Clean air plan

Clean air plan 2022

Thanks to a clear strategy, the city of Aachen has been on the right track for years to sustainably improve air quality in the urban area. Despite the talc and diesel emissions scandal, which had a massive impact on air pollution control in the cities, pollution levels of particulate matter (PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) have fallen continuously.

The relevant limit values for particulate matter (40 µg/m³ as an annual average and a maximum of 35 days with a daily average > 50 µg/m³) have been clearly complied with for many years. Among other things, the Aachen Solid Fuel Ordinance issued in 2010 has made an important contribution here. The WHO recommendation for PM 10 of 20 µg/m² as an annual average, which applies until 2020, has been met or undercut for several years at the Wilhelmstraße measuring station. The annual average value measured at Wilhelmstraße in 2021 is 18 µ/m³. Although this exceeds the WHO recommendation, which was lowered to 15 µg/m³ from September 2021, the value is still well within the acceptable range for a large city. Irrespective of this, the city of Aachen continues to focus on the issue of particulate matter in its air pollution control strategy as a precautionary measure for its population.

In the case of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), the success of the measures was rather modest for a long time. Even though the values have fallen continuously and the limit value at the state measuring station on Wilhelmstrasse - as a significant marker for traffic-induced emissions - was below the applicable limit value of 40 µg/m³ NO2 for the first time in 2019, there were still exceedances at individual pollution hotspots at the city's own measuring stations.

Against this backdrop and in view of the lawsuit filed by Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) against various clean air plans (including Aachen) several years ago, a multi-stage immediate action program was presented to politicians in autumn 2019. Targeted key measures are intended to make an effective contribution to further reducing NO2 pollution in Aachen. The focus is on:

• (Further) optimization of the bus fleet through SCRT retrofitting and early procurement of new buses (EuroVI and electric) (2019)
• the introduction of a 30 km/h speed limit along the entire ring of avenues and on a section of Monheimsallee (2019/2020),
• the promotion of cycling by expanding the cycle path network, the cycling infrastructure and improving the range of services,
• the improvement of public transport services for commuters and shopping traffic,
• the expansion of electromobility and field trials with other low-emission drive types.

In addition to the local measures, the nationwide software update and the buy-back premium for diesel cars have also contributed to the reduction in NO2 pollution.

In 2020, the annual average NO2 limit of 40 µg/m³ was undercut for the first time at all Aachen measuring stations - including the city's own. Further reductions were recorded at individual points in 2021.

With this third update of the Aachen Clean Air Plan, which came into force on May 1, 2022, the new immediate action program will be integrated into the existing, comprehensive catalog of measures of the Aachen Clean Air Strategy.

Clean air plan 2019

At the beginning of 2019, the Cologne district government announced that the second update of the clean air plan for the city of Aachen came into force on January 1, 2019.

Lord Mayor Marcel Philipp says:

"This is a good day for Aachen. We were able to prove that we are on the right track in Aachen with our numerous measures for the Clean Air Plan and that diesel driving bans will not be necessary. The bundle of measures was already outlined in our 2015 Clean Air Plan, but the impact forecasts were missing at some points.

It is therefore understandable that this was not enough for the administrative court in its ruling. But now the impact calculations and forecasts are available. And we can prove that our measures are taking effect. We have done our homework, and the final political decisions still required will follow this year.

We are now also well positioned for further legal disputes. Incidentally, we are not only interested in reducing nitrogen dioxide levels, even if this is our initial priority. Rather, we are interested in an overall concept for new urban mobility and thus for a better quality of life in the city center. That is the goal we are pursuing with all of our measures, from electromobility to bus and bicycle traffic to noise reduction and many other measures."