Ozone and ammonia levels regularly too high in Fribourg

Air quality improves in Fribourg Keystone-SDA

Air quality has improved throughout the Swiss city of Fribourg in recent years. Only the ozone and ammonia values are still regularly too high, according to an initial assessment by the Fribourg Environment Service (SEn).

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Efforts must be maintained in Switzerland and abroad to ensure a reduction in concentrations of these two components, says the SEn in a press release. The SEn is drawing up an initial assessment five years after the entry into force of a plan of measures to protect the air.

In the area of combustion, the results are mixed. Unlike central wood-burning systems, individual space heating systems (stoves, fireplaces) are not subject to periodic checks to limit harmful emissions, even though they are a major source of fine particles.

Checks carried out on site diesel engines show that, on the whole, the fleet of machines complies with current technical standards. At the same time, in 2024 the SEn began the first stage of a survey of diesel engines used outside construction sites, according to the press release.

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Projects to prioritise road traffic generally prove effective at neighbourhood level. However, to achieve a lasting improvement in regional air quality, they must be accompanied by a modal shift or a switch to non-thermal vehicles. Other measures, such as the decarbonisation of Fribourg public transport vehicles, are considered satisfactory.

“As far as agriculture is concerned, the results are quite good,” said the SEn. Efforts have already been made to inform farmers about reducing ammonia emissions in stables. This approach will show its effects gradually, because of the “time needed to assimilate knowledge and implement improvement projects”, it said. Several other measures aimed at reducing ammonia emissions have produced satisfactory results.

According to the SEn, the results do not point to the need to draw up a new plan of measures to protect the air in the short term. The preferred option is to continue implementing the current plan, with possible adjustments in line with federal recommendations and a possible revision of limit values.

Adapted from French by AI/ts

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