Motor Vehicle Pollution in Eastern Europe: A Case Study in Hungary

The recent developments in Eastern Europe create many opportunities as well as challenges with regard to motor vehicle pollution. Using Hungary as an example, this paper shows that even with a relatively low per capita motor vehicle population compared to Western Europe, motor vehicle pollution problems are starting to emerge in Eastern Europe (on top of already severe stationary source pollution problems in many of these countries). Using Hungary as a prototype for several other countries, the purposes of this paper are to review the current motor vehicle air pollution situation in Eastern Europe, to describe the future which is likely to emerge if current trends continue and to summarize the potential impact of a variety of control options.