100 km/h not necessary

The air is getting better and better

100 km/h on freeways is not an issue due to the air quality in Lower Austria!(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Patrick Huber)

Less particulate matter and fewer nitrogen oxides in the air: why not everyone can and wants to breathe a sigh of relief ...

The results are clear: air quality in Lower Austria is improving year on year. Pollutants are measured at more than 40 locations. The 2023 annual report clearly shows that all legal limits according to the Immission Control Act - Air have been significantly undercut.

Trend confirmed over many years
The long-term downward trend is therefore continuing: over the past ten years, particulate matter pollution has fallen by 33.3 percent for PM10 particles and by 52.6 percent for the much smaller PM2.5 particles. Nitrogen dioxide fell by 38.9 percent during this time. "The data shows that the air in our country has been trending cleaner for many years. There are several reasons for this: Cars are becoming less polluting, heating cleaner, housing more ecological," explains Deputy Governor Stephan Pernkopf. We are already well positioned for even lower limit values in the future.

Air 100s are thus slowed down
However, the good values also put the brakes on the plans of some citizens' initiatives. Pernkopf: "Traffic-restricting measures, such as an air 100, are not needed in Lower Austria with these values."

Elisabeth Scheicher, Head of the Lower Austria Air Quality Monitoring Network, adds: "A look at the current average values in the monitoring network also show a similarly low level for the current year 2024 as in 2023. It can therefore be assumed that the steadily decreasing trend will continue."