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Vehicle Emission Contributions to Air Pollution in India

á Some Indian taxis and auto-rickshaws run on adulterated fuel blends. Contamination of gasoline and diesel with lower-priced fuels is common in South Asia, including India. Some of these impurities increase emissions of harmful pollutants from vehicles, worsening urban air pollution.

á Robert C Stempel, former chairperson and ceo, General Motors, is largely credited for inventing the catalytic converter. In 1974 Corning, a US-based company, made the first catalyst substrates for autocatalyst manufacturers in the US. Catalysts were fitted into 1975 car models, marking the beginning of the gadget's exhaustive use. As Marcus Nurdin, managing director of the International Platinum Association (ipa) explains, "Since catalytic converters were first fitted, more than 12 billion tons of harmful gases have been rendered harmless worldwide. India adopted the use of Catalytic Converters on their vehicles. (catalytic converters fitted inside the exhaust pipe of a gasoline-operated car convert over 90% of hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) from the engine into less harmful carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen and water vapour. Diesel engines, in addition, emit particulates. The use of a particulate filter, in conjunction with a catalyst, can reduce their mass by 90% and reduce the number of ultra-fine particles by 99%.) IndiaÕs vehicle owners did not implement the use of Catalytic Convertors on the existing vehicles.

á In 13 of IndiaÕs major cities, Bharat Stage IV emission norms have been in place since April 2010 and it has been enforced for entire country since April 2017. In 2016, the Indian government announced that the country would skip the BS V norms altogether and adopt BS VI norms by 2020.