Currently, owners of vehicles caught emitting black smoke will be served a notice to send the vehicles for testing using the chassis dynamometer smoke test (CDST). Vehicles that fail the CDST (with smoke opacity of more than 50 HSU) are fined $150, $300 and $500 for the first, second and subsequent offence respectively within a window period of 2 years.

With effect from 1 Jan 2001, all petrol & diesel-driven vehicles must comply with the exhaust emission standard as specified in the European Directive 96/69/EC for light duty vehicles with maximum laden weight (MLW) of 3,500 kg or less and 91/542/EEC Stage II for heavy vehicles with MLW of more than 3,500 kg before these vehicles can be registered for use in Singapore.

With effect from October 2006, all new diesel-driven vehicles will have to comply with Euro IV exhaust emission standard. Information on tax incentive scheme to promote Euro IV diesel-driven vehicles are given in the press release Here.
Motorcycles/scooters registered between 1 October 1991 and 30 Jun 2003 were required to comply with the US 40 CFR 86.410-80 Emission Standard. With effect from 1 Jul 2003, all motorcycles/scooters must comply with the exhaust emission standard as specified in the European Directive 97/24/EC before they can be registered for use in Singapore.

With effect from 1 Aug 2000, all off-road diesel engines would be required to comply with either Japan, US or EU off-road diesel exhaust emission standards. Any equipment or machinery that is equipped with diesel engines as the main or auxillary prime mover and not registered with the LTA for use on public roads requires to have a permit prior to the import of such equipment. The application form is to be submitted to PCD one month prior to the import of the equipment.The form is available for downloading under the downloadable forms page in this website.

For in-service vehicles, all vehicles are subject to mandatory inspections periodically. During such inspections, emission of the vehicles is tested to ensure that they comply with the prescribed standard. The schedule of mandatory inspection and emission limits for in-service vehicles are listed as follows:-

(a) Petrol-driven vehicles:
Schedule: Every two years (< 10 yr old)
Every year (> 10 yr old)
CO - 6% by vol (registered on or before 1986)
CO - 4.5% by vol (registered after 86)
CO - 3.5% by vol (registered after Jul 92)

(b) Diesel-driven vehicles:
Schedule : Commercial Veh. : Every year (<10 yr old)
Every 6 monthly (>10 yr old)
Passenger carrying veh. : every 6 monthly
Smoke Opacity Limit : 50 HSU

(c) Motorcycles/scooters :
Schedule : every year (after 3 years from registration date)
CO limit - 4.5% by vol

A wide range of measures are being taken in Singapore to control air pollution from motor vehicles. Part of our measures include :

Adoption of Stringent Vehicular Emission Standards

Adoption of Fuel Quality Standards

Periodic mandatory inspection of vehicle emissions at vehicle inspection centres

Enforcement against smoky vehicles by Pollution Control Department

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Diesel engines are not inherently smoky. Black smoke emission occurs only when there is incomplete combustion due to faults in the engine for lack of maintenance , for example, dirty air filters, clogged injectors and faulty fuel pumps. In addition, overloading and poor driving habits (such as dragging the engine and speeding) also increase the likelihood of smoke emission.

Alternative technology 'green' vehicles are clean-energy vehicles that use energy sources other than petroleum such as compressed natural gas (CNG), electricity, methanol, hydrogen, or solar energy. The variety of new vehicle technologies being experimented on include electric and hybrid vehicles, gas turbines, fuel cells, ultra-light materials, compressed air and engines running on natural gas, alcohol or biofuels. These vehicles offer the advantages of reduced emissions of CO2 and other exhaust gases. Many clean-energy vehicles have been developed and some are already in operation, but they still present certain problems such as short traveling ranges and high operational costs. For this reason, they are at present used only for a limited number of applications and within limited areas. In order to increase their use, it will be necessary to resolve the various technical issues still outstanding and to build the fuel-supply stations and other infrastructural elements they require. A full write up on each of these vehicles is shown Here.