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| Highway to health Even while idling in a traffic jam, cars and trucks pose a danger to life and limb. Tailpipe exhaust poses health risks to motorists and other road users and an even greater danger to those who live or work within close range of busy roads. And in many countries in Central and Eastern Europe -particularly in the Balkans- the health dangers from traffic pollution are exacerbated by lagging legal standards for fuels and vehicle emissions as well as the older average age of cars. Fortunately, efforts by regional governments and the automotive industry to address these problems are underway. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that more than 1 billion people worldwide breathe outdoor air pollution exceeding maximum recommended levels. Because of bad urban air quality, up to 1 million people die prematurely, studies show. Other health effects associated with traffic pollution include cancer, developmental problems, hospitalisation, asthma attacks and bronchitis. According to Michael Walsh, an expert on fuels and vehicles, over the past decade, dozens of studies from all over the world have shown that spending time in close proximity to heavy traffic, especially diesel truck traffic, is associated with a wide range of health problems as well as premature death. The health effects come from products of combustion such as lead, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, carbon dioxide and particulates. According to a study published by the Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, a clear link exists between a road's truck traffic and the lung function of children living nearby: the greater the truck traffic, the smaller the lung capacity. Another study has shown the relation between the proximity to a freeway and the relative pollutant concentration in the air. The concentration of particle pollution remains high as much as 300 metres from freeways while the concentration of black carbon and carbon oxides is relatively high within a range of 100 metres, and then drops down. The health impacts entail an economic cost: according to estimates for 18 cities in Central and Eastern Europe, if those municipalities met European Union pollution standards for dust and soot, they would avoid 18,000 premature deaths a year and recover USD 1.2 billion in lost worker productivity due to illness. A comprehensive vehicle control strategy would encompass clean vehicle technology, transportation and land-use planning, adoption of clean fuels, and improved vehicle maintenance, Walsh explained. Progress has been achieved in the new member states, all of which have phased out leaded petrol. In addition, they have reduced the sulphur content of diesel below 350 parts per million (ppm) and that of petrol below 150 ppm. However, leaded petrol is still sold in several countries in South East Europe, including Serbia and Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania. Croatia and Turkey phased out leaded petrol in the beginning of 2006, while the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia envisions a ban later this year. BiH and Albania plan to phase out leaded fuel in 2010, leaving Serbia and Montenegro as the only country in the region without a planned date for a leaded fuel ban. However, with or without a legal phase-out, hopes are high that leaded fuel will disappear from filling stations after the country's two state refineries are privatised at the end of this year. Several years ago in Bulgaria the requirement to produce lead-free petrol was included in the privatisation contract that handed over Bulgaria's state petroleum company to the Russian giant Lukoil. Another regional petrol company, MOL, currently produces petrol and diesel at its refineries in Hungary and Slovakia with sulphur content of 10 ppm, a standard that will become a legal requirement in EU after 2009. The USD 350 million investment in the refineries was due partly to legal pressure and partly to the availability of financing. The gradual introduction of biofuels in Central and Eastern Europe would be another way to reduce traffic pollution. According to Fatin Alimohamed from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Czech Republic is the biggest producer of biofuel in the region, having made100,000 tonnes of biodiesel in 2004. It is followed by Poland which produced 1,200 tonnes of biodiesel and 36,800 tonnes of bioethanol and Hungary which made 2,000 tonnes of biodiesel. In several countries the production of biofuel is subsidised by the state. The quality and age of vehicles are the other major factors influencing emissions from traffic. Most countries in the region have relatively old fleets, which most vehicles being between 11 and 20 years. Automotive maintainance is often inadequate and many of the vehicles lack catalytic converters. New policies are needed to rectify the situation. Countries should ban of import of vehicles without catalytic converters and that are older than a certain age and. Many countries in the region already have such bans and in addition impose a minimum requirement for EURO III engines, which meet EU standards for exhaust emissions. Policies should also be adopted for retiring old cars and projects should be launched for retrofitting old bus and truck fleets by installing filters and catalytic converters. Installing a filter can reduce particle emissions by as much as 85 percent and emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 25 percent. Economic instruments have proven an innovative and efficient way to direct consumers' behaviour. For example, tax incentives can be used for phasing out lead in petrol, for reducing sulphur in diesel and petrol or for making cleaner vehicles more affordable than polluting ones. Another instrument involves charging an annual tax based on vehicle emissions. Tax incentives can be also used for increasing the share of alternative fuels as well as encouraging the use of electric and hybrid cars and those powered by natural gas. A joint effort to promote clean fuels in Central and Eastern Europe has been undertaken by the REC, the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles (PCFV), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the Netherlands Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM). The projects consist of a comprehensive study in 16 CEE countries and Turkey, a conference and a workshop on clean fuels and vehicles. Follow up activity in the region includes training on clean vehicles in Bulgaria and roundtables on clean fuels and vehicles in Turkey and Serbia and Montenegro. Rob Jong, head of the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles, pointed out that the partnership is now working towards the global elimination of leaded petrol by the end of 2008. It is looking to work with countries in CEE to develop strategies and implement activities that will lead to lower sulphur levels, especially in diesel. The efforts will involve joint work with governments, industry, and NGOs in the region to promote the transfer of cleaner technology through pilot heavy duty diesel retrofit projects and the dissemination of tools dealing with cleaner conventional and alternative vehicles. Ruslan Zhechkov is a project manager
for the International Secretariates at the REC. A website on clean fuels
and vehicles has been launched at: www.rec.org/REC/Programs/pcfv/index.html.
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