Photo by 91RS. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

Ouch. In an effort to clean up the air, the West Sussex Council in the UK is considering new rules that would penalize drivers who sit in traffic jams with their engines running. Police could issue £20 fines once the driver has been warned and not complied, according to the Daily Mail. The rules are expected to kick in in January and could be expanded "if it proves successful," the Mail writes. I'm guessing they mean successful with the rulemakers, because I can't see this being all that popular with drivers. People quoted in the article seem to confirm this hunch. To the rescue might come Bosch, which issued a quick press release (available after the jump) once the story broke late last week about how its start/stop technology would help drivers avoid these spot fees.

But, who should win out here? Does everyone's right to cleaner air beat out a driver's right to keep his car running? Does the argument that the catalytic converter can cool down when the engine is off - and therefore cause more pollution when the car is started up again - hold water in this context?

[Source: Daily Mail / Bosch]

Right now, each state in the U.S. has its own laws regarding diesel engine idling, and legislation can vary greatly from state-to-state. Pennsylvania is considering creating new standards and Senate Bill 295 is currently being discussed by the House. The Department of Environmental Protection has taken a long look at the Bill and is recommending that it be made tougher.

Thomas Fidler, Deputy Secretary for Waste, Air and Radiation Management says, "The Department of Environmental Protection fully supports the concept of statewide idling restrictions to limit emissions from diesel-powered commercial vehicles. However, the department cannot support SB 295 in its current form and recommends substantive amendments to bring this legislation in line with neighboring states and better protect the public's health."

There's an entire press release worth of changes requested by the DEP, and it's pasted after the break for your reading enjoyment.

Webasto has made a business of developing and offering technologies which make big-rig idling much less of a necessity. They like to point out that their wares offer a "win-win" scenario in that they save "green-green": the environment and money. To help get this point across, they created a website last year at www.makealeap.org, LEaP standing for Lowering Emissions and Particulates. To go along with the website, they've created a viral video which can be seen after the break. The video shows a large truck make a stop while leaving the engine running, which draws the ire of a nearby creature.

Besides the video, the website seeks to promote four important issues:

• Increasing financial savings for truck fleets and owner-operators
• Reducing the United States' dependency on foreign oil
• Reducing GHG (Green House Gases) / CO₂
• Improving idle reduction education

Anti-idling technology can make a big difference, "Commercial trucks and buses collectively burn up more than 500 million barrels of oil each year in idling - roughly eight percent of the total oil they consume," says John Thomas, Webasto Vice President of Marketing. For idling information related to the state you live in, check out their website here.

Anna Talman, 9, noticed it was hard to breathe when cars are idling. "I saw a car idling and thought it would be a problem because it was making it hard for me to breathe" she says. So she did what any other 9 year old would do. Move? No. She started a group, Edmonton's Children-Organized Anti-Idling Recruiters (ECO-AIR), and tried to get a law passed by the Edmonton city council. "When they're idling in front of their house or waiting to pick up their kids from school, or at the drive in at McDonald's, that's when I want to change it," she explains.

She did not get her law but the council did support anti-idling policy for city vehicles and a $140,000 ad campaign against idling. The campaign will create "idle-free" zones and include print, electric advertising and signs reminding drivers to turn off their cars at drive throughs and parking lots. "I'm glad that the motion was passed. I think it will make a difference" responds Anna. But not everyone is happy. Councilman Mike Nickel said he cannot support it. He says, "when it's -40 C out there and you want to leave your car running to keep it warm ... you're going to have the idling police come up to you and tell you to turn off your car?" He also thinks the costs will balloon. "Today it starts at $140,000 and you wait, it will be $250,000 and it will be up to $500,000."

The campaign must still be approved later this year in the budget. Anna says she won't stop trying to get a law passed. "I don't know. That's one thing I'm stuck on to do" she says.

Related:

• Carrick, now age 8, only getting better with his environmental awareness videos
• You might make your own biodiesel, but have you got what this 15-year-old's got?

[Source: Canada.com]

Kristin, a contributor to Celsias.com has done a bit of research online, as well as some real-world testing to come up with what she is calling the "Homemade Hybrid" ten second rule. The idea is to shut your car off and restart it manually whenever you stop for a stop light where you expect to be sitting for more than ten seconds. I have heard of the old rule that it takes three minutes of stopping the engine to save the gas it takes to restart the car, and have thought that seemed like a long time. Kristin correctly points out that the constant starting and stopping may wear out the starter a bit faster, but that difference would most likely be made up way before it came time to replace the starter. In her own testing, Kristin found that she saved a whole gallon of gas, or about 30 miles of driving extra per tank of gas by implementing this technique. Anybody else out there care to give it a try?

Edit: Changed the word "less" to "more" - thanks Howard!

[Source: Celsias.com]