Routes to Clean Air 2019 Greater London Authority

1. Breathe London: A pilot low cost
sensor network
17 September 2019
Rosalind O’Driscoll

2. • In 2016, 89-100% of
major roads in inner
and central London
(and 36% in outer
London) exceeding NO2
limit values
• People living in the
capital’s most deprived
areas are, on average,
exposed to about a
quarter more NO2
pollution
London Atmospheric Emission Inventory 2016 (2019)
WHAT IS AIR QUALITY IN LONDON LIKE
NOW? – NITROGEN DIOXIDE (N O 2 )

3. S O U R C E S O F N O X I N L O N D O N
London Atmospheric Emission Inventory 2016 (2019)

4. S O U R C E S O F P M 2 . 5 I N L O N D O N
London Atmospheric Emission Inventory 2016 (2019)
Around half of PM2.5 in London comes
from outside London

5. WHAT IS AIR QUALITY IN LONDON LIKE
NOW? PARTICULATE MATTER (P M 2 . 5 )
• London was the
first world megacity
to sign up to the
Breathe Life
campaign: to meet
WHO limits for
PM2.5 by 2030
• This will be a
challenge as latest
modelling reveals
nowhere in London
meets the limit of
10 µgm-3
London Atmospheric Emission Inventory 2016 (2019)

6. MONITORING AIR QUALITY
• London has one of the
most comprehensive
monitoring networks of
any world city, funded
primarily by local
authorities.
• There are over 100 high-
accuracy automatic
monitoring sites across
the city, monitoring NO2
and/or PM10.

7. BREATHE LONDON NETWORK

8. NEW HYPERLOCAL NETWORK
• We are trialling a new £750k ($1million) air
quality monitoring system with C40 cities
which will be used to analyse pollution in
thousands of hot spots across the city
including near schools, hospitals,
construction sites and busy roads.
• The project is being delivered by the
consortium led by Environmental Defense
Fund Europe
• 100+ sensors will be fitted to lampposts
and buildings, two dedicated Google Street
View cars will be driving across the city and
personal wearable monitors will measure
the exposure of children on their route to
school.

9. • Successfully launched January 2019 – international interest
• Website is now live: https://www.breathelondon.org
BREATHE LONDON LAUNCH

10. BREATHE LONDON NETWORK

11. STATIC MONITORS
• We have installed
static AQ Mesh air
quality sensors at
over 100 locations
across London
(orange points)
• Realtime data
coming soon to
website

12. • Two Google Street-view vehicles
instrumented with air quality monitors,
measuring tens of thousands of locations
across London
• Measurements of PM2.5, NO, NO2, CO2, O3
BC, UFPs
• ~10-20 passes on each roadway, during
different times of day and days of week,
measurements taken every 30 meters
• Mapping areas designed to cover:
– The entire ULEZ (Central London)
– Areas outside ULEZ selected to capture
range of predicted concentrations (modelled
NO2) and economic status (Index of Material
Deprivation)
GOOGLE STREETVIEW CARS

13. WEARABLES
• In addition to the £750k
funded by CIFF we have
contributed £150k to fund
King’s College to do a study
that measure the exposure of
children on their journey to
school using wearable
sensors
• King’s evaluated 6 wearable
sensors to assess which
would be best suited for the
study. The sensor that came
out the best (for both PM and
NO2) is a custom made
prototype from Dyson,
specifically designed for this
project
• King’s have now finished the
measurements, with over 250
children participating

14. BREATHE LONDON NETWORK

15. NETWORK OUTPUTS
• Google street mapping cars and fixed sensors will provide
localised information about air quality, including at 600
schools.
• The data from the network will be hosted on a new website/
platform that will be accessible to the public. It will also
integrate the data from our existing monitors.
• The data collected will enable us to better target and monitor
the impact of our policies (including ULEZ) as well as
providing information to Londoners to reduce their exposure
to air pollution. For example, pollution can vary by as much
as 50 per cent depending on which route you select to walk
and cycle. So providing the right local information is vital.

16. ULTRA LOW EMISSION ZONE
Euro 4 petrol (<13yrs old in 2019)
Euro 6 diesel (<4yrs old in 2019)
...or £12.50 / $16 a day
Euro 3 (<12yrs old in 2019)
...or £12.50 / $16 a day
Euro VI (<6yrs old in 2019)
...or £100 / $129 a day
24/7
Exempt but new
licensing
requirements
ULTRA LOW EMISSION ZONE

17. T H E W O R L D ’ S F I R S T U LT R A
L O W E M I S S I O N Z O N E

18. I N T R O D U C E D T H E W O R L D ’ S
F I R S T U LT R A L O W E M I S S I O N
Z O N E

19. I N T R O D U C E D T H E W O R L D ’ S
F I R S T U LT R A L O W E M I S S I O N
Z O N E
• The Mayor launched the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in central
London on 8 April 2019. From 2021 the emission standards will apply to
Inner London – covering a population of 3.8 million people. The ULEZ
has the strictest emission standards of any major global city and will be
the largest zone of its type in Europe
• In July 2019, the compliance rate with the ULEZ standards was around
75 per cent in a 24-hour period. Compared to March 2019, the month
before the scheme was launched, there were around 12,500 fewer
older, more polluting, non-compliant vehicles seen in the zone on an
average day.
• There has been approximately a 20 per cent in nitrogen dioxide
concentrations measured at roadside monitoring sites in the ULEZ zone
since February 2017 when people started preparing for the ULEZ.

20. I N T R O D U C E D T H E W O R L D ’ S
F I R S T U LT R A L O W E M I S S I O N
Z O N E
Date
Number of vehicles driving in the
charging zone per day during CC hours
Proportions of vehicles
driving in the charging
zone during CC hours
Unique
vehicles
detected in
zone*
Non-
compliant
vehicles
Compliant
vehicles
Non-
compliant
vehicles
Compliant
vehicles
Feb 17 102,493 62,310 40,184 60.8% 39.2%
July 19 83,899 23,054 60,844 27.5% 72.5%
Change
Feb –
July 2019
-18,594 -39,256 20,660 Decrease of
33.3
percentage
points
Increase of
33.3
percentage
points
% change -18.1% -63.0% 51.4% -54.8% 85.0%

21. • In 2016, 89-100% of
major roads in inner
and central London
(and 36% in outer
London) exceeding NO2
limit values
• People living in the
capital’s most deprived
areas are, on average,
exposed to about a
quarter more NO2
pollution
London Atmospheric Emission Inventory 2016 (2019)
WHAT IS AIR QUALITY IN LONDON LIKE
NOW? – NITROGEN DIOXIDE (N O 2 )

22. 2020 2025
2030 2050
Expected impact on future NO2 concentrations

23. Thank you for listening.