Auto-vehicles and environment: Emission limits and innovative technology

Brief descriptions are given of the main design and performance characteristics and maintenance requirements of the principal types of catalytic converters currently being marketed in Italy. An assessment is made of the contribution of these devices to air pollution abatement in Italy as car owners conform to recently passed stricter emission limits. A historical review is made of trends in auto-vehicle pollution limits in the USA and Italy. Comparisons are made of efforts by industrialized countries to reduce air pollution in the transportation sector. Here, the author notes the slowness of Italy's response to the air pollution problem, in particular, this foreign-oil-dependent Nation's over-emphasis on energy consuming and highly polluting road transport systems, as well as, its lack of technology utilization and commercialization in the pollution equipment sector. Suggestions are made as to ways to overcome the worsening situation with regard to urban area traffic derived air pollution, e.g., the bolstering of mass transit systems and more R ampersand D investment in pollution abatement technologies