Toxic fumes are comin’: Truck pollution will double over Christmas

(Transport and Environment, 19 Dec 2022) Trucks hauling presents to Europeans will emit an extra 10,300 tonnes of nitrogen oxides in December.

Toxic air pollution from trucks carrying Christmas presents will more than double over the month of December as hauliers respond to the holiday rush. Nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from heavy-duty vehicles transporting gifts around Europe will rise 133% this month compared to a normal month, new analysis by green group Transport & Environment (T&E) shows. NOx is the pollutant that was at the heart of the Dieselgate scandal and is responsible for 49,000 premature deaths in Europe annually.

Carbon emissions from trucks carrying gifts will increase by the same proportion (133%) in December – equivalent to an extra 9,500 return flights from Paris to New York. T&E, which analysed the additional CO2 and NOx emissions of trucks transporting consumer goods (excluding food) in the month of December, said the solution is already available in zero-emissions trucks. But EU regulators need to mandate truckmakers to start mass producing electric rigs.

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Transport and Environment, 19 Dec 2022: Toxic fumes are comin’: Truck pollution will double over Christmas