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Bosch Mobility
Around the world, air quality is playing an increasingly important role in people’s quality of life. Bosch’s motto “Invented for life” also involves an extensive commitment to improving air quality. In addition to Bosch’s own goal of achieving CO2 neutrality in 2020, Bosch is making an even greater contribution to the sustainable, eco-friendly mobility of tomorrow with additional solutions for locally zero-emission driving.
Our portfolio is focused on providing data to assess and improve air quality and identify the emission sources in a broad scale. Our working expertise focus ranges from determining microscopic traffic emissions , modeling the dispersion of air quality, as well as to additional cloud-based services for data acquisition and device management for air quality measurement boxes by Palas. We use digital technologies to link these different areas of air quality expertise.
Fewer emissions for better air quality
Towns and cities worldwide are plagued by polluted air. Swift population growth and increasing traffic are causing the concentration of pollution to rise in many places. The impacts of emissions such as particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and CO2 on people, the environment and climate are subjects of hot discussion. Particularly affected are the many inhabitants of densely-populated urban centers and also often those who live further away but who commute by car to polluted areas. Mega-trends such as advancing urbanization or increased online orders delivered to homes would intimate that air pollution is unlikely to improve by itself without suitable countermeasures. But how can urban growth, mobility and clean air be juggled and reconciled with each other?
Air quality monitoring box
How can urban air quality be improved?
An innovative Bosch solution is helping find the answer. It delivers an analysis of current and projected levels of pollutants – which can then be used to make targeted improvements to traffic flow and air quality. Our story takes us to the south of London.
In order to understand air quality, air pollution and their effects on people and the environment, it is important to distinguish between emissions and immissions. Emissions refer to output at its respective source, e.g. the nitrogen oxide output by a car directly at its exhaust pipe. In other words, what comes out at the back. Immissions, however, denote the volume of these emissions at a certain place with their corresponding impacts.
For example, particulate matter emissions do not have the same effect everywhere; a certain percentage sticks to the ground, is blown away by the wind or washed away by rain. Accordingly, only a small percentage is actually inhaled by people. Stations for measuring air quality do not therefore record all emissions in their entirety, but rather only the percentage which actually reaches them in the form of immissions. As they potentially record percentages of emissions from every conceivable source, they cannot be attributed to individual emitters any longer.
Cause or effect of air pollution? Emissions do not equal immissions.
In order to understand air quality, air pollution and their effects on people and the environment, it is important to distinguish between emissions and immissions. Emissions refer to output at its respective source, e.g. the nitrogen oxide output by a car directly at its exhaust pipe. In other words, what comes out at the back. Immissions, however, denote the volume of these emissions at a certain place with their corresponding impacts.
For example, particulate matter emissions do not have the same effect everywhere; a certain percentage sticks to the ground, is blown away by the wind or washed away by rain. Accordingly, only a small percentage is actually inhaled by people. Stations for measuring air quality do not therefore record all emissions in their entirety, but rather only the percentage which actually reaches them in the form of immissions. As they potentially record percentages of emissions from every conceivable source, they cannot be attributed to individual emitters any longer.
The quality of the air around us depends on many factors and can vary widely from one location to another – sometimes even a few meters can make a difference. Emissions from many different sources (emitters) contribute to a deterioration in air quality. In this regard, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter are currently regarded as the most relevant types of air pollution, particularly in terms of air quality in large cities. However, natural factors such as temperature, wind conditions and solar radiation also have a major impact on air quality.
Road traffic is by no means the only source of emissions. Emissions from other sources are also responsible for increasing air pollution. The primary emitters of particulate matter, for example, are agriculture, industry, power stations, fireplaces and heating in homes, and road traffic. Emissions of particulate matter are produced independently of the type of vehicle powertrain, as a high percentage is caused by road and tire wear particles as well as brake dust.
Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas prevailing in nature which also arises when fossil energy sources are burned. An increased concentration of CO2 in the air contributes to global warming. For this reason, reducing CO2 emissions worldwide is a central goal pursued by climate protection.
Nitrogen oxides are oxygen compounds (oxides) of nitrogen and also a naturally occurring gas. However, the largest shares of NOx are produced during combustion processes. That is why NOx pollution is higher in densely-populated urban centers than in the countryside. It was possible to reduce NOx emissions by road traffic in Germany by almost 70%** between 1990 and 2015. And they can be reduced even further using technology which is already available today.
Particulate matter comprises a complex mixture of solid and liquid particles. A distinction is made between various categories depending on the particle diameter: PM₁₀ with maximum 10 micrometers, PM₂.₅, and ultra-fine particles with a diameter of less than 0.1 micrometers.
*Quelle: EEA, Greenhouse gas data viewer (2018)
**Quelle: EEA, Air pollutant emissions data viewer (2018)
Bosch and the Karlsruhe-based measuring technology specialist Palas GmbH want to work together to improve air quality. To this end, the two companies have now agreed to collaborate, each bringing their long-term expertise to the table. Palas will supply comprehensive know-how and technology for measuring a wide variety of gases and airborne particles. In the course of the partnership, Palas will also add the Environmental Connected Box (ECoB) measurement device developed by Bosch to its own portfolio and expand its product range. Bosch is to contribute cloud-based services such as device management and a software model that generates traffic emission data in real time.
Urban emissions
The partnership between Bosch and PTV-Group will provide cities with the right tools to reconcile mobility and better air in the best possible way.
Air quality monitoring station
The pilot partnership between TfL and Bosch has seen both companies work together on several projects across London.
Are you interested in our solutions? Then write us a message. Our sales team will be happy to help you.
