That is among key findings from research published today (29 September 2015) for Dearman – the clean cold and power technology developer – which also points to the fact that European governments give tax breaks for red diesel for off-road use – so exacerbating the situation.
Dearman’s study suggests that diesel TRUs (transport refrigeration units) in the EU lead directly to an air quality impact equivalent to 65 million diesel cars – resulting in 13 million tonnes of CO2e, 40,000 tonnes of NOx and 5,000 tonnes of particulate matter (PM) per year.
Those figures are based on 1 million transport refrigeration units currently operating across the EU – with 180,000 in Germany, 150,000 in France and 84,000 in the UK alone – delivering cold and frozen goods to restaurants, supermarkets, warehouses, homes and hospitals.
They are also calculated on the basis that TRUs emit 29 times more particulate matter and six times more NOx than a Euro 6 diesel truck – or 165 times more PM and 93 times more NOx than a Euro 6 diesel car.
Launching the report in Brussels, Professor Toby Peters, CEO of Dearman and chair of Power and Cold Economy, University of Birmingham, said: “Until now, nobody has given transport refrigeration units a thought.”
“But [TRUs} are unregulated, use outdated fossil fuelled technology and are disproportionately polluting,” he continued.
“What’s worse, their pollution is concentrated on city streets where it does the most damage to our health.”
Peters insists that “with 400,000 people dying prematurely every year in the EU as a result of air pollution, we simply cannot afford to ignore these hidden polluters any longer”.
Dearman has developed zero-emission technologies to deliver clean cold and power, and wants to replace diesel engines in TRUs.
At the heart of the Dearman technology portfolio is the Dearman engine – a novel piston engine that harnesses the rapid expansion of liquid air (or liquid nitrogen) to produce zero-emission power and cooling for applications, including transportation and food distribution.
Dearman’s zero-emission transport refrigeration system – currently in fleet trials – is widely expected to offer the lowest total cost of ownership on the market.
It is due to enter commercial trials later this year, and will begin multi-country trials next year.