Environmental zones and driving bans are the result of air pollution in many countries on planet Earth. But scientists also use indicators like nitrogen dioxide for other purposes - for example, to explore space and find evidence of extraterrestrial life.
The new climate package hits old diesel and petrol cars hard. All major cities in France will have to set up a permanent low emission zone with strict rules by the end of 2024. The sale of combustion cars will also be banned in the long term. At the same time, more eco-lanes are to be set up to promote e-mobility.
The major Italian cities had nitrogen oxide levels that were clearly too high last year, despite the lockdown. This is the conclusion of the environmental organisation Legambiente in its annual report. It calls for diesel vehicles up to Euro 5 to be locked out immediately.
The country faces a 100 million euro fine for excessive air pollution. A two-month deadline set by the European Commission to reduce nitrogen oxide pollution passed unsuccessfully yesterday. At the same time, a French court ruled that the state was partly to blame for the country's climate damage.
The situation for car drivers in France is becoming increasingly confusing. Now Bordeaux is also to get a temporary environmental zone. In the city by the sea, however, it is not only traffic that causes high particulate pollution. The sea also contributes to the air pollution peaks.
Many rule tightenings in the European low emission zones will not take place this year as planned. The Corona pandemic has shifted the political focus to other matters. Moreover, the limit values were complied with in many places. After the pandemic, however, the introduction of stricter rules will probably hit European motorists with full force.
The truck industry criticises the EU's targets as too lax. They themselves want to put 200,000 zero-emission trucks on the roads by 2030 and are calling for tougher rules for diesel trucks. The targets are ambitious, but possible with the help of the EU, which is letting the industry down.
The pandemic is also hitting the automotive industry hard. Filter systems for old diesel vehicles could not be installed last year as planned. So the dirty diesel vehicles continue to contribute to bad air and make diesel driving bans inevitable.
Controls in the Paris Low Emission Zone are to be automated this year. Drivers who enter the Paris metropolitan area with an unauthorised sticker can then be identified and penalised by camera systems.
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.
