The controversy over the stop to the circulation of Euro 5 and 6 diesel vehicles in Rome is enriched by a new and authoritative contribution. The one with numbers. In fact, to demonstrate the ineffectiveness of the provision desired by the Municipality - which will also extend to the so-called ecological Sundays on foot - these are the data from the Unione Petrolifera, which quantified the "benefit" of the total ban on diesel cars on 14-15-16 January, and ealso extended to Friday 17 January: the daily emission of only 30 kg of fine dust is avoided, that is, 0,15% of the total introduced daily in Rome. In the winter months, in fact, 20.000 kg of PM10 are discharged in the capital in total, with most of the cars on the road (300.000) being latest generation diesels, i.e. Euro 5 or 6, and therefore with emission limits of 0,005 g/km of PM10, for each vehicle.
The figure was therefore calculated by the UP on the basis of an estimated average stay of 20 km per day in the area affected by the blockade: instead, considering a probably more likely journey of 10 km, the percentage contribution to polluting emissions would be halved even 0,075%. A trifle, objectively, which however creates quite a few inconveniences to traffic: if it is true that forcing citizens to use the car as little as possible certainly has a noble educational purpose, why do it if it is practically useless?
"In addition to the discomfort - comments a note from UP -, such measures create uncertainty in consumers, effectively blocking the turnover of the car fleet which is one of the main tools capable of making a positive contribution to the improvement of air quality in the medium term, given above all the high average age of the private but also public vehicle fleet compared to the average European. Even modest interventions on the cleaning and maintenance of city streets would give far superior results”.
This last thesis is confirmed by the case of Stuttgart: the German city, thanks to a strong investment in the maintenance and cleaning of the streets, reduced the days of exceeding the Pm65 alarm threshold by 10%. in one year, going from 85 in 2016 to 23 in 2018. This is also thanks to the fact that the number of road washing days has gone from 27 to 89.
