Electric cars still causing air pollution
A Government report claims electric cars could still cause pollution with dust from tyres and brakes damaging the atmosphere.
Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey and Transport Minister Michael Ellis are leading a push to tackle the impact of particulate and plastic pollution from brakes, tyres and road wear.
While air quality has improved significantly over recent decades, a new report published today calls for urgent action to address the problem of tyres and brakes which is predicted to account for 10 per cent of national emissions by 2030.
The UK Government is now calling for industry to support the development of standardised methods for measuring emissions from these sources, leading to a new international standard for tyre and brake wear.
It comes as the government also publishes the summary of responses to its call for evidence on these emission sources, which indicate that the problem is still poorly understood.
Calling on the automotive industry to consider action to address the problem.
Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey said: "The documents published today make clear that it is not just fumes from car exhaust pipes that have a detrimental impact on human health but also the tiny particles that are released from their brakes and tyres.
"That is why an ambition of our Clean Air Strategy is to address all sources of particulate matter, including those from transport. Today’s research goes a long way in helping us better understand the problem.
Emissions from car exhausts have been decreasing through development of cleaner technologies and there is now a need for the car industry to find innovative ways to address the challenges of air pollution from other sources”.
Published: by Radio NewsHub