The issue surrounding diesel and petrol engine pollution is very common. There was a perception initially that diesel engines pollute less, but today we blame diesel engines for polluting more. Diesel engines emit less carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases than petrol engines because of the particular type of fuel and the internal efficiency of the diesel engine. More specifically, the fuel used in diesel engines has a higher compression ratio than petrol and it also performs better than petrol engines. As a result, less fuel is used to travel the same distance, thereby saving more carbon dioxide. Most of the studies indicate that the carbon emissions of diesel engines is about 10% less than the petrol engines of the same category. So diesel cars pollute less than petrol cars. However, things are not so simple when we look at other sources of pollution also such as fine particles, it’s petrol that outperforms.

Despite being able to filter a huge amount of fine particles, these filters cannot retain the finest particles that are also the largest ones produced by diesel engines. At the same time these filtering technologies do not always have a positive effect on emissions. In addition, studies conducted by the German Federal Office of the Environment have also attested that diesel engines generally pollute much more in real conditions than the official statements of manufacturers, despite the presence of filters. Most experts agree diesel engines produce even more fine particles than equivalent petrol engines.

In recent years, a system called direct injection has gradually spread over fuel powered engines. This system uses a pump to spray fuel into the cylinder at high pressure to reduce fuel consumption. The problem with this system, however, is that it significantly increases the number of fine particulate pollutants in petrol engines. As a result, the fine particle emission rates of petrol engines are increasing as this type of engine develops. They can, in fact, eventually catch up with the fine particle emission rates of diesel engines. As a matter of fact, the Euro 6 standards have the same limits on fine particle emissions happening for diesel and petrol engines. The problem becomes more complicated with the different models as well as the different uses of petrol and diesel vehicles. On average diesel vehicles are bigger, heavier and more efficient than petrol vehicles. They are also used more frequently to travel greater distances. As a result, in transport and environment, diesel engines in circulation are on average, polluting more than petrol engines in terms of carbon dioxide emitted over their life cycle. As particle pollutants cause serious destruction to mankind, especially chronic respiratory diseases, an alternative for fuel powered vehicles should be available for the common man at the earliest and we do the same.

Transporting oil from 10 countries to more than 150 countries around the world is the main reason for the international sea routes being busy and the major reasons for air pollution. So the replacement of petrol and diesel vehicles with electric vehicles or hydrogen powered vehicles is the only option to reduce this huge disaster of air pollution from oil.

A Triple E class Maersk container ship capable of carrying more than 18,000 shipping containers with 60 megawatts of power, uses 80,000 liters of fuel in a day and this is also considered as the most efficient cargo ship on the planet. There is an indication that they might be able to build something for use in a hybrid arrangement on larger ships, where hydrogen could be used to support auxiliary energy requirements of larger vessels.

Transportation of oil and coal which cover more than 50% of the global shipping transportation results in massive air pollution both in terms of transporting and use of the same. Maritime shipping vessels like coal carrying ships are powered by enormous engines that burn thousands of gallons of heavy fuel oil every day when they're at sea. There are signs that the status quo is changing and that the new hydrogen powered fuel could make cargo ships among the cleanest transportation methods on earth. Things are changing and they are changing quite fast. The international body that helps create global shipping regulations has clamped down on emissions of some ir-polluting substances when ships are in or near ports. The new regulations which decrease air pollution limits dramatically require ships to significantly cut the amount of sulfur pollution they emit when they're near land especially. For the United States, the regulations apply anywhere within 200 miles of its coastline and the easiest way to comply with the new regulations is to burn a different, less pollution-intensive type of diesel fuel called hydrogen which has no pollution.

As vehicular pollution is the single biggest reason for deteriorating air quality, the perfect remedy for the same is to promote the two available technologies that really help to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, other poisonous chemicals, fine particle emissions, especially if powered by renewable energies, are the most eco-friendly alternatives called hydrogen and electric vehicles. We must keep in mind that electric vehicles are 100% green and the best option to reduce our environmental footprint on transportation. Green Asian Voice feels the same and is fully committed to take vital steps for replacing the millions of petrol, diesel and CNG vehicles to electric vehicles, as the first major step towards enabling a healthy green environment which reduces air pollution to the maximum and thereby saving the lives of billions of people across the globe. Hydrogen, which is also the most eco-friendly alternative, can be used to power electric vehicles.
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