France curbs Paris car drivers to combat dangerous smog

but, but, i thought everything was better in europe???

 

"...as politicians try to get rid of health-threatening smog days before municiple elections..."

 

They just have to regulate the non Euro6 compliant vehicles.

 

American emission standards are stricter than European ones.
Light-Duty Vehicle, Light-Duty Truck, and Medium-Duty Passenger Vehicle Tier 2 -- Exhaust Emission Standards and Implementation Schedule | Emission Standards Reference Guide | US EPA
European emission standards - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
When the g/km of the upcoming Euro 6 standards are converted to g/mi, they exceed the bin 5 limits diesels have to meet in the US. Except for carbon monoxide. Which is higher in the US because the standards apply to both gasoline and diesel vehicles. The EU has seperate limits for each fuel.

While Euro 6 cars are available now, the majority on Paris' roads are going to be Euro 5, 4, or 3. None of those would meet the definition of clean diesel. Europe is going to be dealing with the effects of the lax emission regulations and favorable fuel costs of diesel for years.

While there are older, dirtier diesels on the roads in the US, their unpopularity compared to gasoline cars has kept their numbers low. They sell at a lower rate than hybrids. If they suddenly became super popular, the US regulations means this large number of diesel cars suddenly on the road will be no dirtier than the gasoline ones.

 

Pretty much. Even their gasoline cars are dirtier than US ones.

 

The oxymoronic 'clean diesel' label has been tossed about ever since partial partial removal of sulphur was mandated.
No revisionist history, please.

I for one find it difficult to compare Euro6 to EPA because diesel cars are regulated by a TOTAL (NOx + HC) value, while EPA has caps for each pollutant. Local enviro conditions that may be either NOx or HC in surplus would dictate how effective each approach would be.

 

More accurately, they will no dirtier than the dirtiest petrol cars allowed.

 

ULSD is what allows the use of catalytic convertors to reduce NOx. Doesn't matter how clean the emissions of a diesel are if the fuel ends up destroying the emission controls.

Likewise, putting ULSD into an old diesel isn't going to let it run as clean as a gas car.

I was wrong in the definition of clean diesel in my prior post. It only applies to the fuel, but my point still stands about older cars being polluters. The fact that they are still being driven doesn't mean 'clean diesel' is a failure. Putting today's RFG into a 1980's Crown Vic isn't going to magically update its emission controls.

 

I remember when they did this in the 80's and everyone just swapped plates or drove an old clunker on alternate days. The smog problem got worse, not better, because of the old clunkers being driven.

 

Correct. And prior to combustion it is pretty 'clean,' as is heavily diesel fuel heavily contaminated with sulfur. Is combustion of low sulfur diesel heavily polluting compared to petrol ? It depends.

Thus my statement that 'clean diesel' is an oxymoron.

 

The American habit of keeping clunkers in the front yard is unusual in Paris.

 

Yes, the T2B5 is the lowest limit they have to meet. As with gasoline models, a diesel car can exceed that limit. The Camry, BMW 328d, Jetta TDI, and Cruze TDI are all certified to bin 5 in federal emission states. For California, the engine codes don't change, so neither will the emission controls. There are 3 engines listed for the 4 cylinder Camry. One of its federal scores of 5 increase to a 9. The other 2 went up to 6, just as did the BMW and VW diesel. The Cruze stayed at a 5, but it appears GM choose to certify it to the upcoming Tier 3 regulations.

Cummings has a goal of exceeding the current Prius emissions with the 2.7L diesel they are developing.

 

Clean gasoline would be just as much an oxymoron.
ULSD just doesn't roll off a talking heads tongue as well as clean diesel, and most hearing ULSD wouldn't know it would allow better emission controls, and thus cleaner cars and trucks.

 

Correct about 'clean gasoline.' The problem is all the fools that think that because their vehicle uses ULSD, the emissions are low.

 

That's nice. Let us know when it happens.

How old are current EPA emission regulations ? I'm wondering how soon the Europeans will have to deal with a stricter set.

Addendum: Here we are, Tier 3. The proposed rule is meant to be the same as CARB LEV III

 

In the US, we are already quite clean burning re: gasoline, but we have not yet reached full-stride. Our future gasoline should be really clean burning when the EPA final gaso sulfur reductions take effect in over the next 5-10 years or so.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/08/opinion/the-sulfur-rule-tardy-but-welcome.html

 

If I am reading diesel Euro6 compared to minimum LEV III correctly...

Euro6 allows up to 170 mg/km of combined NOx + HC
LEV III allows up to 160 mg/mile of combined NOx + HC

So a car that just meets Euro6 will be 71% higher emissions than LEV III allows. And at least 13 fold more polluting than a SULEV20 Prius.

 

Tier info
Tier 3 Vehicle Emission and Fuel Standards Program | Cars and Light Trucks | US EPA

 

Eh? You told you that?

The latest Euro 6 diesel being sold from this year on will combat smog. The ones prior will not and do not. France also prices diesel significantly cheaper than petrol as it was original meant to assist truck drivers and commercial vehicles.

They made their bed, they can lie in it. Saying that, London isn't much better.