article thumbnail

York study: Less traffic in first UK lockdown reduced NO2 pollution but caused increase in surface ozone

Green Car Congress

Less traffic on the roads during the first COVID-19 lockdown in the UK led to a reduction in air pollution but may have caused potentially damaging surface ozone levels to rise, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of York. The problem is being created by the change in chemistry between NO x and O 3.

Ozone 397
article thumbnail

Texas study finds PHEV use could increase ozone at night, decrease ozone during the day

Green Car Congress

A study by researchers at the University of Texas found that in general, use of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) can lead to an increase in ozone during nighttime hours (due to decreased scavenging from both vehicles and EGU stacks) and a decrease in ozone during daytime hours.

Ozone 218
article thumbnail

New Mexico adopts Clean Cars Rule

Green Car Congress

The coordinated package of regulations will reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and ozone- and smog-causing pollutants from new passenger cars, trucks, and SUVs starting in model year 2026. Their independent approval of the Clean Car Rule allows California’s Advanced Clean Cars to be implemented statewide in New Mexico beginning 1 July 2022.

article thumbnail

Hyundai Motor puts XCIENT Fuel Cell electric trucks into commercial fleet operation in California with $3.5M from EPA

Green Car Congress

EPA’s TAG program aims to reduce air pollution in areas of the nation with the highest levels of ambient ozone and fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) pollution.

Hyundai 370
article thumbnail

UCI-led study finds California’s strict air quality regulations have helped farmers

Green Car Congress

They found that reductions in ground ozone during this 35-year period resulted in $600 million in increased production annually by the early 2010s. Another difference is that some grains can be annually modified to withstand greater heat and even higher ozone levels in the air. An open-access paper on the work appears in Nature Food.

Ozone 186
article thumbnail

UK researchers report that alcohols in windshield washer fluid are major unreported source of VOCs emissions from cars, including EVs

Green Car Congress

In a recent open-access paper published in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology , researchers from the University of York report that alcohols in windshield washer fluid account for a larger fraction of real-world vehicle emissions than previous estimates have suggested. Cliff et al. Resources Samuel J. Cliff, Alastair C. Lewis, Marvin D.

Emissions 397
article thumbnail

Northwestern/Princeton study explores air quality impacts of aggressive conversion to EVs

Green Car Congress

Researchers from Northwestern University and Princeton University have explored the impact on US air quality from an aggressive conversion of internal combustion vehicles to battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs). No matter how the power is generated, the more combustion cars you take off the road, the better the ozone quality.