Abstract
Diesel irrigation pumps are a source of air pollution in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP). The environmental implications of these pumps are often overlooked and very rarely addressed in the IGP. Few studies in the past have estimated the amount of diesel consumed by irrigation pumps in the IGP or other proxy variables to estimate the amount of emissions. A considerable amount of uncertainty remains in calculating emission factors (EF) using real-time measurements. We measured pollutants from nine diesel irrigation pumps in the southern ‘Terai’ belt of Nepal. Fuel-based EF were then estimated using the carbon mass balance method. The average EF for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), CO2, CO and black carbon (BC) were found to be 22.11 ± 3.71, 2218.10 ± 26.8, 275 ± 17.18 and 2.54 ± 0.71 g/L, respectively. Depending upon the pump characteristics (age, design, make, hours used, etc.) and fuel mixtures, the EF of PM2.5, BC and CO had larger inter-variability. This study provides estimates for an under-represented source of ambient air pollution which will assist in the development of better emission inventories and informed policy making.
Highlights
Groundwater irrigation for agricultural activities prevails in the lowland regions of the world.Previous studies report that ~38% of total cultivable lands (301 million ha) are irrigated by groundwater, globally
Based on the area of irrigated land, India, China and the United States of America head the list of countries using irrigation from both surface and groundwater sources [1]
A campaign to estimate the emissions from diesel-based irrigation pumps was conducted in Saptari, Nepal, during summer 2017
Summary
Groundwater irrigation for agricultural activities prevails in the lowland regions of the world. Previous studies report that ~38% of total cultivable lands (301 million ha) are irrigated by groundwater, globally. This is equivalent to approximately 545 km y−1 of consumed water use [1]. Based on the area of irrigated land, India, China and the United States of America head the list of countries using irrigation (on approximately 39, 19 and 17 million ha of land, respectively) from both surface and groundwater sources [1]. Groundwater is extracted manually or using either electricity or diesel-powered pumps [2]. In much of the developing world, diesel-powered pumps are used rather than those powered by electricity, because of the poor supply of electricity and load-shedding issues [3]
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