Air pollution negatively affects human health, natural ecosystems, and climate. Improving air quality is therefore important for the protection of our societies, especially for sensitive subjects, as well as for protecting the environment. The recovery process undertaken in Lombardy in recent years has led to improvements in air quality, but the level of several pollutants is still not compliant with the limits. Specifically, in Lombardy we observe high levels of nitrogen oxides (NOX), ozone (O3), particulate matter (PM10), volatile organic compounds (VOC), and ammonia (NH3). Road traffic, especially linked to diesel-based vehicles, remains a main source of air pollution, particularly for PM10 emissions and nitrogen oxides, contributing to the lack of compliance with the limits. In 2015, the scandal involving Volkswagen guilty of using instruments designed to manipulate laboratory tests, brought to light the problem concerning discrepancies between EU type approval limits and real-world vehicle emissions. The present study aims at quantifying the effect on air quality generated by the pollutant emissions exceeding EU type approval limits. It is based on data from the INEMAR emission inventory of Lombardy for the year 2017 which represents the real-world emission scenario. In the first phase of the study we compare road transport emissions data with an alternative scenario compliant with the EU legislation, in order to quantify the excess of pollutant. In the second phase of the study, vehicle emissions are modelled using the air quality modelling system ARIA Regional to perform air quality simulations. The vehicle categories investigated are passenger cars, light duty vehicles, mopeds, and motorcycles and pollutant compared are NOx, CO, PM10, VOC, and NMVOC. The results obtained show that full compliance with the NOX emission limits for passenger cars and light duty vehicles, leads to the reduction of 36.6% of these emissions, which corresponds to 18.6% of the total NOX emitted in Lombardy by all activities. Over 90% of these emissions are attributable to Diesel vehicles. These reductions lead to a non-negligible benefit on air quality. The regional average NO2 concentration falls by 16% and the average concentration of PM10 and PM2.5 falls by 0.8%. The compliance scenario generates on the other hand an increase in the regional average concentration of O3 by 2.5%. These values are spatially highly variable inside the region depending on the orography and land use. Overall, the study shows that emissions from traffic exceeding the approval limits contributes to the noncompliance with the air quality limits and target values required by the European regulation. A comparison with EU limits and target values shows that under the compliant scenario, the limits on the annual average concentration of NO2 would be satisfied in all the areas under consideration.
L'inquinamento atmosferico influisce negativamente sulla salute umana, sugli ecosistemi naturali e sul clima. Perseguire obiettivi di miglioramento della qualità dell'aria è importante per la protezione della salute, in particolare quella dei soggetti sensibili, oltre che per la protezione dell'ambiente. Il processo di recupero, intrapreso negli ultimi anni in regione Lombardia, ha portato a miglioramenti della qualità dell'aria, tuttavia gli obiettivi europei non sono ancora del tutto raggiunti e inquinanti quali ossidi di azoto (NOX), particolato (PM10), ozono (O3), composti organici volatili (COV) e ammoniaca (NH3) sono presenti in concentrazioni elevate. Il traffico stradale è una delle maggiori fonti di inquinamento atmosferico, in particolare per le emissioni di PM10 e degli ossidi di azoto e fornisce un contributo importante al mancato raggiungimento dei limiti. Nel 2015 lo scandalo che ha coinvolto il gruppo Volkswagen, accusato di utilizzare strumenti atti a manomettere i test di laboratorio sulle emissioni allo scarico, ha messo in luce il problema relativo alle discrepanze tra i limiti di omologazione e le reali emissioni dei veicoli su strada. Il presente studio ha l’obiettivo di quantificare l’effetto sulla qualità dell’aria generato dalle emissioni di inquinanti eccedenti i limiti europei di omologazione. Lo studio è basato sui dati dell’inventario INEMAR (INventario EMissioni ARia) riguardanti le emissioni in Lombardia per l'anno 2017. La prima fase dello studio presenta un confronto tra i dati sulle emissioni reali dei trasporti su strada e uno scenario alternativo conforme a quanto previsto dalla normativa UE, al fine di quantificare l'eccesso di inquinanti prodotto dai veicoli. Segue poi seconda fase di valutazione modellistica della qualità dell’aria, svolta tramite l’utilizzo del sistema modellistico ARIA Regional, per valutare la variazione che l’eccesso di inquinanti calcolato nella prima fase apportata alla qualità dell’aria. Tale confronto è stato effettuato per tutti gli inquinanti il cui limite è definito dalla normativa sull’omologazione, ovvero NOx, CO, PM10, VOC e NMVOC, e le categorie di veicoli prese in esame sono autovetture, veicoli commerciali leggeri, motorini e moto. I risultati ottenuti mostrano che lo scenario conforme ai limiti di omologazione porta ad una riduzione delle emissioni di NOX dal settore traffico del 36.6%, in gran parte associata ai veicoli Diesel. Questo si traduce nel risparmio del 18.6% delle emissioni totali di NOX prodotte in Lombardia. Tali riduzioni portano ad un beneficio in termini di qualità dell’aria non trascurabile. Lo scenario conforme presenta una riduzione del 16% delle concentrazioni medie regionali di NO2 e una riduzione dello 0.8% delle concentrazioni di PM10 e PM2.5, mentre porta ad un aumento del 2.5% della concentrazione media regionale di O3. Questi ultimi valori sono molto variabili nelle diverse zone della regione in funzione di orografia e usi del suolo. Complessivamente lo studio mostra che le emissioni da traffico eccedenti i limiti di omologazione apportano un contributo non trascurabile alle emissioni che concorrono nel mancato rispetto dei limiti per la qualità dell’aria. Un confronto con i limiti e i valori obiettivo mostra che lo scenario conforme porta al rispetto del limite sulla concentrazione media annua di NO2 in tutte le aree in esame.
Discrepancies between EU type approval limits and real-world vehicle emissions : impact assessment on air quality in Lombardy
Calabrese, Ilaria
2019/2020
Abstract
Air pollution negatively affects human health, natural ecosystems, and climate. Improving air quality is therefore important for the protection of our societies, especially for sensitive subjects, as well as for protecting the environment. The recovery process undertaken in Lombardy in recent years has led to improvements in air quality, but the level of several pollutants is still not compliant with the limits. Specifically, in Lombardy we observe high levels of nitrogen oxides (NOX), ozone (O3), particulate matter (PM10), volatile organic compounds (VOC), and ammonia (NH3). Road traffic, especially linked to diesel-based vehicles, remains a main source of air pollution, particularly for PM10 emissions and nitrogen oxides, contributing to the lack of compliance with the limits. In 2015, the scandal involving Volkswagen guilty of using instruments designed to manipulate laboratory tests, brought to light the problem concerning discrepancies between EU type approval limits and real-world vehicle emissions. The present study aims at quantifying the effect on air quality generated by the pollutant emissions exceeding EU type approval limits. It is based on data from the INEMAR emission inventory of Lombardy for the year 2017 which represents the real-world emission scenario. In the first phase of the study we compare road transport emissions data with an alternative scenario compliant with the EU legislation, in order to quantify the excess of pollutant. In the second phase of the study, vehicle emissions are modelled using the air quality modelling system ARIA Regional to perform air quality simulations. The vehicle categories investigated are passenger cars, light duty vehicles, mopeds, and motorcycles and pollutant compared are NOx, CO, PM10, VOC, and NMVOC. The results obtained show that full compliance with the NOX emission limits for passenger cars and light duty vehicles, leads to the reduction of 36.6% of these emissions, which corresponds to 18.6% of the total NOX emitted in Lombardy by all activities. Over 90% of these emissions are attributable to Diesel vehicles. These reductions lead to a non-negligible benefit on air quality. The regional average NO2 concentration falls by 16% and the average concentration of PM10 and PM2.5 falls by 0.8%. The compliance scenario generates on the other hand an increase in the regional average concentration of O3 by 2.5%. These values are spatially highly variable inside the region depending on the orography and land use. Overall, the study shows that emissions from traffic exceeding the approval limits contributes to the noncompliance with the air quality limits and target values required by the European regulation. A comparison with EU limits and target values shows that under the compliant scenario, the limits on the annual average concentration of NO2 would be satisfied in all the areas under consideration.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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TESI-Ilaria Calabrese.pdf
Open Access dal 10/07/2021
Descrizione: Discrepancies between EU type approval limits and real-world vehicle emissions: Impact assessment on air quality in Lombardy
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/166880