Air pollution may be linked with an increased risk of developing dementia, research suggests. A London-based study, published in BMJ Open, found an association between the neurodegenerative condition and exposure to nitrogen dioxide and microscopic particles known as PM2.5. Alzheimer’s Research UK described it is a “growing area of research”, but said the results should
The German carmaker Porsche says it will stop making diesel cars, and concentrate on petrol, electric and hybrid engines instead. It follows a 2015 scandal in which its parent company, Volkswagen, admitted it had cheated emissions tests for diesel engines. Diesel cars over a certain age have been banned in parts of some German cities
Exclusive: Critics have played down ability of current electric cars to reduce CO2 levels, but new analysis shows significant impact Replacing a fossil fuel-powered car with an electric model can halve greenhouse gas emissions over the course of the vehicle’s lifetime, according to a new report. The finding challenges reports by the UK press, other
Environmentally-friendly vehicles could be awarded green number plates, signalling their virtue to other road users Low emissions cars, vans and taxis could sport green number plates to highlight their environmentally friendly status, after the government launched a public consultation on the idea. The Department for Transport (DfT) and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV)
One of the most frequent comments spouted by critics of electric vehicles is “the electricity they use is produced by fossil fuels, so actually they’re more polluting than petrol or diesel vehicles.” The long tailpipe theory, repeatedly trashed by science, is still the fallback argument for the ill-informed. Where does it come from? The two
Many antipollution systems deactivate at high temperatures Paris bans older cars after pollution soars in heat wave Europeans aren’t just sweating through the long, hot summer. City dwellers may be coughing and wheezing more, too. Diesel vehicles, which still command nearly half the market for new cars, are left with barely any pollution controls when
Three years after Dieselgate, automakers are still exploiting ‘the lawful but awful ways’ to achieve the best possible scores for CO2 testing in the EU When Volkswagen was caught cheating diesel emissions tests in 2015, one of the first actions its engineers took was to launch a secret project: to obtain cars from rival manufacturers
A nine-year-old girl’s fatal asthma attack has been linked to illegally high levels of air pollution. Ella Kissi-Debrah lived 25m (80ft) from London’s South Circular Road – a notorious pollution “hotspot”. She experienced three years of seizures and hospital stays before her death in February 2013. During that time, local air pollution levels breached EU
BP and Shell have bought electric-car charging companies Power utilities are boosting sales to homes, chargers on roads A red-hot electric vehicle market has triggered a face-off between Big Oil and utilities. Oil majors, who’ve sold fossil fuels to cars for a century, are now moving into an electricity sector that’s preparing for exponential growth.
Electric vehicles are cleaner and more efficient than conventional vehicles. Reports against EVs are coming from oil-backed studies, leading to skewed public perceptions of battery-run autos. Electricity powered transportation will cause less pollution and less asthma, cancer and other illnesses associated with pollution from the burning of fossil fuels. When technological innovation threatens to upend
