Clearing the air
Mahmoud Bakr uncovers new plans to reduce car exhaust
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Over two million cars traversing Cairo's streets are responsible for much of the city's airpollution; car exhaust is the target of the new government clear air campaign
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As of 1 June, Cairo, a city long suffering from pollution, will embark on a new clean air project. The target is car exhaust -- a 1994 study by the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) showed that airborne particles such as lead pose a great risk to the health of Cairo residents.
The clean air project aims to reduce emissions of such particles from automobiles, including government-owned vehicles. "No licenses are to be issued for the operation of machines, motors or vehicles producing exhaust emissions in excess of the maximum limits specified in Article 37 of the executive regulations for the environment law," says executive order number 22526/2002, which was issued by the interior minister and will go into effect 1 June 2003.
"We are trying to improve air quality across the country. Greater Cairo, with 2.5 million vehicles on its streets, is an obvious starting point," Environment Minister Mamdouh Riyad told Al- Ahram Weekly.
With automobiles burning an average of 20 litres of petrol per day, 50 million litres are burnt in Cairo every day. This process sends pollutants, chiefly carbon monoxide and a variety of hydrocarbons, into the air. "These are the pollutants we aim to monitor," said the minister. "The maximum permitted emission for carbon monoxide is seven per cent for cars manufactured before 1995 and 4.5 for cars manufactured after that date. For hydrocarbons, the maximum limit is 1,000 microgrammes per cubic metre for vehicles manufactured before 1995 and 900 microgrammes per cubic metre for vehicles manufactured after that date. Vehicles using solar fuel will undergo special tests for phosphorous emissions."
Dr Zeinab Saqr, member of the Shura Council and consultant to the exhaust measurement project, says that the project is part of the Cairo clean air plan. The plan has four aims: to encourage the use of natural gas in various vehicles, to monitor vehicle exhaust, to reduce lead-bearing emissions and to monitor the quality of air in Cairo.
She pointed out that 36 monitoring stations set up five years ago have shown that there are as many as 150-350 microgrammes of airborne particles per cubic metre of Cairo's air. In industrial areas such as Shobra Al-Kheima, there can be as many as 23 microgrammes of lead per cubic metre; that is 24 times more than the limit permitted by environment law four for 1994. "Twenty per cent of airborne substances in Cairo are emitted through vehicle exhaust," explained Saqr. "The reduction of such emissions is vital for protecting the population from lung disease and high blood pressure."
"We have been testing vehicle exhaust in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior. The executive order issued by the interior minister in December 2002 is a very important step toward reducing car exhaust in Cairo," Saqr said. "The decision will make the examination of exhaust emissions an integral part of the road safety test for vehicles. As of July 2003, vehicles not passing this test will not have their licenses renewed. Owners of such vehicles will be given a deadline to meet environmental regulations. We are helping car repair shops with technical advice, when needed, to revamp offending vehicles."
The decree states: "The traffic departments of Al-Giza and Al-Qalyubiya are to begin examining exhaust emissions in accordance with the environmental scrutiny procedures approved by the Environmental Affairs Authority for a charge of LE3." It is estimated that up to 50 per cent of the vehicles currently operating in the capital will not pass the test.
Saqr says that traffic departments will need new equipment to measure exhaust emissions and will have to train their personnel to enforce the new regulations. Currently, the necessary equipment is being procured and a training programme is underway for traffic department technicians.
Units measuring exhaust are to be installed in several petrol stations to provide free emissions tests to the public.
Despite these efforts, Minister Riyadh says that Cairo's air pollution is not caused by vehicles alone. Factories and welding shops as well as other sources add to the problem. "But reducing car pollution will be a big step forward," he argues.
Al-Qalyubiya Governor Adli Hussein says that environmental efforts have picked up over the past few years. The relocation of welding shops and the measurement of fuel exhaust will help improve air quality.
The governor notes, however, that part of the problem of illegal exhaust emissions is caused by cars coming from outside of his governorate. "Freight and passenger vehicles coming from more than 10 governorates pass through Al- Qalyubiya to Cairo on a daily basis. The problem of car exhaust, therefore, has national dimensions," he told the Weekly.
The government also plays a role in contributing to air pollution. Many state-owned vehicles are in a state of disrepair. The problem is particularly acute now that a US-funded project to repair and tune government-owned vehicles has been phased out. Once the interior minister's decision is enforced, the government will have to renew or repair its massive fleet of cars.
However, one of the drafters of environment law four for 1994, former Public Attorney Counsellor Abdel-Aziz El-Guindi is unhappy with the interior minister's order because he believes it may weaken already existing regulations. "According to Article 37 of the executive regulations of the environment law, violations of exhaust emissions would carry a fine of LE200 to LE300. The level of legally permitted emissions is to be revised every three years, but this is not being enforced," he says.
Counsellor El-Guindi says that according to the law, the governors and the Minsitry of Interior have the right to conduct spot checks on cars without waiting for the licensing test. The interior minister's order does not complement the law or its executive regulations. "We enforced these measures in the past," El-Guindi recalls. "Owners of vehicles in violation of the regulation were given a week to tune their motors or their licenses were revoked. This mode of enforcement was based on where the car was used, not where it was licensed," he explained.
Counsellor El-Guindi notes that articles 65 and 103 of the executive regulations give citizens and environmental organisations the right to report vehicles exceeding allowed emissions levels to the authorities. "If I find smoke billowing from a car on the street, I have the right as a citizen to take it to the police station," El-Guindi says.
Major-General Maher El-Meqawel, first assistant of the interior minister, notes that the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of the Environment have signed protocols of cooperation on the matter of car emissions. Officials of the two ministries are meeting regularly to discuss ways of enforcing the new regulations as of 1 July. Police cars will undergo tests to ensure that they meet the new regulations, he says.
Dr Mohamed Eid, member of the Shura Council and former chief of the EEAA, noted that a well-tuned motor can save as much as 30 per cent of fuel. "All vehicles should have special filters to reduce harmful emissions. I would like the government to ban the manufacturing or importation of vehicles not containing such filters. In fact several countries, including Germany, have introduced such bans," he said.
Eid suggests that natural gas be used to fuel government-owned cars. He also notes the need to strictly apply the new regulations to motorcycles as many are poorly maintained. Electronic street cars such as trolleys should be reintroduced as an environmentally sound form of public transportation.
