Under a new French scheme cars are labelled according to the pollution that they emit. This allows the worst offenders to be banned when necessary.

Last week Paris suffered its fourth smog of the winter and tried a new idea to protect its residents from the worst effects. Like many European cities, the Paris region has a well-established system of emergency actions that escalate if smog persists. Initial steps include health warnings, reduced speed limits and restrictions on lorries in the city centre. Final steps include cheaper public (€3.80 for a day pass), and bans on half of cars, using an odd/even number plate system.

Despite gradual long-term improvements in air pollution across Europe, in the last month Oslo and Madrid restricted traffic to protect their residents during smog but there is little evidence on the effectiveness of these schemes. The odd/even car ban during the Paris smog of March 2014 reduced the particle pollution alongside major roads by around 20% in the rush hour, but this was less effective in December 2016 as fewer people left their car at home.

This time, instead of taking half of the cars from the roads, Paris banned the oldest diesels. This was made possible by a new French scheme to label cars according to the pollution that they emit. Electric ones get a green sticker. A petrol car made between 1997 and 2003 gets an orange sticker. The new smog scheme banned the most polluting diesels, those more than 16 years old.

Read more: The Guardian

Renault, the French car maker, may stop offering diesel engines in most of its cars sold in Europe.

The move is a reaction to the cost of ensuring that diesel engines comply with tighter emissions regulations.

The crackdown follows last year’s diesel emissions scandal involving German car maker Volkswagen.

Renault’s move was reported by Reuters and has not yet been officially announced.

Senior Renault executive Thierry Bollore has said that tougher emissions standards and testing methods would make diesel engines uneconomic to make.

He told a meeting of Renault bosses in July that diesel engines had already been removed from the company’s smallest cars, such as the Twingo, even before the Volkswagen scandal.

By 2020, when more stringent EU emissions standards come into force, larger Renault cars such as the Clio and the Megane are unlikely to have diesel engine variants.

More than 60% of the 1.6 million cars Renault sold in Europe last year were diesels.

Volkswagen’s chief executive, Matthias Mueller, said in June that his company was now wondering

“whether it still makes sense to invest a lot of money in further developing diesel”.

Read more: BBC

Beginning this week, drivers will not be able to take older cars into the center of Paris on weekdays.

The ban encompasses most cars made before 1997 and motorcycles made before 2000, and was enacted to combat rampant air pollution in the French capital.

Older cars and motorcycles now face fines for entering the city between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm on weekdays, although they are still free to drive into Paris on weekends.

Announced last year, the ban is one of the toughest measures taken by a European city to curb air pollution so far.

In order to enforce the ban, cars will be required to display colored stickers corresponding to one of six levels of exhaust emissions.

After an initial grace period extending to October, drivers who violate the ban will be fined 35 euros ($39).

The amount of the fine is expected to rise over time, starting with an increase to 68 euros ($75) early next year.

Paris has issued temporary car bans before, but this permanent ban of older cars has incited protests from groups expecting to be impacted by the new policy.

Driver groups initially expressed concern that classic cars—including iconic Citroën 2CVs commonly used to shuttle tourists—would no longer be allowed on Paris streets.

However, the Fédération Française des Véhicules d’Epoque (FFVE) collector-car organization recently met with government officials to secure an exemption for what are deemed “historic vehicles,” according to Hemmings Motor News.

Cars more than 30 years old that display a “Carte Grise de Collection” sticker—as opposed to the “Carte Grise de Normale” sticker issued to normal cars—will be excused from the ban.

FFVE officials reportedly hope to extend the exemption to newer cars that still fall into the “collector” category as well.

Read more: Green Car Reports

APT Skidata, the UK’s leading parking technology business, has launched a new feature that allows car park operators using an APT Skidata system to set individual parking tariffs according to the CO2 emissions of the vehicles.

The system uses automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras to identify and record each vehicle as it enters a car park, and compare the license to a database that includes details around CO2 emissions.

Pete Brown, APT Skidata’s Managing Director, says that tariffs can therefore be set to reward those who are more environmentally friendly:

“Car park operators and local authorities are increasingly looking to address the environmental impact of cars on the local area,”

“By being able to charge customers according to CO2 emissions, they will be able to effectively reward users for driving more fuel efficient vehicles, especially in busy town and city centres.”

Mr Brown says that where surcharges are put in place for vehicles with the highest emissions, the additional revenue gained can be used to help offset the car park’s carbon footprint:

“It also allows tariffs to be set to allow free parking for drivers of Electric Vehicles (EVs),”

“All customers with a Skidata system will be able to access this new feature and tailor their tariffs according to their green strategy.”