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| Where did downtown Bogotá go? |
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| You can glimpse a few of the buildings. |
On January first, EcoPetrol, supposedly, began distributing distributing very clean diesel across all of Colombia. The new diesel has only 50 parts per million of sulphur - high quality by developing world standards. Previously, the diesel fuel in Bogotá had 300 ppm of sulphur, and that sold outside the city was much dirtier.
These photos show the view of downtown Bogotá from the window of my apartment above La Candelaria in the morning. Most mornings I can barely distinguish the buildings in downtown thru the grey pall.
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| A rare clear day. |
EcoPetrol may very well be distributing clean fuel, altho I'd love to see an analysis by an independent laboratory. (Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a laboratory in Colombia with sufficiently precise equipment that's not connected to EcoPetrol.) But that only demonstrates how much more needs to be done to clear the air.
The city needs to retire older, higly-polluting vehicles and enforce emissions laws on the rest. Even many new cars, especially Chinese and Korean models, leave plumes of smoke behind them.
Where does the smog come from? It's no mystery:
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| A TransMilenio bus, the icon of Bogotá, belches smoke. |
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| This truck was repairing electricity lines along the Circunvular. |
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| A bus belches its way down Carrera 10. |
By Mike Ceaser, of
Bogotá Bike Tours
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