Decrease Air Pollution Research Articles

Tracing out the effect of transportation infrastructure on NO2 concentration levels with Kernel Density Estimation by investigating successive COVID-19-induced lockdowns

This study aims to investigate the effect of transportation infrastructure on the decrease of NO2 air pollution during three COVID-19-induced lockdowns in a vast region of France. For this purpose, using Sentinel-5P satellite data, the relative change in tropospheric NO2 air pollution during the three lockdowns was calculated. The estimation of regional infrastructure intensity was performed using Kernel Density Estimation, being the predictor variable. By performing hotspot–coldspot analysis on the relative change in NO2 air pollution, significant spatial clusters of decreased air pollution during the three lockdowns were identified. Based on the clusters, a novel spatial index, the Clustering Index (CI) was developed using its Coldspot Clustering Index (CCI) variant as a predicted variable in the regression model between infrastructure intensity and NO2 air pollution decline. The analysis revealed that during the three lockdowns there was a strong and statistically significant relationship between the transportation infrastructure and the decline index, CCI (r = 0.899, R2 = 0.808). The results showed that the largest decrease in NO2 air pollution was recorded during the first lockdown, and in this case, there was the strongest inverse correlation with transportation infrastructure (r = −0.904, R2 = 0.818). Economic and population predictors also explained with good fit the decrease in NO2 air pollution during the first lockdown: GDP (R2 = 0.511), employees (R2 = 0.513), population density (R2 = 0.837). It is concluded that not only economic-population variables determined the reduction of near-surface air pollution but also the transportation infrastructure. Further studies are recommended to investigate other pollutant gases as predicted variables.

Do urban parking restrictions and Low Emission Zones encourage a greener mobility?

Decreasing air pollution produced by road traffic represents one of the main actions of both national and local governments to improve air quality in urban areas. This research explores to what extent measures restricting the use of the private vehicle, such as on-street parking regulations and the implementation of Low Emission Zones encourage the use of environmentally-friendly vehicles and promote a shift towards more sustainable transport modes in the city of Madrid. By calibrating multinomial and ordered regression models, we study how the implemented measures impact individuals' choices. The results indicate that these measures encouraged citizens to switch to more sustainable modes. However, citizens with cleaner vehicles are reluctant to shift to public transport or active modes due to the benefits stemming from the ownership of those vehicles, such as the possibility of enjoying free parking.

Ambient gaseous pollutant exposure and incidence of visual impairment among children and adolescents: findings from a longitudinal, two-center cohort study in China.

Evidence on the effects of exposure to ambient gaseous pollutants on children's vision was consistently scarce. We aimed to explore the effect of ambient gaseous pollutant exposure on the incidence of visual impairment (VI) in children. From 2005 to 2018, a total of 340,313 children without VI participated in a longitudinal and two-center dynamic cohort. The logMAR acuity was used to assess visual function. The space-time extremely randomized trees model was used to estimate SO2 and CO exposures levels. The association between SO2 and CO and VI risks among children was assessed using a proportional hazards model with a restricted cubic spline. Subgroup analyses stratified by gender and grades were used to investigate the differences in an association of SO2 and CO exposures with childhood VI. A total of 158381 (46.54%) children experienced an new incident VI. A ten-unit (10μg/m3) increase in SO2 exposure concentrations was significantly associated with a 1.70 times higher risk of childhood VI. In addition, a 0.1-unit (0.1mg/m3) increase in CO exposure was significantly associated with a 1.22 times higher risk of childhood VI. The positive association between ambient gaseous pollutants (including SO2 and CO exposures) and childhood VI risks remained even after adjusting for other environmental variables. An increase in the incidence of VI in children was positively linked to SO2 and CO exposure. Such evidence might aid governments in developing strategies to interfere with children's eyesight by decreasing air pollution and changing school curricula.

Association of population migration with air quality: Role of city attributes in China during COVID-19 pandemic (2019–2021)

Atmospheric pollution studies have linked diminished human activity during the COVID-19 pandemic to improve air quality. This study was conducted during January to March (2019–2021) in 332 cities in China to examine the association between population migration and air quality, and examined the role of three city attributes (pollution level, city scale, and lockdown status) in this effect. This study assessed six air pollutants, namely CO, NO2, O3, PM10, PM2.5, and SO2, and measured meteorological data, with-in city migration (WCM) index, and inter-city migration (ICM) index. A linear mixed-effects model with an autoregressive distributed lag model was fitted to estimate the effect of the percent change in migration on air pollution, adjusting for potential confounding factors. In summary, lower migration was associated with decreased air pollution (other than O3). Pollution change in susceptibility is more likely to occur in NO2 decrease and O3 increase, but unsusceptibility is more likely to occur in CO and SO2, to city attributes from low migration. Cities that are less air polluted and population-dense may benefit more from decreasing PM10 and PM2.5. The associations between population migration and air pollution were stronger in cities with stringent traffic restrictions than in cities with no lockdowns. Based on city attributes, an insignificant difference was observed between the effects of ICM and WCM on air pollution. Findings from this study may gain knowledge about the potential interaction between migration and city attributes, which may help decision-makers adopt air-quality policies with city-specific targets and paths to pursue similar air quality improvements for public health but at a much lower economic cost than lockdowns.

Traffic management at intersection to minimize dispersion of air pollution

Abstract One of the consequences of higher mobility is the increase in air pollution. The increase in traffic volume at intersections impacts delays and congestion, thus producing higher air pollution concentrations. This research aimed to identify intersection performance and analyze air quality at existing conditions, then propose traffic management scenarios that increase intersection performance and reduce air pollution at a time. This study was taken on Soekarno-Hatta – M.T. Haryono – D.I. Panjaitan intersection, in Malang. The intersection performance was at the worst level of service (LOS F) for each approach from traffic analysis using the Indonesian Highway Capacity Manual. At this condition, the prediction of air pollutant parameters was out of standard level. The CO concentrate was lower than the standard level, while NO was higher than the standard level. Traffic management was proposed by controlling the movements at the intersection approaches and the number of phases at the intersection. The third alternative can improve intersection performance from F to C and decrease air pollution. The concentration reductions are about ±37.4% for NOx and ±61.3% for CO from the road median to the end of the road.

Identification of Dominant Factor for Air Pollution Fluctuations at The Beginning of Covid-19 Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) in Jakarta

A Coronavirus Diseases 2019 (COVID-19) stroke many countries at the beginning of 2020. It had an impact not only in the health field but also on the environment. Some countries enforced to lockdown policy. This condition impacted to increase the air quality in big cities in the world. However, the Indonesian government ruled large scale social restriction (PSBB) since April 2020. PSBB is not as strict as lockdown in other countries because society could go out for some crucial reason such as working, and getting food. Many researchers reported that the lockdown policy decreased air pollution in some big cities such as Beijing, Italy, etc. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the dominant factor of air pollution fluctuation 1-month before PSBB, during PSBB and 1-month after PSBB. Is only PSBB reducing social mobility caused changes of air pollutions such as CO, SO2, NO2, PM, and O3 or did meteorological factors such as relative humidity and wind speed also impact air pollutions concentration? To calculate the dominant factor by highest contribution value, this study used multiplication between the slope of pollutant to relative humidity or wind speed or social mobility and the slope of relative humidity or wind speed or social mobility to the time. The result showed that the social mobility at 1-month before PSBB, during PSBB and 1-month after PSBB was the dominant factor of CO decreasing at the rate of -0.44, -0.01, and -0.11 ppm. However, the contribution of relative humidity, wind speed and social mobility to other air pollutions did not always same as the trend of air pollutions.

Optimal Management of Multi-Carrier Energy Hub Regarding Fuel Cell and, Storage Technologies

Using fossil fuels pollutes the air, generates greenhouse gases and results in global warming. Energy hub is used to prevent energy loss, decrease air pollution, and minimize the system cost. So far, various ideas have been presented in the optimization methods and constituting elements of the hubs. The main idea of this paper is to present a scheme in which the effect of pollution absorption and converting pollution to energy carrier, which has not been studied in previous articles. Using this idea can reduce the generated pollution, dependency on primary carriers, and system costs. This paper introduces an energy hub that takes fossil fuels and wind and solar renewable energies as input. The generated power of the plants is uncertain, and the consumers' load is estimated. The cost function of the system includes power generation costs and pollution penalty increase costs. The results show that by employing storage, electrolyzers, methane reformer, and fuel cells simultaneously, a part of the fossil fuels' pollution is absorbed, and the resulting penalty cost is reduced. Also, using the methane generation mechanism and using a fuel cell, the power generation cost of the system decreases. The results also indicate that the cost function of this problem is optimized using GAMS

Sizing, Optimization, and Financial Analysis of a Green Hydrogen Refueling Station in Remote Regions

Hydrogen (H2) can be a promising energy carrier for decarbonizing the economy and especially the transport sector, which is considered as one of the sectors with high carbon emissions due to the extensive use of fossil fuels. H2 is a nontoxic energy carrier that could replace fossil fuels. Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) can decrease air pollution and reduce greenhouse gases when H2 is produced from Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and at the same time being accessible through a widespread network of Hydrogen Refueling Stations (HRSs). In this study, both the sizing of the equipment and financial analysis were performed for an HRS supplied with H2 from the excess electrical energy of a 10 MW wind park. The aim was to determine the optimum configuration of an HRS under the investigation of six different scenarios with various numbers of FCEVs and monthly demands, as well as ascertaining the economic viability of each examined scenario. The effect of the number of vehicles that the installation can refuel to balance the initial cost of the investment and the fuel cost in remote regions was investigated. The results showed that a wind-powered HRS could be a viable solution when sized appropriately and H2 can be used as a storage mean for the rejected wind energy. It was concluded that scenarios with low FCEVs penetration have low economic performance since the payback period presented significantly high values.

Consumers Choice Decision Towards Electric and Conventional Motorcycles

Abstract. Air pollution is one of the most pressing emerging issues in Indonesia. To reduce emissions, people need to shift from conventional to electric motorcycles (EM). However, the number of conventional motorcycles (CM) in Indonesia is still far above electric, and there is no certainty whether the market will adopt it. Therefore, this research aims to identify significant factors that influence consumers’ decision in choosing electric or conventional motorcycles and to identify preferred motorcycle type, as well as to calculate the elasticity of each factor. Choice modeling analysis is used to estimate the probability of choosing motorcycles and the attributes that influence the decision. Data is collected through an online survey sent to 470 respondents. This research used three methods in processing the data: factor analysis, multinomial logistic regression, and demand elasticities analysis. Based on the result of this research, it is found that the significant factors are purchase price, charging times, driving range, and attitude towards each motorcycle type. Additionally, it is found that most of the respondents prefer electric motorcycles to conventional ones. The results suggested that motorcycles manufacturers should consider selling EM with lower prices, develop fast charging technology, and improve driving range, while the government should provide incentives for EM users. Therefore, this research supports findings to decrease air pollution in Indonesia by increasing the use of EM. Keywords: Electric vehicles, motorcycles, choice modeling, significant factors, stated preference

Greenness alleviates the effects of ambient particulate matter on the risks of high blood pressure in children and adolescents

Both ambient particulate matter (PM) and decrease of greenness have been suggested as risk factors for high blood pressure (HBP) in children and adolescents. But most evidence were from cross-sectional studies with limited data from prospective cohorts. In this cohort study, we included 588,004 children and adolescents aged 7 to 18 years without HBP from 2005 to 2018 in Beijing (240,081) and Zhongshan (347,923) city of China. The cumulative incidence of HBP was 32.04%, and incidence rate was 14.86 per 100 person-year. After adjustment for confounders, the ten-unit increase in PM1, PM2.5, and PM10 exposure was significantly associated with 43%, 70%, and 43%- higher risks of HBP, respectively, but the 0.1-unit increase in NDVI exposure was significantly associated with a 25% lower risk of HBP. The HRs of PM1 on the HBP risk were 1.486 and 1.150 in the low and the high-level of greenness, and they were 2.635 and 2.507 for PM2.5, and for PM10 1.367 and 1.702 in the two groups. The attributable fraction (AFs) of PM1, PM2.5, and PM10 on HBP incidents were 13.74%, 40.08%, and 15.47% in the low-level of greenness, which simultaneously was higher than those in the high-level of greenness (AF = 4.62%, 17.28%, and 9.96%). The exposure to higher ambient PM air pollution and lower greenness around schools were associated with a higher risk of HBP in children and adolescents, but higher greenness alleviated the adverse effects of ambient PM1 and PM2.5 on the HBP risks. Our findings highlighted a synergic strategy in preventing childhood HBP by decreasing air pollution reduction and improving greenness concurrently.

The Negative Externality of Mining Activities in Brown Canyon

The negative impact of mining activites has resulted in environmental damage that reduces environmental functions. One of them is the brown cnyoan mining, whose mining operations have resulted in the loss of of clean water sources and disrupted public health. The research aims to analyse the negative externalities received bt the community and to estimate the economic losses of the community due to mining activites. The data source of this research is primart data with a sample of 50 families using the purposive sampling method. This research uses a mixed-method, which is a combination of qualitative data (indepth interview, descriptive and coding criteria) and quantitative data (resplacement cost and cost od illness). This research shows that the dominant-negative externalities felt by the community are mining nose, decrease water quality and air pollution. The estimated loss from the replacement cost approach is 5,662,500 IDR and the cost of illness approach 3,999,000 IDR, with an average loss per family each month od 192,030 IDR. This negative impact mining disrupts community efficiency because the negative impact is not taken into account by producers in determining mining production.

New WHO global air quality guidelines: more pressure on nations to reduce air pollution levels

New WHO global air quality guidelines: more pressure on nations to reduce air pollution levels

도시재생사업의 소규모 녹지 조성이 바람길 형성 및 열 환경에 미치는 영향 : 대구 인동촌 백년마을 도시재생활성화 지역을 중심으로

Purpose: Under a wide range of urban regeneration projects, efforts are undergoing to transform abandoned or empty plots, and lots in low use into small green areas, such as linear green space, public gardens, pocket parks, and ally gardens. Green areas within the cities are indeed known to bring positive effects, such as mitigating urban heat island effects through the development of fresh wind, decreasing air pollution, including fine dust, and the revitalization of communities. However, the quantitative analysis of positive effects of vegetation and the range of the impacts is not enough, whose verification is the aim of this study. Method: This study performed CFD(Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulation and the actual measurements of weather to examine the effects of green areas in Indongchon, one of the regeneration and revitalization areas in Daegu Metropolitan City, and surrounding areas on the nearby environment. The results were used to estimate the influence of previously created green space and analyze that of planned green areas. Result: It compared the examination results of the weather data and CFD simulation results and verified the feasibility of the model. The simulation model was utilized to inspect the impacts of previously formed green areas on the nearby environment and confirm that each type of green space has a different effect.

SARS-CoV-2 variants and environmental effects of lockdowns, masks and vaccination: a review.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is continuously evolving and four variants of concern have been identified so far, including Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta variants. Here we review the indirect effect of preventive measures such as the implementation of lockdowns, mandatory face masks, and vaccination programs, to control the spread of the different variants of this infectious virus on the environment. We found that all these measures have a considerable environmental impact, notably on waste generation and air pollution. Waste generation is increased due to the implementation of all these preventive measures. While lockdowns decrease air pollution, unsustainable management of face mask waste and temperature-controlled supply chains of vaccination potentially increases air pollution.

The role of personal and environmental factors in rural homeowner decision to insulate; an example from Poland

The paper's objective is to quantify factors influencing a rural homeowner's decision to invest in exterior insulation to improve energy efficiency, lower heating costs, decrease air pollution, and reduce ash disposal and time spent monitoring coal-burning stoves. The study estimates a probit decision equation using survey data collected from an area lagging in economic development and calculates decision probability change in response to a variety of homeowner characteristics, perceived importance of issues related to energy efficiency, and location. The resulting calculation of probability changes on choosing to invest in external insulation show that respondents with higher education had a 6.4% higher probability of making the decision to invest in insulation, but the probability decreased by 11.2% for every additional person added to the household. Residents with the lowest incomes had a relatively higher probability to insulate a house than those with more income, but being a farmer decreased the probability by 60.7%. Energy-saving attitudes reflected in recent purchase of energy-efficient household appliances had a 41.2% higher probability to choose exterior insulation. Favoring to pay more for locally-generated solar energy increased the probability of investing in exterior insulation by 16.2%, while those who wanted the hot water supply independent from electricity had a 24.2% higher probability. The quantified effects facilitate targeting rural households and increasing their participation in recently introduced programs aimed at energy-efficiency.

Global research on the air quality status in response to the electrification of vehicles

Electric vehicles (EVs) can substantially decrease atmospheric pollutant emissions, thereby improving air quality, decreasing global warming, and improving human health. In this study, we performed a comprehensive bibliometric analysis using Web of Science to understand the research developments and future perspectives in EVs between 1974 and 2021. The analysis of indicators such as research trends, publication growth, and keywords revealed that most research in the selected timeframe was focused on applying and optimizing the existing technologies of different types of EVs to decrease air pollution and mortality. The changes in air quality owing to such electrification received special attention, with approximately 441 publications preferably in the English language. Among all the retrieved documents, research articles were most common (n = 295; 66.89% of the global output), dominated by the research domains of environmental sciences, followed by energy fuels and transportation science technology. Journal analysis revealed that Sustainability (n = 19, 4.30%) was the leading journal, followed by Journal of Cleaner Production and Science of the Total Environment. The most frequently used keywords were “electric vehicles,” “air quality,” and “air pollution.” The most highly impactful article was published by Jacobson et al. (2005) in Science, with 620 total citations and 38.82 average annual citations. Furthermore, the United States (n = 118; 26.75% of the global output) had the highest publication rate, followed by China and the United Kingdom. The leading institutions were Tsinghua University (n = 16; 3.62% of the global research output) in China, followed by the University of Michigan and Cornell University in the United States. The current analysis warrants more focus on comprehensive analysis employing transport and chemistry modeling and using the latest technology for long life and sustainable batteries. This study provides a basis for future studies on improving air quality through innovative work in the electrification of vehicles.

Sustainable valorization of sugarcane leaves for succinic acid and biochar production

The leaves of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) are agricultural waste that is burnt before harvesting. This project aims to find an alternative way to increase the value of sugarcane leaves and decrease air pollution by using the leaves as raw material to produce succinic acid and biochar. Reducing sugars were extracted from the leaves by H2SO4 hydrolysis. The sugars were then fermented by Yarrowia lipolytica TBRC 4417 to produce succinic acid. The solid residue was used as the raw material for biochar production by pyrolysis. The effects of pyrolysis temperature (350, 400, and 450℃) and nitrogen gas flow rate (5, 10, and 15 Lmin-1) on the specific surface area of biochar were determined. The adsorption capacity of mixed nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium compound solution at various concentrations by biochar was also investigated. The hydrolysis condition was at 1%v/v of H2SO4, 100 gL-1 of sugarcane leaves, and hydrolysis time of 60 min. The hydrolysate yielded sugar monomers at a concentration of ca. 13.00 gL-1 of xylose and 2.00 gL-1 of glucose. The fermentation process of extracted reducing sugar from sugarcane leaves by Yarrowia lipolytica TBRC 4417 was studied at 30℃ for 84 h. with 120 rpm shaking. It was found that Yarrowia lipolytica TBRC 4417 produced succinic acid in glucose, mixed glucose and xylose, and extracted reducing sugars. The maximum succinic acid yield of 0.061 g succinic acid /g sugar consumption was obtained. For biochar production, the maximum specific surface area of 301.19 m2g-1 was found at a pyrolysis temperature of 400℃ and the N2 gas flow rate of 10 Lmin-1. The maximum adsorption capacity of the mixed solution was 28.45 wt%. The adsorption capacity of biochar was N>P>K at a total concentration of 100 mgL-1. This study demonstrates the agricultural waste's potential value as a useful feedstock for the biological generation of succinic acid and biochar.

Research and Investigate of Renewable Energy in Afghanistan

About 78% to 80% of power energy imported from neighboring countries in Afghanistan. Roughly 70% of the population don’t have access to electricity, and 90% of those without electricity live in rural areas. reduction of energy resources, increasing use of fossil fuels and unrefined coal for home heating, cooking is a major problem in the world and even a serious challenge to environmental pollution specially for whom who lives in Afghanistan. In this research we have introduce new sources of energy, which is renewable energy, as an alternative to fossil energy. Nowadays, due to the gradual reduction of fossil energy sources and increase of air pollution and environmental damages has forced scientists to look for a sustainable and clean energy to be cheap and economically and be friendly with environment. This research shows that renewable energy is more appropriate compared to the fossil fuels in order to decrease air pollution and would be economically for people.

Unexpected decline in pediatric asthma morbidity during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic profoundly impacted health care utilization. We evaluated asthma‐related emergency department (ED) and inpatient health care utilization by a county‐specific Medicaid population, ages 2–18, during the COVID‐19 pandemic and compared it to utilization from a 3‐year average including 2017–2019. All‐cause ED utilization and asthma medication fill rates were evaluated during the same timeframes. Relative to the 2017–2019 3‐year average, cumulative asthma‐related ED visits from January through June decreased by 45.8% (p = .03) and inpatient admission rates decreased by 50.5% (p = .03). The decline in asthma‐related ED utilization was greater than the reduction of overall ED use during the same time period, suggesting that the decline involved factors specific to asthma and was not due solely to avoidance of health care facilities. Fill rates for asthma controller medications decreased during this time (p = .03) and quick relief medication fill rates had no significant change (p = .31). Multiple factors may have contributed to the decrease in acute asthma health care visits. Locally, decreased air pollution and viral exposures coincided with the “Stay‐at‐home” order in Ohio, and increased utilization of telehealth for assessment during exacerbations may have impacted outcomes. Identification of the cause of the decline in visit rates could spur new interventions to limit the need for ED and inpatient visits for asthma patients, leading to both economic and health‐associated benefits.

Marginal warming associated with a COVID-19 quarantine and the implications for disease transmission.

During January–February 2020, parts of China faced restricted mobility under COVID-19 quarantines, which have been associated with improved air quality. Because particulate pollutants scatter, diffuse, and absorb incoming solar radiation, a net negative radiative forcing, decreased air pollution can yield surface warming. As such, this study (1) documents the evolution of China's January–February 2020 air temperature and concurrent particulate changes; (2) determines the temperature response related to reduced particulates during the COVID-19 quarantine (C19Q); and (3) discusses the conceptual implications for temperature-dependent disease transmission. C19Q particulate evolution is monitored using satellite analyses, and concurrent temperature anomalies are diagnosed using surface stations and Aqua AIRS imagery. Meanwhile, two WRF-Chem simulations are forced by normal emissions and the satellite-based urban aerosol changes, respectively. Urban aerosols decreased from 27.1% of pre-C19Q aerosols to only 17.5% during C19Q. WRF-Chem resolved ~0.2 °C warming across east-central China, that represented a minor, though statistically significant contribution to C19Q temperature anomalies. The largest area of warming is concentrated south of Chengdu and Wuhan where temperatures increased between +0.2–0.3 °C. The results of this study are important for understanding the anthropogenic forcing on regional meteorology. Epidemiologically, the marginal, yet persistent, warming during C19Q may retard temperature-dependent disease transmission, possibly including SARS-CoV-2.