Spain tests remote sensors to monitor vehicle emissions

Spain is pioneering the use of Remote Sensing Devices (RSD) to monitor vehicle exhaust emissions without requiring cars to stop. This technology, which has already undergone testing on Spanish roads, uses infrared and ultraviolet light beams to analyze the concentration of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and fine particles as vehicles pass by.

An automatic license plate recognition camera links the measurements to the vehicle owner and their official environmental label. Currently, Opus RSE is noted as the only laboratory in the world accredited under the ISO-17025 standard for this specific field. As the European Union observes these developments, Brussels is preparing regulations to potentially implement this technology across other member states to support the energy transition and combat pollution from combustion engines.