On December 5, at the seminar "Air pollution and traffic", within the framework of VinFuture Science and Technology Week 2024, leading experts shared new findings and experiences in controlling pollution in large cities to help Vietnam build a more effective strategy to improve urban air quality.
According to Associate Professor Ho Quoc Bang - Ho Chi Minh City National University, in fact, air pollution comes from two sources: emissions or weather conditions. In Hanoi, weather factors play an important role. The thermal buffer layer in Hanoi often occurs when the temperature is low, and waste is stuck close to the ground. In Ho Chi Minh City, the emissions are high, but the light and temperature are higher, so the emissions are better.
Associate Professor Ho Quoc Bang said that through research in 12 localities across the country, there are many different forms of emissions depending on economic development. For example, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have a lot of traffic, while Dong Nai and Binh Duong have a lot of industrial activities, so the emission picture is different.
According to Professor Yafang Cheng, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (Germany), NOx from traffic is the largest emission that creates chemical reactions, along with many other compounds, or even evaporation reactions. It depends on how many aerosol droplets are needed to trigger the chemical reaction, so there is no clear answer. In more extreme conditions, the reaction is different, and only when the amount of aerosol is large enough will the pollution increase.
At the seminar, experts also said that producing affordable electric vehicles will make them more accessible to people, thereby reducing dependence on fossil fuel-powered vehicles.
However, building infrastructure, especially charging stations, is still a big problem for many countries, including Vietnam. In addition, electric vehicle technology is currently only suitable for light vehicles, while solutions for heavy trucks are still being researched.
Prof. Daniel Kammen, University of California, Berkeley (USA), Member of the VinFuture Prize Council, said that electric vehicle technology is only applicable to light vehicles, there is no solution for heavy vehicles, the challenge is the technology for heavy electric vehicles. The city has a strategic goal of being a zero-carbon city, creating and using clean green fuel, but needs a buffer period to achieve this goal.
Regarding fuel storage and grid improvements, how will they relate to the development of electric vehicles in Vietnam? Prof. Daniel Kammen said that developing new technology must not affect the environment. For example, developing mobile phones, devices with cobalt as a material will be dangerous, energy storage devices such as zinc batteries, new generation batteries, solar batteries have many diverse properties... so how to choose materials and assemble energy storage batteries. "Escaping from the era of using fossil fuels, now there are more fuel options, compact batteries, mechanical batteries...", Prof. Daniel Kammen said.
