Page 12 - ATZ WORLDWIDE

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

by members of the LobbyControl associ-
ation, who are championing fair and
transparent lobbying. “Although policies
imposed have consistently reduced
exhaust emission limits, the actual vol-
ume of harmful diesel exhaust emissions
measured in cities continues to rise –
a contradiction which the politicians
have known about for years. The author-
ities were warned and some even had
doubts themselves”, say the authors of
the report, when describing the situation
of recent years in Germany. “But the Fed-
eral Ministry of Transport did not ques-
tion anything or even intervene”, stated
the report. This approach, taken to han-
dle what are evidently excessive exhaust
emission values and the resulting harm-
ful consequences for the general public,
reveals a problematic culture of turning Emission trends of selected air pollutants (© Umweltbundesamt)
a blind eye in favour of the car industry.

OBJECTIFYING THE DEBATE
which include 27 university professors he explained: “With a view to further
The above notwithstanding, however, from the DACH region (Germany, Aus- reducing CO 2 emissions, in the longer
the exposure of Volkswagen emission tria and Switzerland) to date. The pro- term I can envisage, for example, an all-
falsification has brought the heated and fessors, however, see the way the issue out technological competition between
ongoing debate into the public spotlight. is developing as suboptimal, whereby battery-powered vehicles, vehicles run-
This also meant that further instances namely objective and factual informa- ning on carbon-neutral fuels that can be
of illegal technical manipulation were tion is precluded in favour of predomi- converted in the internal combustion
uncovered – a trend which shows no nantly biased and excessively emotional engine, and hydrogen vehicles.” This
sign of stopping. Moreover, the European reporting. opinion, however, is not shared by all
Commission is currently investigating the At the beginning of April this year, those involved in the public debate.
allegations of a cartel between VW, BMW, the German labour union IG Metall
Daimler, Porsche and Audi. That in itself also led calls to re-examine the debate SWANSONG OF THE COMBUSTION
can only be positive and also shows the and, in a so-called diesel fact sheet, ENGINE PREMATURE?
following: If other state regulatory bodies summarised the current situation and
fail to act decisively, control imposed the backgrounds and positions of the The German political party Bündnis 90/
by independent media can help when it trade unionists [3]. “No one gains Die Grünen set out a ten-point plan in
comes to identifying grievances. Solving from symbolic political actionism mid-June: “The era of the fossil fuel
an issue, though, usually requires more which does nothing to help screen combustion engine is ending with clear
than just knowing all the relevant facts. off fine dust, CO 2 and nitrogen oxide”, ecological guidelines.” Following France’s
Over and above, reams of information the interviewees stressed. example, Great Britain has now also
have to be gathered to formulate argu- At the end of June, the signatories announced that the sale of new diesel
ments based on the facts, which can of the WKM paper pointed out that the and gas cars will be prohibited as of 2040.
then be discussed “rationally”. intense – and partly justified – criticism On 15 February 2017, the Commission
This is where the policy paper of the of the diesel engine drive had morphed sent a final warning letter to Germany
German Society for Automotive and into a drive to impose a general ban on and four other countries after they had
Engines Technology (WKM) comes in, the use of internal combustion engines failed to curb repeated emissions of nitro-
which was also published at the end of in motor vehicles – this was not inten- gen dioxide that exceeded limit values.
June [2]. In referencing the “partially tional. “Successful climate policy in a The next step is a call to instigate pro-
justified criticism of the diesel engine thriving society is contingent on an ceedings before the European Court of
drive”, the paper begins with an admis- advanced development of drive systems Justice as part of the EU infringement
sion from industry experts that much which is open to all types of technol- procedure. “The NO 2 exposure carries
has gone wrong in the past. “The use ogy”, stress automotive and engine tech- with it a serious health risk. 40 % of NO x
of a cycle detection mechanism to con- nology experts. One of the authors is emissions in the EU come from road traf-
figure special emission mitigation meas- Prof. Dr. Christian Beidl, Head of the fic. About 80 % of all NO x emissions from
ures not active during real operation Institute for Internal Combustion transport originate from diesel vehicles”,
and without physical necessity” is con- Engines and Powertrain Systems at TU explained the European Commission and,
demned by signatories to the paper, Darmstadt. In response to our request, besides Germany, also urged France,
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