With about 4.2 million deaths annually worldwide no other environmental problem kills people as frequently as air pollution. Particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and ozone affect the human body in many different ways and can cause serious physical and psychological problems.
There is great hope in electric cars: to remain mobile without harming the environment or the health of others. But can the electric car deliver what it promises? Scepticism is growing. Here is an overview.
The new Euro 7 standard will effectively ban combustion engines from 2025. A synthetic fuel that is climate-friendly and yet can be used for internal combustion engines is supposed to save the traditional engine. But production and costs are causing problems.
The new US president has announced a new era for American carmakers. He is fully committed to the conversion to e-cars. In contrast to the EU, however, he does not want to initiate this with driving bans for internal combustion engines, but rather promote e-cars through subsidies and incentives.
Air pollutants have decreased less than initially estimated due to the Corona pandemic. Favourable weather conditions also played a role. This year, therefore, an increase is very likely and could spur driving bans again.
A green city of millions is to be built on the Red Sea, where there are no conventional roads and cars are completely banned. The project is controversial, but it could be a blueprint for the mobility revolution in large cities in Europe as well.
A new technology could soon use cars as mobile air filters. These would clean the city air while driving and could thus prevent impending diesel driving bans.
The air in the USA is significantly worse than in Europe, the limit values are less stringent. Nevertheless, the government around President Trump continues to allow particulate matter emissions as before.
Unfortunately it is time again. Anyone who still thought in March that everything would quickly disappear into thin air again and that Covid-19 (or Corona, as we say in Germany) would only be a marginal note in world history is subject to a tragic error.
According to experts, every seventh death in connection with the Sars-CoV-2 virus is due to high levels of particulate matter in the air.
