'Green' cars

Altarf

redux wrote:

It was alleged by some people a few years ago that particulate emissions from diesels are very harmful.

But some of the studies were sponsored by a company selling lead additives for petrol (yes, it was a while ago).

Others were from the USA where there is not very much diesel use, and one test found that most particulates in a couple of areas were from fast food restaurants.

But the rumour endures, and this seems to be the reasoning behind why road tax is a bit higher for diesels.

Yeh right, so the World Health Organisation is mistaken when it says -

While the levels of most types of air pollution have been falling steadily in Europe, levels of dangerous particles have remained steady in the past few years and are increasing in some places. Such pollution is known as PM10, for particulate matter less than 10 microns in diameter. In cities, it is largely related to traffic.

Low levels of PM10, thought previously to have little or no effect on human health, are in fact highly dangerous, the health agency scientists concluded, after reviewing a growing body of research. Particles are conclusively linked to increased risk of a wide range of health disorders, from infant mortality to heart attacks and lung disease.

One reason that cities have trouble controlling this type of pollution, is the rising popularity in Europe of diesel-powered cars, which get better mileage than gasoline-fueled cars but produce larger amounts of particulate pollution - 100 times as much.

BargainHunterCat

I'm sure we've had the bio diesel discussion before...I bang on about if often enough!

I can't be bothered to repeat myself!

Somebody find them the threads please?

Fred_Bear_2

I agree with Altarf. In Hong Kong they consider diesel so polluting that they have banned diesel taxis. All the old taxis have had to be converted to LPG.