bosteels, director of AECC, the international association of European companies making technologies for automobile exhaust emissions control, argues that the Commission is on the right track.

"NOx emission technology is not as mature as diesel particulate technology so it makes sense to strengthen the limits gradually," he said.

On diesel particle emissions, the Commission claims that the limit level will be set sufficiently low to force carmakers to fit tailpipe filters on all cars. Buying a car with a diesel filter currently adds around e500 to the cost of a new car.

In a document produced in January, the EU executive gave indications for member states wanting to provide fiscal incentives for motor vehicles that reduce emission levels further than demanded by the current standards.

The document sets the level of diesel particulate emissions at 5mg/km, which it says,

"can only be met if diesel cars are equipped with particulate filters". A Commission source confirmed that diesel particle limits in Euro 5 would be based on this standard.

But it is possible that by the time Euro 5 comes into force, which is likely to be at the end of 2010 at the earliest, in-engine technology will have advanced so much that car manufacturers will be able to meet the 5mg/km limit without fitting filters.

"No one knows what's going on inside laboratories, but there are indications that in the near future small cars may be able to meet the 5mg/km limit without the filter," says Krause.

"But that might mean they still emit 4.5mg/km for example, whereas filters reduce particle emissions by 99%."

Bosteels agrees. "Technology is evolving all the time. All we can say is that the 5mg/km limit requires the use of particle filters right now."

In any case carmakers and technology developers will be watching the development of Euro 5 closely. "The type of technology that our members' clients, the carmakers, will be demanding is entirely dependent on the emission levels set by the Commission," says Bosteels.

The Commission will also base Euro 5 limits on findings from the EU's Clean Air for Europe programme, which will adopt a strategy on air pollution by the summer. Euro 5 will therefore most likely be adopted just after the summer break.

The next round of European Union emissions standards for cars - known as Euro 5 - will set limits for car emissions of nitrous oxide and particulates. Euro 5 limits will be based on information from the EU's 'Clean Air for Europe' programme, which will adopt a strategy on air pollution by Summer 2005.

European Commission: DG Environment: Policies: Air http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/index_en.htm

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