Limerick village encouraging motorists to lower emissions this bank holiday weekend
A CAMPAIGN targeting drivers to use the idle stop or stop/start system when driving through Adare has been set up to help lower air pollution in “Ireland’s Prettiest Village”.
The Clean Air for Adare Yellow-Bus campaign was introduced by the local Tidy Towns group as more than 100,000 vehicles will travel through Adare over the Bank Holiday weekend and this will lead to a significant increase in CO2 emissions.
Adare Tidy Towns (ATT) has salvaged timber and paint from households and recycling centres to create signs to promote the campaign. engine off signs will be placed outside Scoil Naomh Iosaf boys school to encourage parked motorists to switch off their engines while temporarily parked there.
Idling is leaving an engine running while the vehicle is stationary and reducing it leads to cleaner roadside air, especially in areas of congestion.
Anyone who travels through the village of Adare will know how congested the village gets at certain times of the day and over busy weekends,” a spokesperson for ATT said.
Transport leads to about 18% of CO2 emissions in Ireland every year with private cars carrying the most significant carbon footprint.
The campaign will encourage all drivers to be aware of the significance of using the idle stop or stop/start function in vehicles not only in Adare but also in every city, town, village, school or health care setting throughout the country.
CO2 emissions could be reduced by 1.4 million tonnes per year if drivers stopped idling for just 3 minutes a day and that is the equivalent of taking 320,000 cars off the road.
Research shows that using the idle stop or stop/start function increases fuel efficiency by almost 10% and reduces CO2 emissions of vehicles by more than 20%.