Reducing Vehicle Pollutant Emissions in Urban Areas with Alternative Parking Policies

Purpose – Energy use in urban areas has turned a subject of local and worldwide interest over the last few years, especially emphasized by the correlated greenhouse gases emissions. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the overall energy efficiency potential and emissions resulting from integrated solutions in urban energy planning, in the scale of districts and neighbourhoods in Brazil. Design/methodology/approach – The approach is based on the description and the application of a method to analyse energy performance of urban areas and support their planning. It is a quantitative bottom-up method and involves urban morphology, urban mobility, buildings and energy supply systems. Procedures are applied to the case study of Agua Branca urban development area, located in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Findings – In the case of Agua Branca area, energy efficiency measures in buildings have shown to be very important mostly for the buildings economies themselves. For the area as a whole, strategies in promoting public transport are more effective in terms of energy efficiency and also to decrease pollutant emissions. Originality/value – Literature review has shown there is a lack of approaches and procedures able to support urban energy planning at a community scale. The bottom-up method presented in this paper integrates a plenty of disaggregated and multisectoral parameters at the same stage in urban planning and shows that is possible to identify the most promising actions by building overall performance indexes.

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Test campaign of a ducted wind turbine in real operating conditions

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/201911303005 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 113 ◽

pp. 03005

Author(s):

Enrico Valditerra ◽

Massimo Rivarolo ◽

Aristide F. Massardo ◽

Marco Gualco

Keyword(s):

Wind Turbine ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Energy Production ◽

Electrical Energy ◽

Clean Energy ◽

Operating Conditions ◽

Pollutant Emissions ◽

Ambient Conditions ◽

Wind Speeds ◽

Electrical Energy Production

Wind turbine installation worldwide has increased at unrested pace, as it represents a 100% clean energy with zero CO2 and pollutant emissions. However, visual and acoustic impact of wind turbines is still a drawback, in particular in urban areas. This paper focuses on the performance evaluation of an innovative horizontal axis ducted wind turbine, installed in the harbour of Genova (Italy) in 2018: the turbine was designed in order to minimize visual and acoustic impacts and maximize electrical energy production, also during low wind speed periods. The preliminary study and experimental analyses, performed by the authors in a previous study, showed promising results in terms of energy production, compared to a traditional generator ( factor >2.5 on power output). In the present paper, the test campaign on a scaled-up prototype, installed in the urban area of Genova, is performed, with a twofold objective: (i) comparison of the ducted innovative turbine with a standard one, in order to verify the increase in energy production; (ii) analysis of the innovative turbine for different wind speeds and directions, evaluating the influence of ambient conditions on performance. Finally, based on the obtained results, an improved setup is proposed for the ducted wind turbine, in order to further increase energy production mitigating its visual impact.

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Groundwater-Related Issues of Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) Systems: Assessment, Good Practices and Proposals from the European Experience

Water ◽

10.3390/w11081573 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (8) ◽

pp. 1573 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Casasso ◽

Sethi

Keyword(s):

Groundwater Quality ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Plant Density ◽

Heat Pumps ◽

Pollutant Emissions ◽

Groundwater Temperature ◽

Ground Source Heat Pumps ◽

Best Available Techniques ◽

Ground Source ◽

High Plant Density

Ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) gained increasing interest owing to benefits such as low heating and cooling costs, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and no pollutant emissions on site. However, GSHPs may have various possible interactions with underground and groundwater, which, despite the extremely rare occurrence of relevant damages, has raised concerns on their sustainability. Possible criticalities for their installation are (hydro)geological features (artesian aquifers, swelling or soluble layers, landslide-prone areas), human activities (mines, quarries, landfills, contaminated sites), and groundwater quality. Thermal alterations due to the operation of GSHPs may have an impact on groundwater chemistry and on the efficiency of neighboring installations. So far, scientific studies excluded appraisable geochemical alterations within typical ranges of GSHPs (±6 K on the initial groundwater temperature); such alterations, however, may occur for aquifer thermal energy storage over 40 °C. Thermal interferences among neighboring installations may be severe in urban areas with a high plant density, thus highlighting the need for their proper management. These issues are presented here and framed from a groundwater quality protection perspective, providing the basis for a discussion on critical aspects to be tackled in the planning, authorization, installation, and operation phase. GSHPs turn out to be safe and sustainable if care is taken in such phases, and the best available techniques are adopted.

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A Review of the Transformation of Road Transport Systems: Are We Ready for the Next Step in Artificially Intelligent Sustainable Transport?

Applied System Innovation ◽

10.3390/asi3010001 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Umair Hasan ◽

Andrew Whyte ◽

Hamad Al Jassmi

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Autonomous Vehicles ◽

Intelligent Transportation System ◽

Critical Evaluation ◽

Value Added ◽

Pollutant Emissions ◽

Transport Systems ◽

Privacy And Security ◽

Pilot Studies ◽

Empirical Modelling

Mobility is experiencing a revolution, as advanced communications, computers with big data capacities, efficient networks of sensors, and signals, are developing value-added applications such as intelligent spaces and autonomous vehicles. Another new technology that is both promising and might even be pervasive for faster, safer and more environmentally-friendly public transport (PT) is the development of autonomous vehicles (AVs). This study aims to understand the state of the current research on the artificially intelligent transportation system (ITS) and AVs through a critical evaluation of peer-reviewed literature. This study’s findings revealed that the majority of existing research (around 82% of studies) focused on AVs. Results show that AVs can potentially reduce more than 80% of pollutant emissions per mile if powered by alternate energy resources (e.g., natural gas, biofuel, electricity, hydrogen cells, etc.). Not only can private vehicle ownership be cut down by bringing in ridesharing but the average vehicle miles travelled (VMT) should also be reduced through improved PT. The main benefits of AV adoption were reported in the literature to be travel time, traffic congestion, cost and environmental factors. Findings revealed barriers such as technological uncertainties, lack of regulation, unawareness among stakeholders and privacy and security concerns, along with the fact that lack of simulation and empirical modelling data from pilot studies limit the application. AV–PT was also found to be the most sustainable strategy in dense urban areas to shift the heavy trip load from private vehicles.

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Investigation of the Diachronic Development of CO2 Emission Levels in Relation to Traffic Characteristics Along Major Road Axes During an Era of Recession: the Case of Greece

Global NEST Journal ◽

10.30955/gnj.002396 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 19 (4) ◽

pp. 614-640

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Alternative Fuels ◽

Energy Savings ◽

Road Transport ◽

Pollutant Emissions ◽

Transport Sector ◽

The Road ◽

Automotive Market ◽

Traffic Characteristics ◽

Key Factor

The problem of reducing CO2 emissions from transport, a major contributor to the greenhouse effect, has become a growing concern for the scientific community and various international committees monitoring climate change. Energy savings in the transport sector are a key factor towards rational management of oil reserves, while new trends in the automotive market have already been established, supported by research on efficient and environmentally-friendly technologies and alternative fuels to face fossil fuel dependency. The road transport sector is an important part for most developed economies but also a major source of pollutant emissions. In this framework, this paper focuses on transport emissions along the main road axis in Greece, connecting the country’s two largest urban areas, during the years 2008-2014, a period of prolonged recession. Based on traffic data collected at the toll stations along the highway, greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions were calculated using the COPERT4 emission estimation tool. According to the results, a sharp fall in emissions is observed largely due to traffic volume reductions, but also due to a prevailing trend for larger displacement vehicles and technologically improved vehicles with better environmental standards.

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Exploring Low-Carbon Bus Options for Urban BRT Systems: The Case of Amman

Journal of Public Transportation ◽

10.5038/2375-0901.22.1.4 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Rana Imam ◽

Seong-Cheol Kang ◽

Diana Quezada

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Air Pollutant ◽

Pollutant Emissions ◽

Transport Systems ◽

Transport Sector ◽

Low Carbon ◽

Capital Costs ◽

Advantages And Disadvantages ◽

Electric Bus ◽

Diesel Buses

Being able to provide high-quality, metro-like transit service at a fraction of the cost of other options, bus rapid transit (BRT) has been viewed as one of the most cost-effective public mass transport systems suitable for urban areas. Considering significant amounts of greenhouse gas (GHG) and air pollutant emissions are attributed to the transport sector, deploying low carbon buses for BRT systems should be of high priority. With a view to promoting low carbon buses instead of diesel buses for a BRT system currently being planned in Amman, Jordan, this paper evaluates several low carbon bus options – hybrid, plug-in hybrid, opportunity charging, trolleybus, and battery electric bus options – against the baseline case of diesel buses. While low carbon buses reduce GHG and air pollutant emissions often considerably, they usually require higher upfront capital costs and additional infrastructure investments. On the other hand, they tend to incur lower energy and maintenance costs and have a longer lifetime particularly for battery electric buses. All these advantages and disadvantages are included in the assessment of low carbon bus options relative to diesel buses. For the trunk routes of the Amman BRT, the analysis shows that the opportunity charging bus can be the most appealing option having a positive internal rate of return (IRR) for the incremental investment costs. For the feeder routes, both low carbon bus options considered, hybrid and battery electric, do not result in a positive IRR. Nevertheless, the battery electric bus is found to be a comparatively better option than the hybrid bus. In consideration of variability in several parameters used in the analysis such as capital expenditures, electricity price, and diesel price, a sensitivity analysis is conducted for both trunk and feeder routes. The results show that IRR could increase favorably under certain conditions.

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Correlation between Air Quality and Wastewater Pollution

10.5772/intechopen.95582 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Karzan Mohammed Khalid

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽

Pollutant Emissions ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Environmental Technology ◽

Wastewater Pollution ◽

Pollutant Sources ◽

Living Organisms

Recently, air pollution is a universal problematic concern which adversely affects global warming and more importantly human body systems. This chapter focuses on the importance of air quality, and indicates the negative effects of emissions originated from both municipal and industrial wastewaters to atmosphere. More importantly, the improvements in wastewater treatment plants to eliminate the crisis of emissions on environment and human health is also clarified. Urbanization and distribution of industrials in urban areas influence the air pollution via releasing pollutants and contaminants to environment. The pollutant emissions from wastewaters are volatile organic compounds, Greenhouse gases and other inorganic pollutants (heavy metals) which are causes to many reactions through atmosphere, then products detriment whole environment and living organisms including human. Moreover, contaminants are also released into air from influents of municipal wastewaters and they are considered as the main resources of most threatened infections in human and other animals. As conclusion, because of the persistently development urbanization and industrialization as the wastewater pollutant sources, the environmental technology regarding wastewater treatments must depend on prevention of emissions to air before thinking on cost and good quality effluents.

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Introducing Environmental Technologies in Industrial Fuel Combustion Processes

Ovidius University Annals of Constanta - Series Civil Engineering ◽

10.2478/ouacsce-2018-0012 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

pp. 103-110

Author(s):

Marcel Ruscă ◽

Tudor Andrei Rusu

Keyword(s):

Environmental Pollution ◽

Atmospheric Pollution ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Fossil Fuels ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Pollutant Emissions ◽

Main Concern ◽

Gaseous Emissions ◽

Pollution Transport ◽

Healthy Environment

Abstract Atmosphere pollution is a complex and worldwide process carried out for a long period of time. Greenhouse effect, global warming and acid rain are only some examples generated by atmospheric pollution. Experts discovered a strong motivation on finding solutions for reducing pollutant emissions caused by atmospheric pollution. Transport activities and fossil fuels combustion are the main concern on environmental pollution, more than that, they are used in industrial processes, being the main cause of environmental pollution. We have to understand that global pollution is causing the main effect on economic and social challenges of each country, a fact that will be hard to change in the future, and every small step will help for a better and healthy environment. Sebes and Zlanta city, from Alba regions, were the areas that draw our attention for studying the level of atmospheric pollution for a period of 5 years. We made periodic determinations on emission level for SO2, CO, CO2, NOx and writing down periodic reports. The measurements were made in industrial areas for Zlatna and Sebes city and in urban areas in Alba-Iulia city. Traffic environment was the main issue discovered after this research. The concerning was on industrial pollution for the cities of Sebes and Zlatna. The final part is offering solutions on reducing gaseous emissions in particular for economic operators and for the industries as well. This research is particularly aimed at emissions reduction like SO2, CO, CO2 and also for volatile organic compounds. Directive 2008/50/CE concerning ambient air quality were the main sources where we started on our research targeting on reducing atmospheric pollution.

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Vertical greening systems as an inherent feature of sustainable smart city

Regional Economy ◽

10.36818/1562-0905-2020-4-5 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 43-49

Author(s):

Andriy M. Pin

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Smart City ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Energy Savings ◽

Driving Forces ◽

Pollutant Emissions ◽

Cultural Economic ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Inherent Feature ◽

Smart Technologies

Considering the processes of social and climate change at the global level, more and more cities worldwide have reformatted development strategies to implement «smart» reforms to ensure sustainable development, increase energy production by expanding renewable resources, and improve waste management. Upgrading to a smart city means improving urban residents’ quality of life by providing cultural, economic, and social development opportunities in a healthy, safe, and inspiring environment. An analysis of the most effective initiatives within the concept of «smart» city, related to the development of «green» buildings with special emphasis on the concept of vertical landscaping. The detailed characteristic of positive effects from the installation of designs of a «green» cloth is given. Among the above advantages of implementing these technologies, reducing pollutant emissions, which are the greenhouse effect’s driving forces, and energy savings are the most significant. Based on the results of the analysis of the effectiveness of the implementation of the concept of vertical landscaping, proposals for the development or improvement of strategies for sustainable development of urban areas with an emphasis on «green» and «smart» technologies.

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Status of Air Pollutant Emissions and Health Impact of LNG Cogeneration Plant in Administrative City, Republic of Korea

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-7626 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Yumi Kim

Keyword(s):

Power Plant ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Air Pollutants ◽

Health Impact ◽

Air Pollutant ◽

Pollutant Emissions ◽

Risk Level ◽

Cogeneration Plant ◽

Impact Prediction ◽

The Impact

Along with the development of new cities, the construction of LNG cogeneration plant in urban areas is being promoted, and the facility has been pointed out as one of the major air pollution sources along with many vehicles in urban areas. For example, the construction of a new administrative city in Korea has led to the relocation of major government buildings and the influx of more than 300,000 people. The city has a 530 MW power plant + 391 Gcal/h district heating facility. The facility released 294,835 kg and 325,381 kg of NOx annually in 2017 and 2018, respectively. When examining the impact, we analyzed the impact of air pollutants (PM2.5, O3, NO2, etc.) through CMAQ modeling. In addition, the impact prediction using AERMOD related to the release of carcinogenic air pollutants is estimated to be no more than 10-5 (risk level), but measurement and verification are required. In addition to concentration-based risk assessments, health impact assessments are needed that consider the number of populations exposed. In this study, QGIS was used to calculate population. In conclusion, even if the same LNG power plant is constructed, the LNG cogeneration plant located adjacent to a large residential facility requires air pollutant management measures according to the exposure population by radius of influence&#160;

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