[sustran] Re: Jakarta air getting healthier thanks to carfree days

[Morten Lange]

Nice news, Todd

But I found it a bit too sketchy on the details to have a good stomach feeling about forwarding the story. 

What do the car-free days entail ? How large areas were closed off ?

Another strand in the story is the one on car - emission controls and steep (?) fines.

The particulate pollution there must be very bad, by the way : 10 mm  particles ?  Oh they mean micrometers  :-) 

The 10 micron measurements do not work very well here in Iceland, as the dust from the roads related to studded tyres, and from the Icelandic deserts plus particles of sea salt, weighs in very heavily (literally) at that size. 

It is the smaller ( below 2.5 micron or even below 1 micron soot particles, mixed with VOC, NOx and SOx etc ) that are really bad though. The small particles penetrate further into the lungs and the alveoli, which render them more dangerous.  Chemically active particles, and particles with a larger surface area add to the health threat.  Some experts hae suggested counting the number of small particles rather than weighing.

Best Regards,
Morten Lange


--- On Sun, 16/11/08, Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory <edelman at greenidea.eu> wrote:

> From: Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory <edelman at greenidea.eu>
> Subject: [sustran] Jakarta air getting healthier thanks to carfree days
> To: "Sustran Resource Centre" <sustran-discuss at jca.apc.org>, LotsLessCars at yahoogroups.com
> Date: Sunday, 16 November, 2008, 2:23 PM
> *Jakarta air getting healthier: Official
> 
> http://old.thejakartapost.com/detailcity.asp?fileid=20081115.C02&irec=1
> *
> 
> City News - Saturday, November 15, 2008
> 
> *Adianto P. Simamora*, The Jakarta Post, Bangkok
> 
> While compulsory emissions testing for private cars
> continues to be 
> delayed, the Jakarta administration claims air quality is
> getting better 
> across the city thanks to regular car-free days.
> 
> Data from the Jakarta Environment Management Board (BPLHD)
> shows 
> Jakartans breathed healthy air on 104 days up to October
> this year, 
> compared to only 73 days last year and 45 days in 2006.
> 
> The city launched "voluntary" emission checks for
> private cars in 2006.
> 
> BPLHD chairman Budirama Natakusumah said Car-Free Day
> significantly 
> contributed to a reduction in air pollution in the city.
> 
> "Up until October we had carried out Car-Free Day 18
> times this year, 
> including along the city's main street of Jl. Jend.
> Sudirman," he told 
> /The Jakarta Post/ on the sidelines of the Better Air
> Quality conference 
> in Bangkok on Thursday.
> 
> Budirama said concentration of particulate matter measuring
> 10 mm (PM10) 
> decreased by an average of 40 percent each Car-Free Day.
> 
> The amount of carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxide (NOx)
> declined an 
> average of 63 percent and 67 percent respectively.
> 
> The pollutants expelled by motor vehicles and industries
> cause various 
> diseases, particularly respiratory disease, hypertension,
> kidney 
> failure, coronary disease and cancer.
> 
> Budirama said the office used a mobile air monitoring unit
> to measure 
> air quality during Car-Free Day, which was mostly conducted
> on weekends 
> when many Jakartans stay at home.
> 
> Jakarta, which organized three car-free days last year, has
> five air 
> quality monitoring stations, but only three of them are in
> good condition.
> 
> "We plan on holding Car-Free Day 22 times next year.
> Hopefully, we can 
> also enforce the law on mandatory emissions tests for
> private cars and 
> motorcycles," Budirama said.
> 
> In 2005, the administration issued a bylaw requiring all
> private cars to 
> test their emissions, in an effort to clean the city's
> air.
> 
> Under the bylaw, vehicle owners are required to have their
> vehicles 
> tested twice a year. Owners of vehicles that pollute
> heavily are fined 
> Rp 2 million or face two months in prison.
> 
> Budirama said the delay in enforcing the law was due to
> technical 
> problems, holding back the supply of certificates and
> stickers for 
> emission tests.
> 
> Chairman of the Public Health School at the University of
> Indonesia, 
> Budi Haryanto, doubted the validity of the air quality
> figures, saying 
> data from Car-Free Day could not represent the real
> condition of the 
> whole city.
> 
> "We need to verify the data given the fact more and
> more people are 
> falling ill because of air pollution in Jakarta," he
> said.
> 
> Budi said results from measuring the air quality on the
> weekend would be 
> different to tests on working days, when millions of
> private cars and 
> motorcycles flocked to Jakarta.
> 
> Chairman of the Indonesian Lead Information Center (KPPB),
> Ahmad 
> Safruddin, who is also involved in the Car-Free Day
> campaign, said 
> hydrocarbon (HC) in Jakarta remained a big problem.
> 
> "We need to improve fuel quality in Jakarta and
> retrofit catalytic 
> converters in order to cut pollutants of HC, PM10 and
> CO," he said.
> 
> -- 
> --------------------------------------------
> 
> Todd Edelman
> Green Idea Factory
> 
> Urbanstr. 45
> D-10967 Berlin
> Germany
> 
> Skype: toddedelman
> Mobile: ++49 0162 814 4081
> Home/Office: ++49 030 7554 0001
> 
> edelman at greenidea.eu
> www.greenidea.eu
> www.flickr.com/photos/edelman
> 
> Green Idea Factory is a member of World Carfree Network
> www.worldcarfree.net
> 
> CAR is over. If you want it.
> 
> "Fort mit der Autostadt und was Neues hingebaut!"
> 
> - B. Brecht (with slight modification)
> 
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