Summary

Non-EXhaust emissions from road Transport: Developing cost-effective measures based on impact on air quality, health and the implications of electric vehicles uptake.
During the last two decades, particulate matter (PM) emissions from vehicles exhaust have been reduced progressively (from 80-90% for Europe) to less than 50%, through the implementation of the EUROx (or similar) directives. Non-exhaust emissions instead (which consist of brake/tire/road wear and road dust resuspension), did not decrease or have even growth due to the lack of policies and increase of transport activity, representing now the dominant source of PM from traffic. The growing concern on non-exhaust PM is aggravated by three relevant aspects:

– the expected small benefit posed by electric vehicles penetration.
– the increase of average curb weight of new vehicles, mostly due to the penetration of SUV
– the expected high toxicity related to the oxidative stress induced by transition metals and redox active organics present in non-exhaust PM.

While immediate and long-run actions are needed in order to reduce their adverse effects, the scientific knowledge on non-exhaust emissions is scarce hampering a proper assessment of these emissions from both the technological and policy points of view. This proposal addresses key aspects where an improved scientific knowledge could be directly transferred to policy makers and industry in order to tackle non-exhaust emissions.

Funding amount: 169.400,00 €

Staff