In response to the emergence of COVID-19 during Spring 2020, many countries implemented nationwide lockdowns and mandatory stay-at-home orders, which resulted in historically clean ambient air ...quality. However, in many parts of the world, biomass burning for cooking is a common activity, and in India specifically, it has been implicated as the leading contributor to indoor and ambient PM2.5, and its activity was not stopped and likely increased during lockdowns. Here, we first estimate baseline and lockdown PM2.5 exposures specific to India using new, nationwide time-use survey data coupled with fine-scale PM2.5 estimates within various microenvironments. We then extend this framework to estimate the population globally that will have experienced higher PM2.5 exposures during lockdowns, due both to an increase in residential biomass burning activity as well as the entire day being spent in the more-polluted home environment for biomass fuel using households. Sixty five percent of Indians, the percent that uses biomass fuels for cooking, were exposed to higher PM2.5 levels during the lockdown compared to their modeled baseline exposures, with the average modeled exposure increasing by 13% (95% distribution: 8–26) (from 116 (82–157) to 131 (104–170) μg m−3). We further leverage this exposure framework to present India’s most comprehensive, to date, PM2.5 exposure disparity and environmental justice assessment; although women were still exposed to the highest levels of PM2.5 during the lockdown (from 135 (91–191) μg m−3 baseline to 147 (106–200) μg m−3 during the lockdown; 8.8% (5–18) increase), the demographic groups that experienced the highest exposure increases were working-age men and school-age children, whose average modeled exposures increased by 24% (18–48) (from 88 (63–118) to 108 (94–139) μg m−3) and 18% (8–31) (from 98 (75–134) to 115 (98–145) μg m−3), respectively. Globally, we conservatively estimate that 34.5% (21–51) of the global population observed increased PM2.5 exposures during COVID-19 lockdowns, concentrated in low-income regions with high biomass usage. There have been a number of clean-cooking initiatives introduced in India and throughout the world to replace biomass cookstoves, but the finding that PM2.5 exposures increased for the majority of Indians and a third of the global population—driven largely by residential biomass burning for cooking—during a period of historically clean ambient air quality, re-emphasizes the urgent need to further address clean cooking interventions to reduce PM2.5 exposures and in turn improve health outcomes.
Air quality remains a significant environmental health challenge in India, and large sections of the population live in areas with poor ambient air quality. This article presents a summary of the ...regulatory monitoring landscape in India, and includes a discussion on measurement methods and other available government data on air pollution. Coarse particulate matter (PM
10
) concentration data from the national regulatory monitoring network for 12 years (2004–2015) were systematically analyzed to determine broad trends. Less than 1% of all PM
10
measurements (11 out of 4789) were found to meet the annual average WHO Air Quality Guideline (20 μg/m
3
), while 19% of the locations were in compliance with the Indian air quality standards for PM
10
(60 μg/m
3
). Further efforts are necessary to improve measurement coverage and quality including the use of hybrid monitoring systems, harmonized approaches for sampling and data analysis, and easier data accessibility.
Hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric vehiclesknown collectively as electric drive vehicles (EDVs)may represent a clean and affordable option to meet growing U.S. light duty vehicle (LDV) ...demand. The goal of this study is 2-fold: identify the conditions under which EDVs achieve high LDV market penetration in the U.S. and quantify the associated change in CO2, SO2, and NO X emissions through midcentury. We employ the Integrated MARKAL-EFOM System (TIMES), a bottom-up energy system model, along with a U.S. data set developed for this analysis. To characterize EDV deployment through 2050, varying assumptions related to crude oil and natural gas prices, a CO2 policy, a federal renewable portfolio standard, and vehicle battery cost were combined to form 108 different scenarios. Across these scenarios, oil prices and battery cost have the biggest effect on EDV deployment. The model results do not demonstrate a clear and consistent trend toward lower system-wide emissions as EDV deployment increases. In addition to the trade-off between lower tailpipe and higher electric sector emissions associated with plug-in vehicles, the scenarios produce system-wide emissions effects that often mask the effect of EDV deployment.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas generated from the anaerobic decomposition of waste in landfills. If captured, methane can be beneficially used to generate electricity. To inventory emissions and ...assist the landfill industry with energy recovery projects, the U.S. EPA developed the Landfill Gas Emissions Model (LandGEM) that includes two key parameters: the first-order decay rate (k) and methane production potential (L 0). By using data from 11 U.S. landfills, Monte Carlo simulations were performed to quantify the effect of uncertainty in gas collection efficiency and municipal solid waste fraction on optimal k values and collectable methane. A dual-phase model and associated parameters were also developed to evaluate its performance relative to a single-phase model (SPM) similar to LandGEM. The SPM is shown to give lower error in estimating methane collection, with site-specific best-fit k values. Most of the optimal k values are notably greater than the U.S. EPA’s default of 0.04 yr–1, which implies that the gas generation decreases more rapidly than predicted at the current default. We translated the uncertainty in collectable methane into uncertainty in engine requirements and potential economic losses to demonstrate the practical significance to landfill operators. The results indicate that landfill operators could overpay for engine capacity by $30,000–780,000 based on overestimates of collectable methane.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
The Taj Mahal-an iconic World Heritage monument built of white marble-has become discolored with time, due, in part, to high levels of particulate matter (PM) soiling its surface (Bergin et al 2015 ...Environ. Sci. Technol. 49 808-812). Such discoloration has required extensive and costly treatment (2015 Two Hundred Sixty Second Report on Effects of Pollution on Taj Parliament of India Rajya Sabha, New Delhi) and despite previous interventions to reduce pollution in its vicinity, the haze and darkening persists (Bergin et al 2015 Environ. Sci. Technol. 49 808-812; 2015 Two Hundred Sixty Second Report on Effects of Pollution on Taj Parliament of India Rajya Sabha, New Delhi). PM responsible for the soiling has been attributed to a variety of sources including industrial emissions, vehicular exhaust and biomass burning, but the contribution of the emissions from the burning of open municipal solid waste (MSW) may also play an important role. A recent source apportionment study of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) at the Taj Mahal showed biomass burning emissions, which would include MSW emissions, accounted for nearly 40% of organic matter (OM)-a component of PM-deposition to its surface (Bergin et al 2015 Environ. Sci. Technol. 49 808-812); dung cake burning, used extensively for cooking in the region, was the suggested culprit and banned within the city limits (2015 Two Hundred Sixty Second Report on Effects of Pollution on Taj Parliament of India Rajya Sabha, New Delhi), although the burning of MSW, a ubiquitous practice in the area (Nagpure et al 2015 Environ. Sci. Technol. 49 12904-12), may play a more important role in local air quality. Using spatially detailed emission estimates and air quality modeling, we find that open MSW burning leads to about 150 ( 130) mg m−2 yr−1 of PM2.5 being deposited to the surface of the Taj Mahal compared to about 12 ( 3.2) mg m−2 yr−1 from dung cake burning. Those two sources, combined, also lead to an estimated 713 (377-1050) premature mortalities in Agra each year, dominated by waste burning in socioeconomically lower status neighborhoods. An effective MSW management strategy would reduce soiling of the Taj Mahal, improve human health, and have additional aesthetic benefits.
The anaerobic decomposition of solid waste in a landfill produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and if recovered, a valuable energy commodity. Methane generation from U.S. landfills is usually ...estimated using the U.S. EPA’s Landfill Gas Emissions Model (LandGEM). Default values for the two key parameters within LandGEM, the first-order decay rate (k) and the methane production potential (L 0) are based on data collected in the 1990s. In this study, observed methane collection data from 11 U.S. landfills and estimates of gas collection efficiencies developed from site-specific gas well installation data were included in a reformulated LandGEM equation. Formal search techniques were employed to optimize k for each landfill to find the minimum sum of squared errors (SSE) between the LandGEM prediction and the observed collection data. Across nearly all landfills, the optimal k was found to be higher than the default AP-42 of 0.04 yr–1 and the weighted average decay for the 11 landfills was 0.09 – 0.12 yr–1. The results suggest that the default k value assumed in LandGEM is likely too low, which implies that more methane is produced in the early years following waste burial when gas collection efficiencies tend to be lower.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
The lockdown during COVID-19 pandemic has converted the world into new experimental laboratories, which may reveal temporal or spatial comparative analysis data. However, some startling information ...is gathered in terms of reduced premature mortality cases associated with air and water quality improvement, enhanced e-learning on a broader platform, work from home, and successful e-health. The decline in vehicular density on roads and congestion leads to reduced energy consumption and associated greenhouse gases (GHG) and other pollutants emission. The lockdown has also been identified as a possible emergency measure to combat severe air pollution episodes. Similarly, industrial pollution has been recognized as one of the primary causes of water resource pollution and would, therefore, bring change in policy vis-à-vis groundwater pollution control. Our findings suggest that the results of successful e-learning and work from home would be a permanent shift from conventional modes in the near future due to a drastic reduction in socio-economic cost. Our critical analysis also highlights that with such temporary lockdown measures acute/chronic ill-effects of anthropogenic perturbations on planet earth can be effectively estimated through sociocultural, socioeconomical and socio-political/sociotechnological nexus.
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•COVID-19 outbreak causes marked changes in socio-educational and technological aspects.•Socio-cultural and political nexus help to estimate anthropogenic perturbations on nature.•Self-healing process of nature can bring a positive change in ecological footprint.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Abstract
In response to the emergence of COVID-19 during Spring 2020, many countries implemented nationwide lockdowns and mandatory stay-at-home orders, which resulted in historically clean ambient ...air quality. However, in many parts of the world, biomass burning for cooking is a common activity, and in India specifically, it has been implicated as the leading contributor to indoor and ambient PM
2.5
, and its activity was not stopped and likely increased during lockdowns. Here, we first estimate baseline and lockdown PM
2.5
exposures specific to India using new, nationwide time-use survey data coupled with fine-scale PM
2.5
estimates within various microenvironments. We then extend this framework to estimate the population globally that will have experienced higher PM
2.5
exposures during lockdowns, due both to an increase in residential biomass burning activity as well as the entire day being spent in the more-polluted home environment for biomass fuel using households. Sixty five percent of Indians, the percent that uses biomass fuels for cooking, were exposed to higher PM
2.5
levels during the lockdown compared to their modeled baseline exposures, with the average modeled exposure increasing by 13% (95% distribution: 8–26) (from 116 (82–157) to 131 (104–170)
μ
g m
−3
). We further leverage this exposure framework to present India’s most comprehensive, to date, PM
2.5
exposure disparity and environmental justice assessment; although women were still exposed to the highest levels of PM
2.5
during the lockdown (from 135 (91–191)
μ
g m
−3
baseline to 147 (106–200)
μ
g m
−3
during the lockdown; 8.8% (5–18) increase), the demographic groups that experienced the highest exposure increases were working-age men and school-age children, whose average modeled exposures increased by 24% (18–48) (from 88 (63–118) to 108 (94–139)
μ
g m
−3
) and 18% (8–31) (from 98 (75–134) to 115 (98–145)
μ
g m
−3
), respectively. Globally, we conservatively estimate that 34.5% (21–51) of the global population observed increased PM
2.5
exposures during COVID-19 lockdowns, concentrated in low-income regions with high biomass usage. There have been a number of clean-cooking initiatives introduced in India and throughout the world to replace biomass cookstoves, but the finding that PM
2.5
exposures increased for the majority of Indians and a third of the global population—driven largely by residential biomass burning for cooking—during a period of historically clean ambient air quality, re-emphasizes the urgent need to further address clean cooking interventions to reduce PM
2.5
exposures and in turn improve health outcomes.
Transport sector emission inventory for megacity Delhi has been developed for the period 2000–2005 to quantify vehicular emissions and evaluate the effect of relevant policy reforms on total ...emissions of various air pollutants like CO2, CO, HC, NOx, TSP, SO2, Pb and VOC’s over the years to assist in future policy formulations. Emission factor and vehicle utilization factor based approach as recommended by IPCC (2006) have been used for estimating emissions. CO level were found to increase continuously during the study period, other pollutants like CO2, TSP, NOx and SO2 declined in the initial years, which clearly seem to be the result of stricter emission norms and compressed natural gas conversion of public transport. The levels of NOx and TSP did not show appreciable rise during the study period, which is an indicator of CNG effectiveness as an alternative fuel. However, two-wheelers population were found to be a major contributor towards the air pollution load.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Large proportions of the Indian population live in megacities (e.g., Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata), which are vibrant centers of economic opportunities and offering better quality of social life. Due to ...increasing migration to these cities, Indian megacities are constantly expanding, which subsequently leads to strain on the environment with a range of impacts at local, regional and global levels. During the last few decades the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and other air pollutants have increased substantially, resulting in worsening ambient air quality of these cities. With respect to time span the concern over air pollutants has also changed in Indian megacities. Concern over particulate matter, black carbon, NOx and ozone has heightened recently due to their local and regional impacts on air quality and environmental (including public) health and also because they contribute to global climate change. Although authorities have implemented several measures to reduce air pollution and its impacts in Indian megacities, much more is yet to be done to improve their ambient air quality. This paper focuses on major air pollution and GHGs emission issues in Indian megacities and associated problems within the framework of their role in environmental vulnerability.
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