London and Birmingham have been chose to take part in a trial where pollution cameras will be used to measure real world CO2 emissions and then the data can be compared to manufacturers' claims. Thes will be the first test of it's kind in Europe and will use technology created by former NASA scientist Stewart Hagar called the Emission Detection and Reporting Device.
But how do they work exactly? This is going to sound a bit like science fiction so bear with me. The cameras shoot laser beams through the exhaust gases and the changes of light in the gas analyse the emissions. The data is then compared to pollution monitoring stations to make sure the data the cameras are collecting is accurate. A seperate camera will catch the number plate of the car. It can then be compared to what the manufacturer claim the car is capable of to test the legitmacy of their claims.
Ex-NASA scientist Stewart Hagar said: “We (NASA) were working on a active satellite system that shoots lasers down into the atmosphere to measure column abundances of CO2. I started thinking this would be great for cars”. He added: “I did some research and found out that nobody has done this before, so this is a very unique system”.
The Department of Travel of will be paying £149,000 towards the trial, Transport Minister, Andrew Jones MP said: “This newly emerging technology is another example of British universities taking the lead in this area. We are pleased to support important work that improves our understanding of the impact that vehicle emissions have on air quality levels.”
The first camera will be deployed in Birmingham this week whereas the two in London will be added later his month.