Government

Ultra Low Emission Zone for London

Boris Johnson

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson, yesterday (13 February) announced during a speech in City Hall that it is his “intention to create the world’s first Ultra Low Emission Zone in central London” in an attempt to improve air quality in the capital.

The move, which Johnson described as a “game changing moment”, will see Transport for London (TfL) draw up plans for the introduction of a scheme to ensure that “all vehicles driving in the centre of the capital during working hours would be zero or low emission” from 2020.

Johnson said of the proposed scheme: “Creating the world’s first big city Ultra Low Emission Zone has the potential to be a game changing moment in the quality of life of our great capital.

“My vision is a central zone where almost all the vehicles running during working hours are either zero or low emission. This would deliver incredible benefits in air quality and stimulate the delivery and mass use of low emission technology.”

Low Emission Zone

According to Johnson, by 2020 all buses in central London will be hybrid, with zero emission taxis, low emission options for freight and more electric cars also available.

He announced that 600 ‘conventional hybrid buses’ would be rolled out across the capital over the next three years, increasing their number to over 1,600 by 2016.

However, ‘Phase five’ of London’s Low Emission Zone (LEZ), set for implementation in 2015, which had been due to cover coaches and HGVs, will now ‘only apply for Transport for London’s fleet of buses’. Johnson claimed that this curtailing of the pollution charging scheme would save affected businesses around £350 million.

Friends of the Earth London Campaigner Jenny Bates, critcised the plan, saying that 2020 is 'far too late' to help meet European emission targets: "2020 is far too late for an Ultra Low Emission Zone in central London - EU pollution limits are supposed to be met by 2015. Boris Johnson must take action by slashing traffic levels in the city through better public transport and encouraging more Londoners to get on their bikes."

Air Quality Fund

The Mayor also announced that £2 million of the £20 million Air Quality Fund aimed at helping ‘boroughs target new spending on local air pollution hotspots’ will be made available this year.

Under the scheme, all London boroughs and local businesses in collaboration with their borough will be able to bid for funding in order to develop schemes to tackle air quality issues in ‘localised areas’.

The Mayor of London’s Environment Advisor, Matthew Pencharz, said: “The Mayor has put together a team that takes air quality seriously and that is why he has confirmed another £20m will be devoted to improving local air quality.”

Dust Suppressants

This announcement follows on from a report released by King’s College London (King’s) that London’s £1.43 million scheme of 'gluing' pollution to London’s roads has been largely ‘unsuccessful’.

The trial scheme, which began in 2010, saw TfL apply calcium magnesium acetate (CMA), a dust suppressant, to a number of London roads and industrial sites in an attempt to reduce levels of PM10 (potentially harmful particulates).

Though it was found that the application of the suppressant did have a positive effect in areas with high levels of re-suspended PM10, such as industrial sites, it was found to be largely ineffective in areas where traffic was the main cause of pollution.

Speaking to the Guardian, lecturer in air quality science at King’s, Benjamin Barratt, said: “The bottom line is [the gluing method] is not going to work in many of the sites in London where the problem is purely down to traffic, but there are other locations in London where we have severe PM10 problems relating to industrial activity and it has been shown to have a role in those locations."

Johnson has said he will now work with the Environment Agency to implement the use of CMA at industrial sites in an attempt to clean up construction sites, which currently account for ‘around 12 per cent of London’s NOx emissions’.

Judicial Review

The Mayor’s work in reducing London’s emissions comes just weeks ahead of a High Court Hearing between environmental law firm, ClientEarth and the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The case centres around the UK government’s failure to achieve the EU’s air quality proposals by 2010, and the fact that the UK is not expected to achieve these ‘legal limits’ until after 2015.

The Supreme Court will hear the case against the UK government on 7 March 2013.