Goal of the MECEDES project is development of methodology and instrumentation for the independent on-road identification of vehicles that disproportionally contribute to vehicle fleet emissions. So-called super emitters contribute the same amount of Black Carbon emission as a few or even up to 100 vehicles with normal emission levels. Our research investigations indicate that one-quarter of the Slovenian vehicle fleet causes approximately two-thirds of the total black carbon and almost one-half of the total nitrogen oxide emission levels. This applies also for majority of European vehicle fleets.
Old diesel vehicles are the most common but not necessarily the only polluters. Determination of the emission levels can occur semi-automatically on the road during regular police or city police supervision. Such vehicles can then be removed from the traffic under defined law regulations and appointed for additional testing and compliance with the corresponding regulations.
Potential customers for such a solution are National Environmental Agencies, Local authorities, and other public institutions responsible for air quality and/or vehicle compliance with the regulations. According to our information, there is no such commercially available product on the market.
This project is co-funded by the Republic of Slovenia and the European Union – European Regional Development Fund.
Consortium:
Relevant literature:
Ježek, I., Katrašnik, T., Westerdahl, D., and Močnik, G.: Black carbon, particle number concentration and nitrogen oxide emission factors of random in-use vehicles measured with the on-road chasing method, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 11011-11026, doi:10.5194/acp-15-11011-2015, 2015. http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/15/11011/2015/