Prospects of diesel cars

The German city Stuttgart is a picturesque place, home to over 600 thousand people. A large cultural and industrial center, it snugly lies between two mountain ranges that protect it from the weather. On the other hand, the mountains can not freely blow out smog from the air, resulting in a concentration of harmful substances many times higher than the permissible standards.

Worrying about the health of citizens, the German government proposed an unexpected solution to the problem - to prohibit cars on diesel fuel from entering the city limits ...

The mountains do not allow blow out the smog from the air, photo WEB

Despite the fact that the first reading before the adoption of the law is a very long bureaucratic path, the government promises to implement the project by the end of 2018. The reaction of citizens and the car industry to such a radical step, of course, did not wait.

Ironically, in Stuttgart itself is the headquarters of the auto concern Daimler - the company that made diesel engines not only affordable, but also profitable. In addition, thousands of people come to work in the city center every, and the prospect of such a ban was not liked by many. Already, the cost of diesel cars has fallen, while their gasoline counterparts remained at their price. And this means that the resale of auto on diesel fuel can not be called a bargain.

 The headquarters of auto concern Daimler is located in Stuttgart, photo WEB

German automotive giants also did not show any particular joy - Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Mercedes already understand that it's worth the idea to become reality in one place, and such "anti-diesel" cities will grow like mushrooms across Germany, and then "eco-epidemic" will spread to Europe. And their fears are not in vain, because in the light of the recent dieselgate, world public opinion suspects the whole German automotive industry of criminal conspiracy, which in no way contributes to sales growth.

The slow decline of diesel fuel era ushered in a scandal that erupted in 2015 around the Volkswagen concern, whose car sensors underestimated real emissions. The incident prompted a worldwide investigation of the problem and raised a fat question over the future of diesel engines in general.

Car sensors underestimated real emissions, photo WEB

Many governments have expressed a desire to conduct their own investigations in the territories of their states in order to exact fines from VW. The autoconcern said that in his estimation, about 11 million cars are traveling around the world with such "dishonest" sensors ... The company allocated 6.5 billion dollars to settle all the issues, but Volkswagen shares fell 20% .

Throughout the world, the diesel theme has been especially acute since then. But nevertheless, everyone understands soberly that in the near future it's impossible to say goodbye to cars on diesel fuel. This type of fuel is cheaper than gasoline, and electric vehicles are, on the contrary, too expensive. In addition, German (and other) automakers will not simply surrender so easily.

With "dishonest" sensors is traveling about 11 million cars, photo WEB

Engineers are looking for a way out of the situation by developing a more advanced diesel fuel system. There is no doubt that they will succeed. For example, even now Audi offers a new type of synthetic fuel based on conventional water and carbon dioxide. As a result of complex chemical reactions, it becomes an ecologically pure analogue of diesel fuel. And such new products, for sure, there will be many more.

In addition, the decision to ban is not generally seen as too serious for a number of reasons. According to preliminary calculations, such a step will reduce the concentration of harmful substances in the air by no more than 10%. This figure seems to be unimportant in the light of increasing air traffic - Stuttgart is the country's largest air port.

Audi offers a new type of synthetic fuel, photo WEB

One can not ignore the fact that the city has a powerful engineering industry, which emits the lion's share of gases into the atmosphere. The current situation is an excellent opportunity to start a discussion at the world level on how to deal with pollution of the atmosphere with exhaust fumes. And the technical and scientific potential of German autoconcerns can be an excellent basis for new developments.

Victoria Romanova, Russia, Moscow

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