Air pollutant emissions from transport in Belarus down 6.2% in five years

Over the past five years, emissions of air pollutants from vehicles have dropped by 6.2 percent, Tatiana Dubrovskaya, a consultant of the Department for Regulation of Impacts on Atmospheric Air, Climate Change and Expertise at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, told a press conference, sb.by reports

According to statistics, last year, air pollutant emissions totalled about 898 thousand tonnes, of which 45.5 percent were emitted by motor vehicles.

The specialist gave interesting figures: burning one tonne of diesel fuel releases up to 60kg of gaseous combustion products, up to 4.5kg of hydrocarbons and up to 2kg of soot particles and other pollutants into the atmosphere.

“At the same time, many measures are being implemented in Belarus to reduce the harmful effects of vehicle emissions. For example, fuels that correspond to an environmental class are used, and our manufacturers produce equipment of high environmental classes. In addition, transport fleets are being updated and passenger transport is being developed. We see many modern trolleybuses, trams, and electric buses running on the streets of our cities. Metro is actively developing in Minsk,” Ms. Dubrovskaya said. “The state electric vehicle charging network is also expanding. Recently, special attention has been paid to the creation of infrastructure for safe and unhindered movement, parking, storage, maintenance of bicycles and other means of personal mobility.”

All together brings results: over the past five years, air pollution emitted from transport has decreased by 6.2 percent, or more than 26 thousand tonnes.