Broxburn first for NASA pilot
The first scheme in Scotland to use NASA technology to monitor vehicle emissions will be rolled out in West Lothian.
The Vehicle Emissions Partnership, which is made up of West Lothian, East Lothian, Midlothian and Falkirk councils, aims to reduce harmful vehicle emissions by educating drivers about the impact their cars have on of air pollution.
Broxburn will be one of the first places in which the group will undertake a pilot scheme using Emissions Detecting and Reporting (EDAR) technology in sites.
EDAR uses satellite and laser technology to give a true picture of vehicle emissions, as well as recording license plate, speed, acceleration and temperature of the exhaust.
The EDAR system has been developed by ex-NASA scientist and EDAR inventor, Dr Stewart Hager.
Information recorded during the pilot will be shared between the local authorities involved, and Scottish Government agencies such as Transport Scotland and SEPA.
Funding for the pilot project has been provided by the Scottish Government.
Tom Burr from the Vehicle Emissions Partnership said: “We hope this EDAR pilot scheme will assess the benefits of the technology to help demonstrate to drivers the emissions emitted by their vehicles, and make them consider the impact of their actions on the environment.
“Vehicle emissions data will be collected for every car which passes under the EDAR equipment during the trial in Edinburgh, West Lothian and North Lanarkshire.
“This will provide a huge amount of raw data to help councils and agencies looking at areas such as fleet analysis, modelling and public awareness, helping inform plans to tackle the issues associated with vehicle emissions in the future.”