Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
20
100
16
80
Final energy demand
12
60
other NMS
Poland
other EU15
8
40
Spain
France
Italy
4
20
UK
Germany
0
0
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010*
Fig. 1 NO
x
emissions in Europe (EU-27) by country versus total final energy demand during the
period 1990-2010. The data for 2010 are still provisional [
4
]
the formation and control of NO
x
emissions from road transport, explains historical
trends in emissions from the sector and discusses possible future developments.
2 Evolution of NO
x
Emissions to date
It can be seen from Fig.
1
that NO
x
emissions in the European Union (EU-27)
decreased by more than 40% between 1990 and 2010, although total final energy
demand grew by almost 10% during the same period [
4
]. Emissions were reduced in
almost all countries, and notably in the larger countries (Germany, UK, Italy,
France and Poland) with the exception of Spain, where total NO
x
emissions
increased between 1990 and 2005. The general decreases resulted from progres-
sively stringent emission controls across all sectors, a restructuring of the power
supply, and an overall increase in energy efficiency.
Figure
2
shows sectoral NO
x
emissions in the EU-27 countries in 2008 based on
submissions to the UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollu-
tion (CLRTAP). Almost all of the oxides of nitrogen emitted to air were from
combustion sources, and road transport was the single largest contributor (41%) [
5
].
In urban areas the emissions from road transport are proportionally higher, and the
local impacts are exacerbated, due to the density of the road network, the volume of
traffic, the close proximity of the population to the emission source, and the larger
distances to other relevant sources.
Legislation and strategies to reduce exhaust emissions from road vehicles have
been in place since the early 1970s. Calculations have established that emissions of
