How can modern technology protect the environment

There are several kinds of protecting the environment by modern technology, e.g. solar
energy or wind energy. But these techniques only concern the generation of energy and
power and at the moment don’t provide enough energy for all our needs. So we still have to
use fossil energy but at the same time we have to reduce pollution in order to fight the
greenhouse effect.
Catalyst converters help to protect our environment. For petrol cars the Three-Way-Catalyst
currently is the best. It reduces nitrogen oxides to nitrogen and oxygen, oxides carbon
monoxide to carbon dioxide and unburned fuel to carbon dioxide and water.In order to work
properly these catalysts need rather high temperatures of the exhaust gases.

The problem with diesel cars is that their exhaust gases are much colder, so a petrol car
catalyst doesn’t work. Another problem are the sooty particles in their exhaust which can
cause cancer.

London is already struggling to improve the environmental situation of its inhabitants as you
can see e.g. with the recent extension of the Congestion Charging Zone. One thing every
visitor to London notices are the London taxis, which are one of the oldest taxis in the world.
There are more taxis in London than in Scotland ( in 1999 some 19200 in London and some
7700 in Scotland) (http://www.oft.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/ACE2F142-EF8F-4C51-B5AD-
966AEED6F71B/0/taxi.pdf). London has the worst air quality in the UK and air pollution is
estimated to cause 1600 premature deaths every year in London. The London taxi fleet is
estimated to be responsible for 12% of the oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and 24% of the
particulate matter (PM10) from road transport emissions in central London.

Since 2005 all licensed London taxis that were of Pre-Euro emissions standards were required
to present emissions reduction equipment in order to meet higher Euro emissions standards
for NOx and PM10. From 31st December 2007 on taxis in London will only be licensed if they
accord to Euro 3 emissions standards. (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/pco/downloads/emissions-
strategy-for-taxis.pdf)

I have read about an invention of an equipment called Exnox™ (www.fluid-

technologies.com) that filters the toxic CO, NOx (NO and NO2) and the sooty particles out of
the exhaust. It simply works with drizzle water drops which stick together with the sooty
particles. The water must be filtered and the filter only has to be changed after about 1000
miles of use. That means, that you can drive with one filter 36 times trough Greater London or
1000 times through the City of London. At the same time a special catalyst divides the 2NO
and the NOx into N2 and xO2 which both naturally exist in the atmosphere. This means that
the taxis would even be up to the Euro 4 emissions standards. Cars can easily be upgraded
with this equipment. There is no loss of ground clearance when the Exnox™ is fitted to the
vehicle and the interior space is also relatively unaffected. The water tank can be located
where required, it needn’t be in the boot. It can be fitted to a wide range of vehicles e.g. vans,
buses, cars etc.

So with just a little effort great effects can be achieved and life in London could be even more
worth living.