Emission of pollutants from motor vehicles in Poland comparing to pollutant emission in the European Union

BEBKIEWICZ, Katarzyna; CHŁOPEK, Zdzisław; SZCZEPAŃSKI, Krystian; ZIMAKOWSKA-LASKOWSKA, Magdalena · 2019 · Crossref

DOI: 10.19206/ce-2019-310

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

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Summary

This study analyzes and compares pollutant emissions from motor vehicles in Poland against those of the entire European Union (EU) for the period 1990–2016. The research addresses the need to assess the environmental impact of road transport within specific member states relative to the broader EU context, utilizing official pollution inventory data reported to the European Union. The analysis focuses on five key pollutants: carbon monoxide (CO), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particulate matter fractions including total suspended particles (TSP), PM10, and PM2.5. The methodology relied on the COPERT 5 software to calculate emissions for Poland, adhering to standardized EU inventory guidelines. The study categorized motor vehicles into passenger cars (gasoline, LPG, diesel, hybrid), light commercial vehicles, heavy-duty trucks, urban buses, coaches, motorcycles, and mopeds. Data was aggregated to compare total annual emissions from all civilization sectors versus emissions specifically from road transport. The analysis calculated two primary metrics: the share of Poland’s total emissions relative to the EU’s total, and the share of road transport emissions relative to total national emissions for both Poland and the EU. The results indicate that Poland’s contribution to total EU pollutant emissions is significantly lower for road transport than for all civilization sectors combined. On average, Poland accounted for 0.094 of total EU emissions across all sectors, but only 0.051 for road transport. This disparity was most pronounced for particulate matter and nitrogen oxides. Furthermore, the share of emissions originating from motor vehicles relative to total national emissions was lower in Poland (average 0.141) than in the EU (average 0.228). Specifically, road transport contributed 0.286 of Poland’s total CO emissions and 0.026 of its particulate matter emissions, compared to EU averages of 0.414 for NOx and 0.087 for particulate matter. The data suggests that despite the dynamic development of Poland’s automotive industry, the relative burden of vehicle emissions on total pollution has not increased noticeably. The authors conclude that Poland’s efforts to reduce pollutant emissions from motor vehicles are effective, as evidenced by the lower share of transport-related emissions compared to the EU average. However, the study highlights limitations in current inventory methodologies, noting a lack of strict unification in emission estimation techniques across EU member states. The authors recommend further research into specific distance-based emission rates for statistical vehicles and an expansion of studies to include greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles to improve the coherence and objectivity of future environmental assessments.

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• comparative international