Will France Ban Diesels?

Hailed for having one of the most ambitious environmental policies on the planet, France is no stranger to eco-friendly agendas. Environment Minister Segolene Royal has openly criticised Trump for his lacklustre approach to the green energy revolution, and is now maintaining that banning diesel vehicles is the next major priority on her ‘to do’ list.   

Honouring the country’s commitment to slashing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, minimising local air/water pollution, improving waste management strategies and conserving biodiversity, Royal and her fellow legislators are threatening to take a hard line approach to dirty vehicles contaminating the streets of France.

Forcing eco-offenders to fess up

Already, the city of Paris has fast-tracked bans on pollution heavy vehicles, with French Prime Minister Manuel Valls admitting that opening up the nation to diesel cars was a “mistake” and that his government would work hard to "progressively undo" the damage.

Following his comments in 2014 the government is now seriously considering banning sales of new diesel vehicles produced by leading manufacturers like Renault and Volkswagen. Both have come under fire for their shady environmental policies, and as a result may be forced to answer detailed questions about the emissions credentials of their vehicles, as well as the use of engine software.

"We will be asking the consumer fraud investigators and prosecutors to communicate any findings that will enable us to establish whether it's necessary to withdraw sales authorisations," Royal said.

An anti-Trump agenda

The threat follows controversial comments made by Royal at the recent COP22 meeting in Marrakesh, where she accused Trump’s environmental policies as being "absolutely catastrophic."

"I think that when he (Trump) actually takes office he will see that withdrawing from multilateral negotiations and climate issues would weaken the United States,” she criticised. She warned that if the US would not step up to take a “leading role” on climate change, China would.  

As nations resort to harsh policies like blanket bans on diesel vehicles, scientists are continuing to explore new ways to minimise the environmental impact of the petroleum industry. ‘ASTM Method D5769: An Easy Solution for Determination of High Concentration Aromatic Compounds in Finished Gasolines’ spotlights the latest developments being used to determine levels of benzene, toluene, and total aromatics in finished gasolines. Using next generation mass spectrometer technology developed by LECO, researchers are working to overcome the common issue of nonlinearity in calibration curves, caused by saturation of the ion source.