22.09.2010

Olympic Park DPFs – final decision

The on-going saga over the retro-fitting of diesel particulate filters (DPFs) on the London Olympic Park has finally reached a conclusion.

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) - which carried out an independent cost analysis study within the Olympic Park - has taken the decision not to implement the requirement to retrofit DPFs to Non Road Mobile Machinery.

In its study conclusions, the ODA says that: "the results of the study clearly demonstrate that the costs and benefits of DPFs do not represent good value for money when compared with other measures".

From the outset of the project, the Olympic Delivery Authority has been committed to meeting high standards of environment management and put in place measures to reduce the effects of the works on the environment.

The ODA committed, in its Sustainable Development Strategy, to follow the London Best Practice Guidance (LBPG) for the control of dust and emissions from construction and demolition. Published in November 2006, it set out a series of recommended measures to minimise the effects of dust and emissions.

One of the measures, the fitting of exhaust after-treatment devices to all vehicles, has been the source of intense debate between the manufacturers, suppliers and users of exhaust filters and machinery manufacturers. The debate focused on concerns about the efficiency of filter technology and its cost effectiveness.

In the ODA study, three operational scenarios were used to compare the effects of different measures on air quality:

Scenario 1: All machinery on site is operated without the use of Ultra Low Diesel Sulphur or Diesel Particulate Filters

Scenario 2: All machinery on site is operated with Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel but not DPFs

Scenario 3: All machinery is required to use both Low Sulphur Diesel and DPFs

In scenario 2, the extra cost of £100,000 resulted in a benefit of £400,000, while scenario 3 added a further £600,000 of benefits but costs rose to £1.3million - an additional £1.2 million.

As a result the ODA has taken the decision not to implement the requirement to retrofit DPFs to Non Road Mobile Machinery saying the results of the study clearly demonstrate that the costs and benefits of DPFs do not represent good value for money when compared with other measures.

The ODA still requires all contractors to use Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel in its construction plant and machinery.