Real-driving emissions of circulating Spanish car fleet in 2015 using RSD Technology

•Real emissions of Spanish circulating fleet vs vehicle emission standards•Remote sensing measurements of car emissions in real driving conditions•No correlation between nitric oxide (NO) emissions (passenger cars) and Euro Standards•Significant differences among brands and by engine category

In this paper we present the results corresponding to on-road traffic emissions measurements obtained during two field campaigns developed in the Madrid region (Spain) during 2014 and 2015 in the framework of the CORETRA project. The experimental strategy was based on the use of a RSD 4600 remote sensor in interurban roads. These measurements have produced a global database of > 190,000 vehicles with their associated emission data (NO/CO2, HC/CO2 and CO/CO2), which can be considered representative of the current Spanish circulating fleet. The results of M1 vehicles were analysed according to their distribution by Euro Standard and engine model. One of the relevant findings is that, despite the progressive introduction of increasingly stringent standards, no NO emission reduction is observed for diesel vehicles with time, although this behavior shows significative differences among brands and engine models.We have also investigated the presence of “high emitter” (HE) vehicles in the Spanish M1 circulating fleet and most of the HE detected corresponded to diesel vehicles with very high NO/CO2 values. With these results at hand, we strongly propose the future incorporation of the “high emitter vehicle” definition into the European environmental legislation, as well as the establishment of specific strategies in each country/region in order to identify these anomalous vehicles. Identification and repair of HE vehicles within the European circulating fleets, although are not easy tasks, should be considered very important for the improvement of air quality in the EU. The use of non-intrusive optical technologies (i.e. RSD) is an excellent option to provide instantaneous real emission data of each individual vehicle without disturbing traffic and for on-road fleet monitoring. In summary, it is a good strategy to obtain valuable information about the long term surveillance of real vehicle emission trends, specially after the introduction of new standard.

Graphical abstractDownload high-res image (210KB)Download full-size image