Here is a compilation of essays on ‘Vehicular Air Pollution’ for class 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Vehicular Air Pollution’ especially written for school and college students.
Essay on Vehicular Air Pollution
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Essay Contents:
- Essay on the Introduction to Vehicular Air Pollution
- Essay on the Pollutant Emissions in Indian Cities
- Essay on Source Apportionment – Contribution of Vehicles to Pollution
- Essay on Urbanisation
- Essay on the Motor Vehicle Population Trends
- Essay on the Motorisation in Indian Cities
- Essay on Vehicle Pollution – An Analysis
- Essay on the Strategies for Abatement of Vehicular Air Pollution
Essay # 1. Introduction
to Vehicular Air Pollution:
Deteriorating air quality is a major environmental problem in many Indian cities. Air pollution levels in most of the Indian cities exceed the national and world Health Organisation guidelines and threaten human health and quality of life. Although urban air quality in most of the industrial countries has been controlled to some extent during the past two decades, in many Indian cities it is worsening and becoming a major threat to the health and welfare of people and the environment.
In most of the Indian cities, the pollution loads are far above acceptable levels and Delhi has acquired the dubious distinction of being the second most polluted city in the world. Increasing public interest litigation in most of the cities to reduce ambient air pollution is an indication of the concern of the citizens towards this problem. During the last few years, urban air quality is attracting increasing attention from policy makers, judiciary including Supreme Court of India, research institutions, universities, non-governmental organizations and trade associations in India.
Air pollution has local, regional and global effects. At local level, some of the air pollutants (like particulates, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide) affect human health. They are responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths, respiratory, coronary and other diseases including cancer. At regional level, air pollutants like sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen react with the moisture in the air to form sulphuric acid and nitric acid which are transported by winds (sometimes hundreds of kilometers) before falling on earth as acid rain.
Acid rain has environmental effects associated with damage to crops and acidification of soils and surface waters. Other environmental impacts include damage to buildings and structures, vegetation, forests, reduced visibility, etc. The global warming pollutants (carbon di oxide, methane, nitrogen oxides, etc.) popularly known as greenhouse gases results in climate change and global warming. Global warming affects human health, agriculture and rise in sea levels. The effects of climate change-heat waves, drought conditions, etc. are already being felt in the recent years in the Indian sub-continent.
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Recent studies by the World Bank (in six major cities in developing countries including Mumbai) indicate that about 64% of the environmental damages from air pollution will be health impacts, 28% climate change impacts and 8% others.
Fig 1.1 below indicates the share of health, local non health and climate change impacts for the sample of six cities.
Climate change impacts appears to be a major portion of non-health costs imposed by anthropogenic (human) causes in urban areas.
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Increasing urbanization, industrialization and motorisation result in more energy demand, which generally leads to higher emissions of air pollutants. The Indian population is fast urbanizing. Out of about one billion population, the urban population is around 300 million and is expected to grow to 410 million by 2010. Liberalisation and globalisation apart from increasing industrialisation has increased the personal incomes which resulted in exponential growth in motorisation.
India is producing around 7 million vehicles annually out of which about 96% are personal vehicles. The number of motor vehicles are growing at more than 15 per cent annually in the major metropolitan cities during the last-decade. The adverse impacts of increasing motorisation-increasing road congestion, air pollution and traffic accidents have already become severe.
Motor vehicle emissions already comprise a major source of air pollution in Indian cities- they are estimated to be responsible for 60 to 70 percent of the air pollution loads. Two wheelers and three wheelers (most of them fitted with two-stroke engines) account for over 70 percent of the vehicle population and are a major source of motor vehicle emissions in most large Indian cities. Motor vehicle pollution affects the health of all income groups, but its impact on the poor is likely to be more severe as they are the least protected and more exposed to the hazards of pollution in Indian cities.
Essay # 2. Pollutant Emissions in Indian Cities
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The most common urban air pollutants in Indian cities include nitrogen oxides (Nox), carbon monoxide (CO), hydro carbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHS) like benzene, 1-3 butadiene etc.; ozone, sulphur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter (PM) and lead. In terms of pollution load (in tons), carbon monoxide dominates all other pollutants. But the toxicity of CO is much lower on a weight basis than other pollutants.
Scientific research over the last two decades has demonstrated that particulate matter is the major pollutant of concern from the health perspective. Particulate matter is the most serious pollutant in large cities in India. There are many sources of particulate emissions.
The annual average concentration of suspended particulate matter in residential areas in Delhi in 2002 was as high as 456 μg/m3. This was well above the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for residential areas – 140 μg/m3 (1). For most of the cities in India (except Chennai) SPM levels exceed national standards as indicated in Fig 1.2.
Recent studies are focusing on questions relating to particulate matter characteristics such as size, number and composition and mechanisms by which it causes health impacts. While a large body of studies links adverse health effects of particles less than 10 microns in diameter (PM10 – popularly called Respirable suspended particulate matter), the latest evidence strongly indicates that tine (less than 2.5 microns) and ultra-fine (less than 0.1 micron) fractions of PM are most harmful because of their ability to penetrate deeply into the lungs. However facilities have not been developed to measure PM2.5 and PM0.1 in India so far.
National standards were fixed and facilities were developed to measure PM10 (RSPM) recently. The mean RSPM concentrations in Delhi in 2001 averaged 204 (μg/m3, considerably above the NAAQS standard of 60 μg/m3 and the U.S annual PM10 standard of 50 μg/m3. The annual average RSPM level in residential areas in major Indian cities (including Chennai) are above NAAQS during 2000 and 2001 as can be observed in Fig 1.3.
Vehicles are responsible for fine particulates in the ambient air. Diesel vehicles and two – stroke two and three wheelers contribute more to particulate emissions. While vehicles are responsible for about 20% of the particulate emissions in the ambient air, they are responsible for about 60-70% of PM10 (Respirable particulate matter) in the ambient air. One of the major reasons for higher RSPM levels in Delhi and other cities is due to higher number of two-stroke two wheelers and diesel vehicles.
Recent studies indicate that every 10 μg/m3 increase in the daily or multi-day average concentration of PM10 increases:
1. Non-trauma deaths by 0.8 percent;
2. Hospital admissions for respiratory and cardio vascular diseases by 1.4 and 0.6 percent respectively;
3. Emergency room visits by 3.1 percent;
4. Restricted activity days by 7.7 percent; and
5. Cough in children with phlegm by 3.3 to 4.5 percent.
The studies also indicate higher risk, for infants and the elderly with chronic heart and lung diseases.
Essay # 3. Source Apportionment – Contribution of Vehicles to Pollution
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Pollutants in the ambient air are contributed by many sources, of which vehicles are one. Electric power plants, industries, refuse burning, burning of forests, burning of bio-mass for cooking and hearing, re-suspended road dust, construction activity, vehicle exhaust are some of the sources of air pollution.
A coal or oil fired electric power plant or an industry at the edge of a city with a tall stack may in absolute tonnage produce more pollutants, but may be contributing less from the point of view of overall human exposure – than for example all the households burning bio-mass or vehicles.
In the recent years, electric power stations and industries were shifted from urban areas and located in rural areas. In most of the countries including India, in power generation, there has been a shift from coal and oil burning to cleaner fuels such as natural gas and nuclear fuel. One of the recent studies in India indicated that between 1975 and 1995, vehicular pollution load increased by 7.5 times, industrial pollution load by 3.47 times, whereas gross domestic product increased by 2.63 times.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the European union under the “Auto Oil Programme” conducted studies to estimate the contribution of various sources to ambient air pollution in cities. Similarly large number of studies were conducted in Delhi and Mumbai to study the contribution of different sources to ambient air pollution in those cities. Mashelkar committee summarized the various studies and included them in its report.
The contribution of vehicular emissions to ambient air quality depends on the engine type, traffic movements, fuel quality etc. Two stroke engine two and three wheelers and diesel vehicles are the major sources of particulate matter. Gasoline cars produce more of carbon monoxide.
More of particulates and SO2 in the vehicle exhaust in Delhi may be due to larger number of two and three wheelers and buses compared to Mumbai. Similarly larger amounts of carbon monoxide in Mumbai may be due to larger share of gasoline cars in Mumbai compared to Delhi.
In terms of percentage and hence weight, carbon monoxide from vehicles dominate all other pollutants. From a health impact perspective, it is less important than other pollutants like particulate matter. Emission inventories typically show that vehicles are minority contributors to particulate matter emissions (about 16-20%).
Hence many people argue that emission inventories must be used with care. However most particulate emissions from vehicles fall into the fine particulate range, now widely regarded as the fraction most damaging to human health (in contrast to coarse particles).
Available evidence indicate that the pollutants with the most damaging health impacts are fine particulate matter (causing serious respiratory illness and premature death). In most of the Indian cities, two-stroke engine two and three wheelers and diesel vehicles are the major sources of particulates, especially fine particles.
Studies indicate that though vehicles are responsible for about 16-20% of the suspended particulate matter, they are responsible for 60-70% of the fine particulates. Pollution abatement from vehicles, therefore, is likely to be a key part of urban air quality management strategies in most of the Indian cities.
In most of the countries including India, the share of greenhouse gases from vehicles, especially carbon dioxide has increased in the recent years. It has been estimated that transport activities account for roughly 28% of total worldwide carbon dioxide production. Some measures that reduce local pollution, however, also reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
One area of overlap between local and greenhouse gas reductions is through increased fuel economy. The gains made in improving fuel economy in the 1970s and 80s due to oil crisis have contributed to decreasing both local and greenhouse gases significantly in many countries including India.
Current and future options for improving fuel economy include reduction of vehicle weight, direct fuel injection, lean burn technology, measures to increase the share of diesel vehicles (which may however adversely affect-local pollution), optimised engine transmission systems, aero dynamic body designs and electric hybrid vehicles.
In developing countries including India, fuel economy is often low because of factors like poor maintenance and fuel adulteration. Adulteration of gasoline with kerosene-decreases fuel economy, leads to knocking (due to reduced octane value) and makes for higher emissions, including higher carbon dioxide.
Essay # 4. Urbanisation
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In India about 300 million people (out of more than a billion population) are now living in urban areas and they are likely to increase to 410 million by 2010. The urban population has grown by 31.2 per cent during the period 1991 to 2001. About one-third of the population in India now live in urban areas and they are expected to reach about 44% by 2020. Till 1921, the share of urban population in the total population in India was only around 10 percent and hence Gandhiji’s adage, “India lives in its villages”.
In 1951, there were only five metropolitan cities in India with more than one million population viz., Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad. There were 35 cities in India with more than one million population in 2001 and they are likely to be 51 in 2020. Much of the population growth in urban areas is taking place in million-plus cities.
This growth resulted in huge population explosion in the three mega cities-Mumbai (16.4 million), Kolkata (13.2 million) and Delhi (12.8 million). They are followed by Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmadabad, Pune, Surat, Kanpur, Jaipur, Lucknow and Nagpur, the population of which range from 2.1 million to 6.4 million, and 22 other metropolitan cities of more than one million population each. In addition, there are over 300 cities with a population between 100 thousand and one million.
Apart from increased industrialization in urban areas, frequent droughts and unequal land tenure system have affected the rural poor significantly and resulted in their migration to large cities in India in the recent years. Political and economic liberalisation has resulted in labour shifting from agricultural employment in rural areas to industrial and service sector employment in urban areas in the recent years.
Although jobs in urban areas may not pay well, they provided higher living standards than could be obtained in rural areas. As a result, there were massive population movements from rural areas to cities, especially mega cities with more than three million population. These changes have exacerbated the demand for transport-per capita trip rates and trip lengths.
Essay # 5. Motor Vehicle Population Trends
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The great Indian dream is to own a vehicle more as a status symbol – this dream is becoming an easy reality thanks to increasing personal incomes, lenient financing schemes and the government policy to encourage automobile industry. In India, economic growth during 1990s has triggered a boom in the number and use of motor vehicles. Till 1982 only three manufacturers – M/S Hindustan Motors, M/S Premier Automobiles and M/S Standard Motors tenanted the motor car sector.
Owing to low volumes, it perpetuated obsolete technologies. In 1982, Maruthi Udyog Ltd. (MLU) came up as a government initiative in collaboration with Suzuki of Japan to establish volume production of contemporary models. After lifting of licensing in 1990s, 17 new ventures have come up, of which 16 are manufacturers of cars. Similarly there are 14 two/three wheeler manufacturers.
The number of vehicles manufactured and marked in India during the last 4 years is indicated in Table 1.2 below:
It can be observed that out of about 6 million vehicles produced in the country, about 5 million are two and three wheelers, about 7 lakh cars and about 2 lakh are commercial vehicles. The Indian automobile sector is dominated by the two and three wheelers, which consists of about 80 percent of the total installed capacity and sales of the sector.
A majority of the motor vehicles in India are concentrated in urban areas. The automobile growth rate in metropolitan cities exceed 15% against an average of about 10% in the country.
Two and three wheelers account for more than 70 percent of the vehicle population in most large cities except Mumbai and Kolkata. Their share is very high in Hyderabad, Surat, Nagpur, Lucknow, Pune and Vishakhapatnam. Nearly all the three wheelers and the majority of two wheelers are equipped with two stroke engines, which pollute more. Two stroke two wheelers and three wheelers are a major source of vehicular pollution in Indian cities.
About 6 million vehicles are getting added every year. The rate of growth of motor vehicles in India was around 11 per cent during the last decade. Vehicle population has crossed 50 million level during 2001.
It can be observed that the motor vehicle fleet increased from 0.30 million in 1951 to over 50 million in 2001. The share of two wheeler fleet was 9% in 1951 and increased to over 80% by 2001. The share of buses declined from 11% in 1951 to less than 1% by 2001.
Essay # 6. Motorisation in Indian Cities
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Motorisation is defined as the number of motor vehicles per thousand people. The large number of two wheeled vehicles make the Indian cities as “motorized” as many higher income cities in developed countries without two wheelers. Motorisation of the Indian cities is by world standards, very disproportionate to income.
During 1993 itself, most of the Indian cities were motorised to the levels of Santiago in Chile (130 per 1000 population), Istanbul (115 per 1000 population), including two wheelers. Delhi’s motorisation exceeds Sao Paulo (at 180), Mexico City (at 170) and Kaula Lumpur (at 170). All these cities have much higher per capita income than those of India.
Essay # 7. Vehicle Pollution – An Analysis
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Total emissions from a vehicle during a period consists of emissions per km. multiplied by the total vehicle kms. (VKT) by the vehicle during that period. Hence the two major ways of reducing vehicular emissions are- reducing the emissions per km. and reducing the vehicle kms. travel (VKT) or the amount of travel. Hence in the long run, apart from reducing emissions per km. in individual vehicles, efforts must be made to reduce the demand for motorized transport.
Emissions per km (in grams of pollutants per km) is affected by a variety of parameters- Engine and vehicle technology, fuel characteristics, fuel efficiency, maintenance of the vehicle, speed, congestion on the road, driving etc. Generally better vehicle technology, better fuel quality, improving maintenance and inspection, scrapping old vehicles, better driving, reducing congestion on roads, etc.; can improve fuel efficiency and reduce pollutant emissions. These are mostly technical and regulatory measures.
Economic measures such as emission taxes, fuel taxes, congestion pricing, and excise duty based on emissions etc.; can affect the behaviour of the road user and reduce pollutant emissions per km as well as reduce vehicle kms. of travel (VKT).
Reducing the travel demand or amount of travel can be achieved through effective traffic and transportation management measures (to manage demand and supply effectively).
Three mam thrusts that are likely to be effective in reducing the amount of travel are:
1. Increase private vehicle occupancy
2. Increase public transport share and
3. Restrain ownership and usage of private vehicles.
Restraining the ownership of personal vehicles has been the traditional approach in most of the developing countries including India till 1990. Very high import duties (in the range of 300-400 percent) performed well to restrain vehicle ownership in countries which do not have manufacturing facilities.
In countries like India, very high excise duty and limiting production restricted the size of the fleet. If the private vehicle users are required to pay fully for social costs – pollution, congestion, road damage etc.; they will restrain the usage of their vehicles and depend on public transport especially for trips related to work and education.
To reduce travel by personalized vehicles, it is necessary to establish an efficient and effective public transport system at affordable fares. However as long as personalized transport vehicle owners do not pay fully for the social costs incurred by them, public transport will face problems of demand. Hence effective traffic and transportation measures are required to effectively manage the supply and demand problems.
Essay # 8. Strategies for Abatement of Vehicular Air Pollution
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Economic growth has triggered a boom in the number and use of motor vehicles in India during the recent years. Owing to their rapidly increasing numbers and very limited use of emission control technologies, motor vehicles are emerging as the largest source of urban air pollution in India and the other developing countries.
Without timely and effective strategies to mitigate the adverse impacts of motor vehicle use, the living environment in Indian cities will continue to deteriorate and become increasingly unbearable. The challenge, then is to manage the growth of vehicles so as to maximize the benefits, while minimizing its adverse impacts on the environment and the society.
Such a management strategy will generally require the following measures:
1. Technical measures involving vehicles and fuels
2. Regulatory or command-and-control measures and
3. Economic and other measures.
Technical measures involving vehicles and fuels can dramatically reduce air pollution and other environmental impacts of road transport. Changes in engine technology and fuel composition can achieve very large reductions in pollutant emissions-often at modest cost. Such changes are more effective and cost effective when incorporated in new vehicles.
The most common approach to incorporating such changes has been through the establishment of “vehicle emission standards”. Developments in engine and after treatment (catalytic converters, particulate traps, etc.) technologies have significantly reduced pollutant emissions.
Major reductions in vehicle pollutant emissions are possible through technical measures at relatively low cost, and in many cases, with a net saving in life- cycle cost as a result of better fuel efficiency and reduced maintenance requirements. Through technical measures a substantial improvement in environmental conditions is feasible, despite continuous increase in vehicle fleets and their utilization.
Although technical measures alone are insufficient to ensure the desirable reduction of urban air pollution, they are an indispensable component of any cost-effective strategy for limiting vehicle emissions. Employed as part of an integrated transport and environmental programme, technical measures can buy time necessary to bring about the other changes viz. regulatory and economic measures.
The promotion of modern vehicle technology has to be harmonized with measures for fuel quality improvement. For catalytic converters to function effectively, unleaded and low sulphur fuels are necessary. Improvements in fuel quality can contribute cost- effectively to better ambient air quality if they are coordinated with improvements in vehicle technology.
In a number of countries including India, benefits of fuel quality improvements are lost due to routine adulteration of fuels. In India, it is not enough to regulate fuel quality-it is necessary to implement measures to avoid adulteration.
The substitution of cleaner-burning alternative fuels for conventional and diesel fuel has attracted great attention during the past two decades. Motivations for this substitution include conservation of oil products and energy security, as well as the reduction of gaseous and particulate emissions and visible smoke.
Alternative fuels commonly considered for vehicular use are natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, methanol, ethanol, bio diesel and various blends such as gasohol. Alternate propulsion systems – battery operated electric, electric hybrid and fuel cell vehicles have been developed as “zero pollution” and “ultra-low pollution” vehicles.
Regulatory measures are essentially a set of do’s and don’ts that interalia mandate and implement tail pipe emission standards for new and in-use vehicles, fuel standards, etc.; India and most of the developing countries follow regulatory measures to control vehicle emissions. Regulatory measures pose serious problems in implementation (for example, the “pollution under control” program in India).
Economic measures like emission taxes, environmental excise duty, fuel taxes, congestion pricing etc.; are now being increasingly used in many countries to abate vehicle emissions. Economic measures have large potential in altering the behaviour of people in a positive manner.
For example, emission taxes are expected to result in vehicle owners buying lower polluting vehicles, maintaining their vehicles better, and changing their travel plans to reduce vehicle usage. They also encourage vehicle manufacturers to develop Research and Development for producing better vehicles with lower emissions.
Similarly effective congestion pricing is capable of directing traffic flows toward socially optimum levels and reduce congestion and vehicular emissions significantly. Mashelkar Committee, after a detailed study suggested that “emission charges be experimented with initially in the four largest metropolis, namely Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai and later in all cities with a population of over one million”.
The choice of a measure depends on its costs and benefits, as well as on the monitoring and enforcement capabilities of the responsible institutions. More often, than not, these measures, if well used complement rather than substitute for one another.
Many Indian cities suffer from traffic congestion caused by rapidly rising ownership and usage of two wheelers and cars. The slow movement of motor vehicles on congested roads results in higher fuel consumption and increased rates of pollutant emissions. Effective traffic management can improve the flow of traffic on the roads, reducing emissions.
Traffic engineering measures (part of traffic management) like improvement to intersections, coordination of traffic signals etc.; have low gestation period and are cost-effective. Effective traffic management measures achieve rapid reduction in air pollution in a cost-effective manner.
Some transport modes are more energy efficient, less congesting and less polluting compared to others for the same travel demand. Buses are more fuel efficient and less congesting and less polluting compared to cars and two wheelers for the same travel demand.
According to Mashelkar committee, a car consumes about 5 times more energy than a bus, while a two wheeler consumes about 2.6 times more energy than a bus for the same travel demand. Similarly a two wheeler occupies about 54 times and a car about 38 times more road space than buses for the same travel demand.
A recent study indicates that the share of public transport in Delhi is about 62%, but the contribution of buses to overall vehicular pollution is only about 2%. Hence the desirable public policy should be to discourage the use of two wheelers and cars and to encourage public transport.
According to Mashelkar Committee, “Promoting public transport should be viewed as a strategy to improve urban traffic and in controlling air pollution from automobiles. Significant reductions in energy consumption and vehicular emissions can be achieved by reducing dependence on individual personalized vehicles and by increasing ridership of public transport”. Hence in any city, an effective strategy to reduce vehicular emissions should examine and improve the traffic management and the public transport system.