Dr Jenifer Baxter, Head of Engineering at the Institution of
Mechanical Engineers, said in response to the call to action from
the four House of Commons
committees which have joined forces to demand the
Government address the “national health emergency” of poor
quality air:
“The Institution of Mechanical Engineers supports
this move from the Environmental Audit Committee, the Health
Committee, the Transport Committee and the Environment Committee.
We have been raising awareness of this issue for some
time.
“Our latest A Breath of Fresh
Air report released in January this year
called for a Clean Air Act, and went further to call for a
coherent and consistent monitoring of transport emissions so
informed targets can be set. We recommended incentives for
freight deliveries outside peak hours and highlighted the
potential to retrofit diesel trains to cut emissions while trains
are standing at platforms.
“The House of Commons report suggests that the
Government should align its climate change schemes, urban
planning, public transport and fiscal incentives with air quality
goals to prevent Government policy from working at cross-purposes
and we fully support this level of systems
thinking.
“In particular, we would like to see the Department
for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs work with the
Department for Transport to introduce emission monitoring
equipment across our transport network (e.g. in streets,
underground stations, enclosed railway stations, ports, airports)
along with real-time on-vehicle monitoring.
“This will provide us with a complete
picture of our baseline pollutants, which would enable us to
monitor peaks throughout the day. This new monitoring system will
need to record all types of pollution including oxides of
nitrogen (NOx), particulate matter (PM) and ultra-fine particles
(UFP). These data will provide a baseline for our emissions and
enable prioritisation of investment schemes to tackle pollutants
in a logical, evidence-based way.”
