| Summary: | In Europe the regulations that limit vehicle emissions, the Euro Standards, have failed to effectively tackle pollutant emissions in the real world. This thesis contains an appraisal of the real world emissions of modern European vehicles, which were identified as a major cause of uncertainty in UK policy with respect to compliance with air pollution legislation. The thesis includes key background information on air pollution and its control in the UK and a comprehensive review of the existing literature relating to real world emissions of petrol and diesel passenger cars. The real world emissions performance of modern vehicles was assessed using Portable Emissions Measurement System (PEMS) data, provided by Emissions Analytics, which included 147 Euro 5 and 6 diesel and petrol vehicles. Comparisons were made to the emissions factors of the recommended air quality transport model of the European Union, COPERT, as well as the Euro standard type approval limits. The potential impact of these real world emissions was also assessed using the UK Integrated Assessment Model to perform scenario analysis up to 2030. Scenarios were used to explore the potential effect of different passenger car emissions factors on total UK NOx (nitrogen oxides) and CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions, damage costs and annual mean concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Considering the results of these investigations, wider conclusions were drawn as to how policy makers might effectively reduce passenger car related pollution in European towns and cities. A key conclusion of this thesis is that due to the large variability in the real world emissions of vehicles within a single Euro class, policies could be more effect if real world variability was taken into account, as opposed to relying solely on the Euro standard.
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