Cleaner vehicles?

Local authorities in the Greater Manchester region are members of the GM Public Protection Partnership (GMPPP). The partnership includes the following authorities: Bolton MBC, Bury MBC, Manchester CC, Oldham MBC, Rochdale MBC, Salford CC, Stockport MBC, Tameside MBC, Trafford MBC, Wigan Council and Warrington BC.

Manchester City Council hosts the Cleaner Vehicles Campaign, which aims to encourage people to run their vehicles in an environmentally responsible way. It addresses the problem of vehicles that are producing excessive emissions because they are not correctly tuned or are older/high mileage vehicles that need additional maintenance in order to run efficiently. The Campaign also addresses the impact on the environment from traffic emissions of the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2).

The authorities also work together in the production of the regional Air Quality Action Plan, which has been incorporated into the Local Transport Plan due to the local importance of emissions from road traffic. Greater Manchester authorities continue to work together to develop various elements of the Action Plan, including the Cleaner Vehicles Campaign.

The Greater Manchester Emissions Database - EMIGMA - provides detailed spatial information on all sources of emissions to air across the Greater Manchester conurbation. Road vehicles are the major contributor to poor air quality within each local authority’s Air Quality Management Area (AQMA). AQMAs are areas identified as being at risk of not reaching national health objectives for airborne pollutants.

The results from the Cleaner Vehicles Campaign show that operating and maintaining your vehicle efficiently makes a big difference to the environment and also to your pocket.

Our results show that:

• Diesel vehicles that failed our emissions test typically emitted smoke concentrations over ten times greater than those that passed.
• Petrol vehicles failing the test emitted, on average, five times more carbon monoxide and ten times more hydrocarbon concentrations in their exhaust fumes than those complying with the limits.
• Vehicle emissions do increase with the age of the vehicle, but an older car that is serviced regularly can still meet the emission standards and doesn’t produce excessive levels of pollution.

Your vehicle will emit a lot more pollution and use more fuel if not looked after - and it could become a smoky vehicle.

Since the campaign began in 2003 we have seen some big improvements in the levels of emissions from the vehicles that travel around the Greater Manchester area.

For petrol-engine vehicles:

• Average levels of hydrocarbons have fallen from 136 parts per million (ppm) to 32ppm.

• Average levels of carbon monoxide emissions have fallen from 0.48% by volume to 0.14% by volume.

But it’s not all good news - the average levels of emissions of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, from 2003 to 2008 have shown a slight increase from 13.8% to 14.1%. This could be due to more people buying new vehicles but with bigger engines, which use more fuel and therefore produce more carbon dioxide. Also, all the extra electrical equipment, including air conditioning, now included as standard on modern cars use more fuel. Our campaign is hoping to counteract this trend by encouraging people to take up the challenge of smarter driving, which could improve your fuel economy by an impressive 15%.

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Visit the GreatAir Manchester webpages for additional information on road transport and air quality in the region.