Refreshed retrofit guide published by Zemo Partnership
Zemo Partnership (formerly LowCVP) has published an updated Clean Vehicle Retrofit Technology Guide to highlight the role that the wide range of retrofit technologies can play in improving air quality by cleaning up the existing vehicle fleet.
Zemo points to the significant air quality challenge currently facing UK towns and cities, with an estimated 40,000 early deaths caused by poor air quality. Road transport is responsible for up to 80 per cent of roadside NOx in towns and cities, with older diesel vehicles contributing most harmful emissions.
Following the introduction of the Bath Clean Air Zone today, Birmingham will launch on 1 June this year and other CAZs will follow in cities throughout the UK.
The Clean Vehicle Retrofit Technology Guide aims to give vehicle operators and local authorities an understanding of national air quality frameworks for reducing roadside NO2 concentrations, providing case studies with examples of a range of accredited retrofit technologies that achieve Euro VI-equivalent levels of emissions through the Clean Vehicle Retrofit Accreditation Scheme (CVRAS). The guide covers technologies accredited for buses, coaches, trucks, refuse collection vehicles and black cabs. Many are also applicable to vans and minibuses.
NOx abatement technologies such as Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) and Euro VI engine repower can provide cost-effective alternatives to purchasing new CAZ or ULEZ-compliant vehicles, says Zemo. And of course, retrofitting a fully electric drivetrain will also eliminate tailpipe emissions, but these too need to be accredited to ensure robust standards. Case studies and total cost of ownership (TCO) examples for accredited technologies are included in the guide to direct readers to the most suitable solution.
The CVRAS standards have also been adopted by Transport Scotland and Transport for London (TfL), so that a vehicle with CVRAS-approved technology installed is identified in the central national database and can enter.