The diesel debate

While a respected and respectable leading local car importer whom I spoke to recently tends to differ, diesel vehicles could be losing their gloss in many countries, including the UK, since they are suddenly being perceived as having formed part of a deception game – purely on the basis that they have been considered to have fought global warming through lower CO2 emissions.

Not only were diesel cars considered to be far more economical but their performance over the years improved tremendously as their noise and sluggishness abated fast.

In recent years they were even promoted as ‘greener’ cars, emitting far less carbon dioxide than petrol models. Being thus kinder to both the environment and one’s pockets/wallets.

A number of governments even introduced tax breaks to facilitate such a transition – Britain alone experienced a massive ‘dash for diesel’ in the past two decades.

The first alarm bells were rung by the Chair of the Department of Health’s Committee on Air Pollution who argued that diesel engines could be responsible for more than 7,000 deaths a year because of the pollutants they emit. Another professor and air quality expert – this time from King’s College, London claimed that in the past 20 years we have had far more toxic emissions from cars than we should have done.

The main reason was that car producers, governments, and even environmental groups were so engaged in reducing carbon dioxide emissions that their experts managed to overlook that a number of other highly toxic pollutants were being produced by diesel engines.

Some even claimed that these were impacting worst on children – from anything: increased asthma cases even to risks of more autism than expected.

It is not for me to ascertain whether this is a marketing ploy or sheer alarmism, since I have no medical background and it would thus be presumptuous of me to try and speak authoritatively from a purely scientific perspective.

But regardless of whether motorists have been conned by design or by default we seem to be moving to the stage where the status quo is most unlikely to remain a viable option.

It is being claimed that diesel exhaust is a complex mixture of thousands of gases and fine particulates that contains more than 40 toxic air contaminants. These include cancer causing substances such as benzene, arsenic and formaldehyde, as well as other seriously harmful pollutants.

The worst aspect of it all is that as in the case of most particulates, the microscopic particles in diesel exhaust are now being considered to be less than one fifth the thickness of a human hair!

Being thus invisible and small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and bloodstream, causing inflammation, asthma attacks, heart attacks, and strokes while increasing the chances of lung disease in the elderly and the young.

Even the WHO – the World Health Organisation – seems to have started showing concern about long term exposure to such particles mainly since they can even alter the way children’s brains grow and could make them less intelligent.

It was only last year that Californian research found a link between pollutants in diesel fumes and autism.

Compounded with the spewing out of nitrogen dioxide, a substance that irritates the lungs and reduces one’s ability to fight disease, what seems to be growing into a burgeoning problem, could easily turn into a constant nightmare for those living near busy roads.

While some seem reassured that particulate filters should mitigate most of these negative effects, others tend to argue that the benefits of filters have been overstated.

In urban driving they are reported to work less well and clog up quickly.

In spite of the tougher European rules, diesel vehicles are now being perceived as being far more polluting even than petrol itself.

It comes as no surprise that a number of air quality experts are actually calling for a switch back to petrol!

Recently the consumers association Which? showed that the fuel efficiency claimed by manufacturers of diesel vehicles should be taken with a pinch of salt.

It was already a dilemma in the past when the question often used to arise as to whether one should buy petrol or diesel since petrol is cheaper but diesels generally used less fuel. But today the debate has shifted completely, with the focus being more on whether diesel is desirable or dirty.

With the WHO and the EU suddenly considering that fumes from diesel could be carcinogenic the whole ball game could be changing and might even change faster than one would expect or hope for.

As Britain found itself sued by the EU Commission for breaching pollution limits, drivers of diesel motor vehicles are actually being warned that they face higher costs.

The Mayor of London has just announced plans to start charging diesel drivers an extra GBP 10 sterling to drive in the capital, a measure that could be copied by as many as 20 other cities.

Although government ministers seem to have ruled out such a move in this legislature, senior Conservatives in the UK are understood to be lobbying the government to increase road taxes on diesel vehicles.

Undoubtedly motoring groups are alarmed due to other reasons too, particularly as a result of the fear that new levies would hit drivers already struggling to cope with high prices at the pumps that would thus lower the resale value of diesel vehicles.

I still remember the days when Gordon Brown had overhauled vehicle excise duty so that cars that emitted a higher level of CO2 faced a higher level of vehicle excise duty.

But even then official warnings had started to be given that diesel vehicles emit some 10 times the fine particles and up to twice the nitrogen dioxide of other cars.

As things stand in the UK the number of diesel cars has not only risen from 1.6m to some 11m but it now accounts for almost a third of all vehicles.

What is important is that environmentalists, politicians and pundits should never lose any grip of their critical faculties by risking being conned or ending up as victims of hype.

I am quite sure that the debate will rage on in the coming months, globally, Europe-wide and possibly locally too. Particularly as to whether this green fuel is that green or not so green after all!

Leo Brincat is Minister for Sustainable Development, the Environment, and Climate Change