The report 'Driving away from diesel – Reducing air pollution from diesel vehicles' focuses instead on exclusion measures.
"The use of low emission natural gas powered transport is growing across the UK and Europe as a commercially and environmentally beneficial solution for powering the next generation of road vehicles," states an exasperated Rob Wood, chief executive officer of Gasrec.
"There are currently over 700 gas-powered heavy commercial vehicles on the UK road network being operated by leading household brands," he continues, pointing to Iveco, Mercedes-Benz, Scania and Volvo, all of which manufacture trucks capable of running on gas.
"Additionally, many lighter gas powered delivery vehicles are also being used for deliveries in urban areas, including London, by companies such as DHL and Tesco."
Wood states that rigid and tractor unit manufacturers, particularly since Euro 6, now offer a selection of gas and/or dual-fuel vehicles, or have plans to introduce expanded ranges.
"Other cities in Europe have benefited from cleaner air by adopting gas," he insists. "Madrid already has around 1,250 gas-powered [HGVs] operating across the city. Nearly all of Madrid's waste is now collected by trucks running on natural gas."
Even developing nations such as India and China have significant quantities of natural gas vehicles for public transport and services, he says.
"A similar approach could easily work for London. With vehicles already available, it would only require the development of a modest network of filling stations, which could be relatively quickly established," states Wood.
"This would help reduce emissions from both light and heavy delivery vehicles – which, as the report points out, currently account for 17% of London's NOx emissions."
And he adds that there is no reason why natural gas powered vehicles should not also be used for other heavy vehicles in London, such as buses and coaches (10% of London's NOx emissions) and refuse trucks.
"Perhaps an additional recommendation to the report should be to encourage the London Mayor to treat low noise, low emission natural gas powered vehicles in a similar way to other low emission technologies and encourage their greater use."