- In 2019, the speed limit was reduced from 81 pmh to 62 mph due to the EU net zero targets.
- But one study showed that nitrogen emissions were only reduced by 0.2 percent.
The Netherlands could scrap its 60mph speed limit on motorways after research showed it has virtually no impact on emissions.
The idea is emerging as an area of ​​possible consensus as the country’s four largest political parties struggle to reach a coalition deal following Geert Wilders’ victory in October’s general election.
The speed limit on motorways used to be 130 kmh (81 mph) until 2019, when it was reduced to 100 kmh (62 mph) after Dutch courts ordered the government to reduce air pollution to meet net zero targets. of the EU.
“The reason we heard about this is that it’s probably the only thing all four parties can agree on,” a Dutch official said. The Telegraph.
Repealing the low speed limit has gained popularity after a study showed that the 60 mph limit, which only applies between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m., reduced nitrogen emissions by at most 0.2 percent. .
The Netherlands may scrap its 60mph speed limit on motorways after research showed it has virtually no impact on emissions.
In 2019, traffic signs with a speed limit of 100 km/h will be manufactured
Gasoline vehicles emit much less nitrogen dioxide than diesel vehicles
Wilders, who has been dubbed the ‘Dutch Trump’, has previously called for the Netherlands to leave the historic Paris climate agreement.
Even the current acting conservative prime minister, Mark Rutte, said it was a “rotten measure” when he imposed the lower limit four years ago following a ruling by EU courts.
The speed cut put the Netherlands alongside Cyprus with the lowest motorway speeds in the EU.
The most common maximum speed limit in Europe is 80mph, while in the UK it is 70mph.
But despite the measures, the Netherlands still produces more nitrogen emissions per capita than the EU average.
The Dutch nitrogen crisis even halted new construction projects amid a housing crisis and led Rutte to propose mandatory farm purchases to reduce nitrogen emissions.
Measures to reduce nitrogen also included changes in the amount of protein in feed to reduce levels of nitrogen-containing ammonia found in urine produced by livestock.
The idea is emerging as an area of ​​possible consensus as the country’s four largest political parties struggle to reach a coalition deal following the victory of Geert Wilders (pictured) in October’s general election.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte, pictured in 2019, announcing the maximum speed limit of 100 kph (62 mph), a significant decrease from the previous limit of 130 kph (81 mph).
Nitrogen oxides, which can cause respiratory problems and stunt crop growth at high enough concentrations, are notable for giving smog its yellow-brown color.
Nitrogen in soil and groundwater, on the other hand, typically comes in the form of nitrates from fertilizers and wastewater and can cause harmful algal blooms in waterways.
The Dutch agricultural industry is responsible for 61 percent of the country’s nitrogen pollution.
Those policies were followed by a series of tractor protests that inspired similar populist uprisings against EU green rules across Europe.
And in March 2023, the BBB, a Dutch farmers’ party, won a surprising landslide victory in a regional election that had become a referendum on Rutte.
The government fell amid a dispute over immigration policy and Rutte, the longest-serving Prime Minister in Dutch history, announced he would not run again.
The potential speed increase in the Netherlands comes as a 60mph experiment on the M1 and M6 is to be scrapped.
Last month it was announced that motorways, two of the UK’s busiest, had been part of a plan to see if driving at lower speeds reduced emissions, with the slower limit imposed on the M1 at Rotherham and the M6 at Witton, near Birmingham.
But stretches of road reverted to the national speed limit of 70mph after no real change in average speed was found over the course of the experiment.