TfL uses dust suppressants to boost air quality

Transport for London (TfL) has announced it will expand the use of dust suppressant technology in order to improve the air quality across the capital.

Following a successful pilot scheme, the organisation believes the innovation can cut air pollution by between ten and 20 per cent.

Money for the equipment - which essentially takes dust particles out of the air and sticks them to the floor - will come from the £5 million that was set aside for the Clean Air Fund.

It will form part of the UK's overall drive to meet its target of reducing particulate matter pollution by a third by 2015 to avoid hefty EU fines.

"A comprehensive package of clean-up measures including innovative technology is now being targeted where most needed in central London," commented the mayor's environment director Kulveer Ranger.

James Grugeon of Environmental Protection UK recently suggested that such temporary measures are "experimental at best" and he urged the government to think long term when attempting to curb carbon emissions.

Posted by Joseph Hutton