Dieselgate raises many unanswered questions
An analysis of the summary data contained in the Department for Transport Vehicle Emissions Test Programme, the German Volkswagen commission of inquiry, and the underlying data issued separately by the DfT, provokes many unanswered questions.
I am not suggesting that anyone or any organisation has done anything illegal, immoral, unethical or negligent. I have only worked with publicly available data which I have had to interpret myself and make certain assumptions about. I am not an expert on engines or emissions.
Nevertheless, I believe that the evidence shows that much more work needs to be done to confirm that manufacturers other than VW are not using illegal defeat devices, that vehicles currently on the road cannot be fixed to reduce emissions to (or closer to) legislated values, that the software upgrade offered by VW and other manufacturers will not degrade the vehicle in any way, and that changes to legislation will prevent future occurrence of similar problems.
Unanswered questions from the analysis:
• Why is it that VW Euro 6 vehicles appear to perform so much better than the competition in the latest tests? How did they get so far so quick?
• Why do VW cars appear not to suffer from the “temperature window effect” where vehicles from other manufacturers rely on it?
• Could the “VW solution” be implemented on other manufacturers’ Euro 6 vehicles and their new vehicle deliveries? Significantly reducing NOx and prolonging human life.
• Could a similar solution be implemented on the 11 million VW Euro 5 vehicles, giving similar benefits?
• What trials (including reliability/durability demonstration) have been or will be carried out?
• Has VW gone for a low exhaust gas recirculation, high selective catalytic reduction solution, or a high EGR, low SCR solution, or something else? Their choice could seriously impact the reliability/durability of the diesel particulate filter and fuel consumption.
I appreciate that the above analysis is simplistic. However I also believe that it illustrates that all vehicle manufacturers have a lot more explaining to do. Without a full, transparent explanation of what is going on, public health will continue to suffer, technical progress will stop and more opportunities and jobs will be lost.
I would welcome comments from anyone. Tell me if you think I am right or wrong. I’m just trying to get to the technical truth, and that’s all that matters. If it’s cheating, something needs to be done, if it’s technology there may be an option to improve emissions on other vehicles.
Martyn Maynard, Leeds
Statistically sensationalist
I enjoy PE, but fear that some of its contributors are becoming too politicised, or should I say disingenuous, in the way that they present information.
One example is “Policing pollution” (PE August). The author concludes by saying “But when 50,000 British lives are lost prematurely every year because of air pollution, the stakes may be too high for the UK not to use Brexit to its advantage.” The figure of 50,000 deaths is presented as a fact, but it needs qualifying.
I understand it is a statistical derivation based on apparently reasonable assumptions. I understand that the premature loss of life is statistically of the order of hours/days/weeks, hardly a catastrophe.
I am not saying that the claim of 50,000 is incorrect, but to be used honestly it must be qualified before all the benefits that diesels have offered are carelessly discarded. To end a serious article with a potentially misleading statement more fitted to a “red top” paper is unprofessional.
Colin Warburton, Yarm, Stockton-on-Tees
Screen test
“Doctor in your pocket” (PE September) is a very interesting article but I was alarmed when I read about the ball on the screen which will change in diameter. The ball will change colour from red or green to tell the patient if they are using the correct amount of grip force.
Many people, particularly men, are colour blind and green and red are the main colours that they cannot distinguish between. It would be advisable to put a pattern change on the ball also to aid them.
Deirdre Stewart
Future of fusion
You’ve published another article on the possibility of producing fusion energy using a tokamak (Institution News, PE September). Step 3 says achieve energy break-even in 2020. Step 4 says produce electricity for the first time.
To achieve step 4 we need to be able to run the machine on a continuous basis and have a design which can transfer heat on a continuous basis. Perhaps a future article can show the proposed design.
Kenneth Barnsley, Belper, Derbyshire
Go where the work is
As a longstanding Stem ambassador, I have been able to follow up the careers of many students, both Stem and non-Stem, before and after their periods of study and apprenticeship.
Recently, and since the introduction of fees for university study, I have been aware of a more critical attitude among graduates to the lack of employment opportunities available in the disciplines in which they have studied. This seems to be particularly the case for those who have avoided Stem subjects.
I usually enquire whether they were made aware, at the outset of their studies, of the proportion of graduates who obtained employment in their chosen discipline. Some told me that they were warned at the end of their course that not all of them would obtain employment in their field of study!
Is it not time that every department in a university or college should be required by law to declare the percentage of their graduate output who obtain employment in their discipline of study and to relate that to the national average for the sector?
If these figures were published, we should have no problem in recruiting students into Stem-related disciplines!
Brian Padgett, Clifton, Bedfordshire
Refine your job search
David Walker writes about his perception that companies are unwilling to invest in their personnel because he was unable to find employment despite being a prospective MEng graduate (Letters, PE September).
Before I retired I was involved in recruitment for a motor manufacturer, so I know about the typical processes. Did Walker apply through a graduate recruitment programme or did he write asking for a job?
If he wrote to a general contact address or to the human resources department asking for a job, assuming that a prospective degree from a prestigious university would be enough to secure him a response, then his communication would probably fall outside the processes of the company.
If he did apply for a specific job, he would almost certainly have been rejected as having no relevant experience unless it was specifically a job for an inexperienced graduate.
The good news is that, if he identifies companies that have comprehensive graduate recruitment programmes, and applies in good time, he should get a response. If his overall competences are high enough, which cover much more than just his grade of degree and university, he should at least get into the selection process. I do have a concern about the capabilities of his university careers department if he hasn’t been advised of this.
After only a few minutes online, I have established that McLaren and Jaguar Land Rover have current advertisements for graduate engineers, but applicants have to use the online application process. I should point out that I am of an age where I should, in theory, be less internet-savvy than the youth of today, but to offset that I’ve been using computers since the days of punched cards and Fortran.
Neil Cooper, Worcester
Invest in salt reactors
Successive governments’ limited energy planning has assumed rising prices. Renewables have been subsidised and a high unit price agreed for future electricity generated at Hinkley C.
However, as Dieter Helm, professor of energy policy at the University of Oxford, points out, we have an over-abundance of fossil fuel reserves – far more than our climate can stand being burned – so future oil and energy prices are likely to stay low.
The challenge of global warming is to develop low/zero carbon technologies cheap enough to be adopted globally in place of fossil fuels.
The main cost of a high/100% renewables system is likely to be storage. R&D should be funded in this area but the prospect of cheap and big enough solutions being developed seems small.
One partial solution to storage on a scale big enough to cope with demand-side fluctuations is a solution(!) – high-temperature, low-pressure molten salts. These are used in some solar energy schemes and also in molten salt reactors (MSRs).
MSRs are a subset of small modular nuclear reactors that seem likely to be genuinely low cost. Inherent safety greatly reduces expensive containment and other system requirements. Moltex Energy’s stable salt reactor (SSR) reduces costs further by using convection instead of mechanical pumping of the corrosive salt. Independent consultants Atkins have assessed the SSR as cheaper to build than a coal-fired power station – and of course far cheaper to run. Incidentally, MSRs can use nuclear “waste” as fuel.
The government has allocated £250 million towards small modular reactor development. This is a very small amount compared to the billions promised to China and to EDF for Hinkley to proceed. Huge delays and cost overruns at Olkiluoto, Finland and Flamanville, France do not inspire confidence in the European pressurised reactor for Hinkley.
Given the choice, I’d stop Hinkley C and fund the building of a prototype SSR as quickly as possible. The potential benefits for UK industry, environmental protection and global development are huge.
Jon Michaelis, Buxton
HS2 misses target
At best HS2 appears to be a Westminster/South East-centric indulgence.
If our government was serious about the most/best infrastructure bang for its buck it would spend the money, not even as much as the mushrooming estimates for HS2, in upgrading the rail infrastructure north of Birmingham and forging a direct link from Heathrow to the Midlands.
The last few miles into central London are cripplingly expensive and on any reasonable cost-benefit analysis simply not worth it.
Yes, other countries have their “super trains”, on which I have travelled, and whose efficacy I would be happy to debate, but pragmatism and the effective use of money is something we should focus on.
I would rather my tax money was spent on things with a better return and social value, and there are plenty of them, than a shiny toy to get a vanishingly small proportion of the population from one part of the country to another, not too far away, 10 minutes quicker.
Lee Horwich, Ealing, London
Build a solar airship
On reading the article on the solar aircraft (News, PE July), it occurs to me that solar power would be much better employed in powering the Airlander helium airship. Without have to supply lift, there should be no difficulty in using solar power for prolonged flight.
On a different matter, rather than building the dreadful EDF nuclear station at Hinkley Point, why not consider the inherently safe Moltex salt nuclear system? Such power plants could be designed and built by British firms and can use plutonium and spent boiling water reactor fuel which helps with nuclear waste disposal, as well as potentially being much cheaper.
E M Beaney, Shaldon, Devon
Tidal and wind go together
I was interested to see that the Swansea tidal lagoon project is progressing (News, PE August). Why not incorporate into this project wind turbines along the perimeter of the barrage that would be able to capitalise on this offshore location.
These wind turbines could add to the power output of the barrage hydro turbines, especially during the periods of slack water at high and low water. The other benefits of such a collaborative project would be:
a) Shared use of the transmission cabling to shore.
b) A capital contribution from the wind turbine supplier.
c) Cost savings for the installation of the wind turbines as their supporting structures could be incorporated into the barrage wall at positions perhaps between the 16 hydro turbines.
d) No support ships would be required for installation, maintenance or repair to the wind turbines.
e) The power output from the project would be more consistent as the wind turbines would help smooth out the troughs in output from the hydro turbines.
It would be refreshing to capitalise on a unique opportunity for a collaborative project between two different forms of renewable energy
Squadron Leader John Searle, Yaxham, Norfolk