- SMMT to showcase commercial vehicles’ contribution to improving air quality in the UK.
- Transport Secretary Baroness Kramer to deliver keynote speech.
- Commercial vehicle manufacturers have invested heavily in new technologies to reduce emissions, resulting in significant improvements.
SMMT will host a debate in February on the bus, coach and commercial vehicle sectors’ contribution to improving air quality. Aimed at national and local government policy stakeholders, fleet operators and vehicle manufacturers, the event will showcase clean air technology embedded in the latest buses, trucks and vans, and investigate potential policy frameworks for clean air in the UK.
SMMT Improving Air Quality: The Commercial Vehicle Contribution, an invite-only event in London on 11 February 2015, will address concerns about emissions hotspots, and demonstrate how the latest vehicle technology is already playing a vital role in delivering on strict targets for UK emissions reductions.
Delegates will hear from commercial vehicle and bus manufacturers, including Ford, Iveco, Mercedes-Benz, Optare and Renault Trucks UK, who will demonstrate how new and emerging technology, including the latest Euro-6 compliant diesel vehicles, have the potential to all but eliminate diesel nitrogen oxides (NOx) tailpipe emissions.
Baroness Kramer, Transport Minister, will make the keynote speech at the event, while Elliot Treharne, Air Quality Manager, Greater London Authority; Dr Jon Lamont, CEO, Transport for Greater Manchester; and Doug Parr, Chief Scientist, Greenpeace will lead the policy debate.
Commercial vehicles are vital to all of our daily lives: every item on a store shelf in the UK will have been transported by truck, while buses and coaches make up more than 50% of European public transport travel.*
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said, “Buses, coaches, vans and trucks all play a crucial role in the functioning of the UK. Manufacturers have invested heavily in clean Euro-6 technology, which is already playing a vital role in reducing all emissions and making significant improvements to air quality. These vehicles feature the latest emission-reducing technologies, which in tests on London’s 159 bus route, demonstrated an 85-fold reduction in NOx emissions over the previous Euro-5 standard.
“However, as this new air quality event will show, vehicle technology is only part of the solution. To help it reach its full potential, we now need to engage policy makers, operators and manufacturers to help facilitate a cohesive and sustainable transport policy framework. UK government and local authorities must work together with industry to support the uptake of Euro-6 vehicles, and develop effective traffic management policies in and around the UK’s towns, cities and low emission zones.”
For full details about SMMT Improving Air Quality: The Commercial Vehicle Contribution, and to register your interest, e-mail the event organisers.
Click through for more information on the automotive industry’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality.
*Source: IRU
