Page 14 - ATZ WORLDWIDE

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

ACHIEVING CLIMATE PROTECTION GOALS – BUT HOW? molecules with different chain lengths. “By comparison,
CO 2 -neutral, synthetic fuels, which ideally consist of homo-
With the 2050 Climate Protection Plan, the federal govern- geneous, so-called C1 molecules, combust almost completely
ment has set itself the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emis- and therefore just with extremly low emissions.” This would
sions from transport by 40 to 42 % by 2030, compared to lower the requirements on exhaust aftertreatment systems
1990 levels. This includes demands to improve the air in according to Maus, based on today’s emissions standards. [8]
many cities. The climate protection targets and the health But he goes even further: “The use of such fuels in the future
risks caused by air pollutants are not in question; the issue should enable internal combustion engines to produce emis-
is how to square the circle. Achieving these goals, according sions that are lower than urban immissions. In other words,
to Maria Krautzberger, President of the German Federal Envi- a vehicle running on such fuels would clean the air in cities.”,
ronment Agency, inevitably means the electric motor. “By he says, explaining: “It [the internal combustion engine] intakes
2030, we will need even more than the six million electric urban air that is polluted with emissions, such as NO 2 , combusts
vehicles which had been the target of the federal government. it together with the fuel and reduces the overall pollutant emis-
According to calculations we have commissioned, by 2030, a sions using a suitable exhaust aftertreatment system, with the
whole raft of other measures will be required to avoid and result that the tailpipe emissions from the vehicle are actually
redistribute traffic, comprising up to twelve million electric below the prescribed immissions limits.” Maus is convinced that
vehicles”, she told the MTZ. This means, in turn, that by the internal combustion engine retains this potential.
2030, around 70 % of all newly registered passenger cars
would have to be powered by an all-electric drive or operate Angelina Hofacker
with a charger and internal combustion engine. “Whenever
possible, electricity should be used directly and efficiently. In REFERENCES
my view, therefore, electric mobility is the right way forward [1] LobbyControl: Lobbyreport 2017. Online: https://www.lobbycontrol.de/
for vehicles”, stressed Krautzberger. To ensure a successful wp-content/uploads/lobbyreport-lc-2017-web-1.pdf. Last access: July 2017
[2] Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für Kraftfahrzeug- und Motorentechnik
transition to electric drives and shore up planning for manu- (WKM): Die Zukunft des Verbrennungsmotors/Bewertung der dieselmotorischen
facturers, the German Federal Environment Agency recom- Situation. Online: http://www.wkm-ev.de/images/20170708_Die_Zukunft_des_
mends establishing long-term quotas for electric vehicles. Verbrennungsmotors.pdf. Last access: July 2017
The Baden-Württemberg Minister for Economic Affairs, [3] IG Metall: Faktenblatt der IG Metall zur Debatte über Diesel-Fahrverbote.
Online: http://koeln-bonn.dgb.de/themen/++co++89b98db2-2677-11e7-
Hoffmeister-Kraut, said: “To date, German industry has ba7d-525400e5a74a. Last access: July 2017
dragged its feet somewhat about the new forms of drive, [4] Dieselalarm – Kontroverse um den Kraftstoff. In: Zur Diskussion.
but this issue is now very much the focal point.”[6] And Deutschlandradio. Online: http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/dieselalarm-
kontroverse-um-den-kraftstoff.2011.de.html?dram:article_id=390846.
many examples prove this. Meanwhile, all German car- Last access: July 2017
makers are now engaged in a large-scale electromobility [5] Vieweg, C.: Die Motoren sind nicht das Problem. Online: http://www.zeit.de/
campaign. Even so, many still want to develop the conven- mobilitaet/2017-02/feinstaub-motoren-luftverschmutzung-reifen-abrieb-bremsen.
tional drive train further. It still retains untapped potential. Last access: July 2017
[6] Ohnewald, M: „Diesel-Bashing schadet Standort“. Interview with
But tapping into this potential can only be done at a price. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut. In: nemo. Issue 7/2017, pp. 8-13. Online:
At the start of the year, Toyota’s Gerald Killmann, being http://nachhaltige-mobilitaet.region-stuttgart.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/
quoted at the beginning of this article, explained in an nemo7_Magazin_web.pdf. Last access: July 2017
MTZ interview: “There is a need for clarity: diesel engines [7] Westerhoff, M.: „Wasserstoff wird es nicht wegen des Automobils geben“.
Interview with Gerald Killmann, Vice President R&D, Toyota Motor Europe.
are costly.” And exhaust gas aftertreatment systems in Online: https://www.springerprofessional.de/brennstoffzelle/betriebsstoffe/
particular would become increasingly complicated and wasserstoff-wird-es-nicht-wegen-des-automobils-geben/12187130.
costly – particularly in diesel engines. However, the total Last access: July 2017
end consumer costs would have to be kept to a reasonable [8] Westerhoff, M.: „Vehicles should be able to clean the air“. Interview
with Wolfgang Maus. In: MTZworldwide 77 (2016), No. 1, pp. 22-24
level, relative to the rest of the vehicle. [7]
However, Killmann is not signalling the death knell for the
diesel engine in passenger cars just yet. The diesel engine is
useful. “If you refract crude oil, you obtain a certain amount
of diesel and a certain amount of gasoline. This gives you a
certain degree of coverage when you use the oil. The propor-
tion of diesel produced now used for heavy traffic and that
used for private traffic is ultimately dictated by the customer
by his/her purchasing behaviour. We [Toyota] can clearly see
that our hybrid drives have been very successful. Even so,
we still continue to offer diesel engines […].”
For emissions expert Wolfgang Maus, the decisive question
is to what extent vehicle owners will be forced to drive fossil
fuels in future. As he explained in an MTZ interview in 2016:
“Today’s fossil fuels — and that is just as true for gas as for gas-
oline and diesel — unfortunately do not combust completely.
Therefore, the emissions are directly related to them. That is
particularly the case for diesel.” Fossil fuels consist of many
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