Report from Policy Exchange shows how poor air quality is in much of London, and near Heathrow
A new report by the Policy Exchange, called “Up in the Air” looks at London’s air pollution, and shows that over 12% of London’s area was in breach of NO2 limits in 2010, with the most affected areas being Central London, the area around Heathrow airport, and other major transport routes. The report says: “Aviation currently makes up 7% of total NOx emissions in Greater London, but this could increase to 14% by 2025. Aviation emissions are forecast to increase due to a growth in air [craft] movements, whilst at the same time emissions from other sectors are decreasing …..Importantly, this does not yet factor in the impact of possible airport expansion around London.” It says if there was a 3rd Heathrow runway the number of passengers would rise steeply. Their analysis only goes to 2025 but for there to be another runway, and for air quality not to deteriorate “… the acceptability of Heathrow expansion in air quality terms rests not only on the extent to which air quality impacts at Heathrow can be mitigated, but also on the level of progress on air pollution in the rest of London. If pollution levels are brought within legal limits across the rest of London, then this could undermine the case for Heathrow expansion on air quality grounds.”
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“Up in the Air” – How to Solve London’s Air Quality Crisis: Part 1
by Richard Howard. (Policy Exchange)
Nearly 25% of all school children in London and 44% of the Capital’s workforce are exposed to levels of air pollution that exceed legal and healthy limits.
A new report, Up in the Air, by Policy Exchange’s Capital City Foundation and King’s College London, analyses data from over 100 air quality monitoring sites across London. It shows the most polluted parts of the Capital currently have levels of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) nearly four times the legal limit. The research finds that 12.5% of the total area of the Capital currently exceeds the legal limit for NO2, and that deprived parts of London are more likely to be affected.
The report highlights some startling numbers:
- 328,000 school children and 3.8million workers in London are exposed to unhealthy levels of Nitrogen Dioxide which is linked to asthma and respiratory infections.
- 979 out of a total of 3,161 schools in London are over the limit for NO2. The data includes primary and secondary schools, including independent schools.
- Children attending schools in Inner London boroughs such as Westminster, Tower Hamlets, Southwark and Camden are particularly at risk to harmful levels of NO2 pollution.
The report says that while many good initiatives have been put in place to combat poor air quality in the Capital, London’s air pollution problem is still far from being solved.
It puts the failure to control NO2 emissions down to the growth in the number of diesel vehicles, including buses, taxis and diesel cars.
- Diesel cars have systematically failed to match up to emissions standards due to illegal and legal cheating of emissions tests.
- The ongoing growth in decentralised energy across London could also pose a threat to air quality. Gas combustion in buildings could be responsible for 48% of NOx emissions by 2025 in Central London.
New analysis reveals that if improvements in NO2 levels are delivered in full by 2025, then this could lead to an improvement in life expectancy of around six months. However this is in doubt given the slow progress on NO2 pollution to date.
Figure showing Aviation contributed 2% of PM10 particles to the air in Greater London in 2010
The Policy Exchange Synopsis:
Up In the Air: How to solve London’s air quality crisis – Part 1
Monday, 30 November 2015
Nearly 25% of all school children in London and 44% of the Capital’s workforce are exposed to levels of air pollution that exceed legal and healthy limits.
A new report, Up in the Air, by Policy Exchange’s Capital City Foundation and King’s College London, analyses data from over 100 air quality monitoring sites across London. It shows the most polluted parts of the Capital currently have levels of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) nearly four times the legal limit. The research finds that 12.5% of the total area of the Capital currently exceeds the legal limit for NO2, and that deprived parts of London are more likely to be affected.
The report highlights some startling numbers:
- 328,000 school children and 3.8million workers in London are exposed to unhealthy levels of Nitrogen Dioxide which is linked to asthma and respiratory infections.
- 979 out of a total of 3,161 schools in London are over the limit for NO2. The data includes primary and secondary schools, including independent schools.
- Children attending schools in Inner London boroughs such as Westminster, Tower Hamlets, Southwark and Camden are particularly at risk to harmful levels of NO2 pollution.
The report says that while many good initiatives have been put in place to combat poor air quality in the Capital, London’s air pollution problem is still far from being solved.
It puts the failure to control NO2 emissions down to the growth in the number of diesel vehicles, including buses, taxis and diesel cars.
- Diesel cars have systematically failed to match up to emissions standards due to illegal and legal cheating of emissions tests.
- The ongoing growth in decentralised energy across London could also pose a threat to air quality. Gas combustion in buildings could be responsible for 48% of NOx emissions by 2025 in Central London.
New analysis reveals that if improvements in NO2 levels are delivered in full by 2025, then this could lead to an improvement in life expectancy of around six months. However this is in doubt given the slow progress on NO2 pollution to date.
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Policy Exchange report. “Up in the Air”
Below are a few extracts from the report, relating to Heathrow and its air pollution problem.
“In 2012, Policy Exchange produced a report, “Something in the Air”, on the problem
of air pollution. The report highlighted the significant health effects and economic
costs associated with air pollution. It recommended a range of policies to improve
air quality, as follows, several of which have since been taken forward:
….. many things including ………
• Introducing a Low Emission Zone around Heathrow airport
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“London’s air pollution problem is still far from solved. Progress has been made on some pollutants, for example levels of carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide in London have dropped by 80% since 1996. There has been some progress in reducing PM and NO2 pollution, but levels still remain high. Analysis by Policy Exchange of data from air quality monitoring sites shows that the most polluted parts of London have levels of NO2 nearly four times the legal limit. It is also estimated that over 12% of London’s area was in breach of NO2 limits in 2010, with the most affected areas being Central London, the area around Heathrow airport, and other major transport routes.”
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“The air pollution problem in London is geographically concentrated in certain areas. As shown in Figure 2.4, the annual NO2 concentration limit of 40µg/m3 is exceeded in most of Central London, as well as around Heathrow and major roads around London.”
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“Another important trend is the growth in aviation related NOx emissions in London. Aviation currently makes up 7% of total NOx emissions in Greater London, but this could increase to 14% by 2025. Aviation emissions are forecast to increase due to a growth in air movements, whilst at the same time emissions from other sectors are decreasing.
“Importantly, this does not yet factor in the impact of possible airport expansion around London. Although the Government has not yet made a decision on new airport capacity, the independent Davies Commission recommended the expansion of Heathrow airport to include a third runway. This would increase the number of passengers from 70 million per year in 2011, to 104–129 million passengers per year in 2030. It is beyond the scope of this report to consider the impact of Heathrow expansion on air quality in any detail (indeed our analysis
only looks to 2025, whilst new airport capacity is expected by 2030). However the Davies Commission report recognised that Heathrow expansion presents “particular air quality challenges.” The Commission recommended that new capacity should only be released “when it is clear that air quality around the airport will not delay compliance with EU limits.”
“On this basis, the acceptability of Heathrow expansion in air quality terms rests not only on the extent to which air quality impacts at Heathrow can be mitigated, but also on the level of progress on air pollution in the rest of London. If pollution levels are brought within legal
limits across the rest of London, then this could undermine the case for Heathrow
expansion on air quality grounds.”
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• “NO2 levels remain above legal limits across 12.5% of the Greater London area,
in particular in Central London, and close to Heathrow and major roads.”
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Evening Standard reported:
Revealed: The inner London schools where children breathe toxic air
By NICHOLAS CECIL (Evening Standard)
30.11.2015
…. extracts …..
Nearly one in four school children in London are being forced to breathe air so filthy that it breaches EU legal limits, a shock report warned today.
In findings which will alarm many parents, it was revealed that 328,000 pupils were at schools where nitrogen dioxide levels were above the annual permitted level.
They included more than 30,000 children in Westminster, 29,000 in Tower Hamlets, 28,800 in Southwark, 26,300 in Camden, 24,000 in Kensington and Chelsea, 23,700 in Lambeth and 20,100 in Hackney.
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58% of pupils in inner London boroughs are in schools in areas with harmfully high nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels, according to the report which emphasised the “very clear moral case” for tackling air pollution.
While the problem in outer London is not as bad, tens of thousands of pupils are still breathing toxic air, significantly blamed on diesel fumes, which scientists say will shorten many of their lives.
For Barnet the figure was 5,300, Hounslow 4,400, Enfield 3,200, Kingston 2,400 and Richmond 2,300.
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Scientists say children are more vulnerable than adults to dangerous air pollution, partly as their lungs are less developed. Richard Howard, author of the report, said: “The case for tackling air pollution in London is clear. London’s air is unhealthy to breathe. Children are particularly vulnerable to unsafe levels of air pollution.”
The study measured average NO2 concentration 100 metres around a point in schools’ grounds. For very small schools it may have picked up areas immediately outside but these were included as pupils were likely to have been exposed to this air on their way to school.
Many schools have good air filtration systems inside buildings, particularly modern ones, but pupils are still likely to be at risk from pollution during break time, as they make their way between buildings and on their journeys to and from school.
The study also found that 3.8 million people, or 44% of the workforce, are employed in areas of London with NO2 pollution breaking EU rules.
The worst areas are Westminster, 687,000, Camden, 368,000 and the City, 360,000. In Oxford Street, one of the capital’s pollution blackspots, the average NO2 concentration in the year to August was more than 150 micrograms per cubic metre, nearly four times the legal limit, the report said.
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In outer London, the air was dirtier in some more deprived communities than affluent neighbourhoods.
The death toll from filthy air in London has been officially put at more than 9,000 a year and was responsible for 3,400 hospital admissions annually.
The report states that if current and planned policies are implemented by the Mayor and Government then the average life expectancy in London could increase by six months.
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