LH Agency: Air Pollution in Jakarta Mostly Caused by Vehicles

The key to reducing emissions from vehicle sources is from all of us or private vehicle owners

The Jakarta Environment (LH) Agency, invited Vital Strategies to collaborate together to research the Air Pollution Sources Inventory Study in 2020. The research uses 2018 data which consists of data on fuel consumption from the transportation, industry, household, energy and other sectors.

Based on the results of the research, it was found that the contributor to air pollution in Jakarta was from the transportation sector, especially for NOx (72.4 percent), CO (96.36 percent), PM10 (57.99 percent) and PM2.5 (67.03 percent). As for the manufacturing sector is the largest source of pollution for SO2 and the second largest pollutant for NOx, PM10, and PM2.5.

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LH Agency Head, Asep Kuswanto said, the findings are in line with previous research on filter-based air pollution sources apportionment, which was also done by DLH, Vital Strategies and ITB.

"From filter samples that detect PM2.5 at three locations (Kebon Jeruk, Lubang Buaya and Gelora Bung Karno), it can be concluded that in both the dry and rainy seasons, the main source of PM2.5 is from motor vehicle emissions, which is 32- 41 percent in the rainy season and 42-57 percent in the dry season," he explained, Friday (11/12).

He explained that it was clear that motor vehicles were a key sector that had to be addressed to improve air quality in Jakarta.

Several programs had been realized was from expanding the public transportation network, improving pedestrian access to using environmentally friendly fuels for government operational vehicles.

"The key to reducing emissions from vehicle sources is from all of us or private vehicle owners. That's why, we also prioritize policies for implementing emission tests from private vehicles," he explained.

According to him, the emission test functions to control emissions from vehicles operating in Jakarta thus they do not exceed the quality standards determined by applicable regulations. Thereby, if all vehicles meet the specified quality standards, it will reduce air pollution in Jakarta.

"This is also part of the implementation of the Citizen Lawsuit decision which was decided by the Central Jakarta District Court on September 16, 2021. Based on the decision, one of the activities we must do to improve air quality in Jakarta is to impose sanctions on motorcycle owners who do not pass the emission test.