Estimating Air Pollutant Reduction Credits for Alternative-Fuel Vehicles with AirCred

Abstract

Primarily to assist the U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Cities coalitions in estimating the net benefits of reducing air pollutant emissions gained by acquiring original equipment manufacture (OEM) alternativefuel vehicles (AFVs), Argonne National Laboratory has developed a graphical user interface-based benefit calculation model called AirCred. The application of this modeling tool has been extended to the estimation of state implementation plan credits for AFVs that may be claimed in nonattainment and maintenance regions for ozone and carbon monoxide. The tool also has been approved for and applied to the quantification of projected program benefits in applications for grant support to purchase OEM AFVs under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program. First, the model’s founding principles and relatively simple mechanics are presented, accompanied by graphic displays of data input screens and comparative results for various vehicular categories. Current and future plans are cited for enhancement of the tool, including its respecification for consistency with MOBILE6 and for air planning in the yet-to-be-designated nonattainment areas for ambient particulate matter of 2.5 μm and smaller. Then some issues and controversies about how and where AirCred should be applied are chronicled. Finally, some example applications are presented to illustrate the residual benefits of AFVs over time relative to their conventionally fueled counterparts of the same (recent) model year. Results indicate that AFVs of certain categories will remain viable and attractive candidates for reducing air emissions in ozone and carbon monoxide air quality control regions well into the future.