DANGEROUS MOTOR VEHICLE EMMISSIONS AT LUSAKA INTERCITY BUS TERMINAL HAVE REDUCED
“His vision for solving Africa’s excruciating energy poverty must be sustained”
FIN NOVEMBER 2021, I authored an article on the dangerous levels of localised motor vehicle emissions at the country’s major public transport hub - Lusaka Intercity Bus Terminal.
On a daily basis, dozens of both big buses and mini-buses enter, park and exit this noisy public facility. The congestion at this facility is simply unacceptable.
With slow moving diesel engines entering and exiting at a snail’s pace, carbon and sulphide emissions are high enough to raise eyebrows from public health and environmental advocates. This is compounded by the high number of buses on idling mode; also discharging emissions in a localised environment.
Motor vehicles are a leading source of air pollution which contribute to the formation of ground level ozone, which can trigger health problems such as aggravated asthma, reduced lung capacity, and increased susceptibility to respiratory illnesses, including pneumonia and bronchitis.
Scientific research has repeatedly shown that the health effects of air pollution are serious as one third of deaths from stroke, lung cancer and heart disease are due to air pollution.
Microscopic pollutants in the air can slip past our body’s defences, penetrating deep into our respiratory and circulatory system, damaging our lungs, heart and brain.
Air pollution over burdens our health care system with substantial medical costs. Research has shown that people with existing heart or lung diesels, asthma or other respiratory problems, children and the elderly are most sensitive to the health effects of motor vehicle emissions.
While emissions from industries are discharged at a significant height, emissions from motor vehicles are discharged near the ground thereby making human beings more vulnerable to motor vehicle emissions especially in a traffic jam and confined areas such as Lusaka Intercity Bus Terminal where there is traffic jam and buses left on idling mode for long periods.
Having established a new Ministry of Green Economy and Environment, it will be impossible to avoid discussing the impact of the energy sector on the country’s quest for a Green Economy.
This is because, energy sources are a leading source of air pollution. One of the major interventions from the energy sector which can contribute to reduced air pollution is implementation of a clean fuels mandate for the country.
In this area, the new dawn administration has performed extremely well by banning the importation of high sulphur diesel. This means that the country has been shifted to a low sulphur diesel platform.
The benefits are enormous.
High traffic congested areas such as Lusaka Intercity Bus Terminal which had dangerous levels of localised air pollution have become a better place.
By the same token, it can be deduced that the country has generally reduced motor vehicle emissions through a policy shift which has been implemented and must qualify for recognition by Green Funds to this end.
Government is encouraged to continue improving the fuel specifications not just on diesel but on petrol and kerosene. Kerosene is widely used by our rural communities.
A clean fuels mandate reduces harmful motor vehicle emissions. Motor vehicle emissions are a major contributor to air pollution which aggravates health and environmental challenges as indicated earlier.
In addition, maintaining the integrity of the fuel supply chain will be critical. The country had a very compromised fuel supply chain until in the recent years when major interventions started taking shape.
A compromised fuel supply chain leads to fuel adulteration and dumping of substandard fuel on the market thereby compounding emissions from strange adulterants.
For this reason, many countries have adopted a clean fuels policy not just for the purpose of protecting the environment but also human health and assist lower vehicle maintenance costs which are aggravated by high sulphur diesel.
Sulphur dioxide is acidic in nature. It attacks engine oil thereby reducing its useful life span and also corrodes other parts of the vehicle components among other challenges.
Pushing a clean fuels mandate requires considerable political will and activism on the part of environmentalists to push for a review of standards and enforcement.
With so many chest and lung complications in our midst, this is not an issue which can be under played. To this end, Government must be commended for shifting the country to a low sulphur diesel platform.
Clean fuels have many benefits beyond protecting human health and environment. Here are some benefits: tors such as tyre pressure, driving style, barometric conditions just to mention but a few, low sulphur diesel has increased capacity to keep injectors and fuel systems clean.
These factors contribute to better fuel economy.
Sulphur, a natural part of the crude oil from which diesel fuel A technical and possible cost is derived is one of the key causes implication on engine life and of soot in diesel engines. Soot is service interval is the formation the main culprit of diesel engine’s of sulphuric acid when the diesel noxious black exhaust fumes and that is used contains high levis among prime contributors to els of sulphur. This acidic comair pollution. pound influences the degradaSustaining a clean fuels mantion of engine oil and contributes date through legal instruments to corrosion. such as a Statutory Instrument
This means that vehicles using (SI), maintaining the fuel suphigh policy sulphur be diesel adhered could to suffer in order ply to chain sustain integrity a self-fi to monitor shorter life spans compared with fuel quality in real time and enthose using low sulphur diesel. forcing motor vehicle pollution
High sulphur in petrol and dieprogrammes will be key deliverasel is linked to a host of undesirbles to sustain the achievements able effects, including increased which have been scored so far. emissions and poisoning of adLusaka Intercity Bus Terminal vanced exhaust after treatment is now a healthier facility due to device such as three-way catareduced motor vehicle particulysts and diesel particulate filters. late emissions.
The service interval is also potentially longer in vehicles using low sulphur diesel than those using high sulphur diesel
Cost benefits Fuel economy
Although fuel economy can be affected by a host of different fac*Johnstone Chikwanda is an energy expert, researcher, and a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Zambia, a PhD candidate at Johnson University, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. Email: j_chikwanda@yahoo.com