Browsing by Subject "Air pollution"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Economics of air pollution: policy, mortality concentration-response, and increasing marginal benefits of abatement
    (2014-12) Goodkind, Andrew Lloyd
    This dissertation examines the economics of air pollution in three essays. The first two essays consider the implications of the possibility of increasing marginal benefits to pollution abatement. The third essay integrates a new model of air dispersion with an economic model to estimate the marginal damage caused by criteria pollutants in the United States. In the first essay, the optimal abatement policy is derived for a scenario with increasing marginal benefits of abatement and uncertainty in the marginal cost of abatement. Pollution taxes are preferred over quantity restrictions when marginal benefits are increasing in abatement. The second essay uses simulations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) dispersion and compares optimal source-specific pollution control policies with pollution concentration standards and uniform pollution taxes. Optimal policies for PM2.5 regulation yield substantial advantages over uniform policies that do not discriminate based on the location of emissions. The simulations also consider the shape of the concentration-response (C-R) relationship between PM2.5 pollution and mortality. With a log-log C-R, where marginal benefits of PM2.5 abatement are increasing, society should prefer fewer emissions and lower PM2.5 concentrations than if the C-R is log-linear, where marginal benefits of abatement are decreasing.The third essay estimates the marginal damages of criteria pollutant emissions for hundreds of the most heavily polluting sources in the U.S. Marginal damages vary substantially depending on the location of the emission source. The calculation of marginal damages is highly dependent on the choice of air dispersion modeling, the C-R relationship, and the value assigned to mortality caused by environmental risks.
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    Evaluating air pollution exposures across cycling infrastructure types: Implications for facility design
    (Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2015) Farrell, William J.; Weichenthal, Scott; Goldberg, Mark; Hatzopoulou, Marianne
    Expanding urban cycling networks requires consideration of a number of important factors. Yet there exists no set of best practices and surprisingly little research detailing which sorts of cycling infrastructure may be better or worse in terms of exposure to harmful pollutants. A large air-quality data collection campaign was conducted in summer 2012 whereby cyclists equipped with ultrafine particle (UFP) and black carbon (BC) monitors covered over 550 kilometers of streets, including 325 kilometers of designated cycling facilities on the Island of Montreal. The clearest result from this exercise is that pollution levels on trails, often far from vehicular streets, are markedly lower than cycling facilities located on or alongside the street. For in-street and separated facilities, both UFP and BC were more closely associated with the hierarchy of the street than the type of cycling facility. Between in-street and separated facilities, the difference in UFP levels was not statistically significant. However, the difference between BC levels on in-street and separated facilities was significant, with separated facilities yielding lower concentrations. Ultimately, more research is needed to understand the potential efficacy of facility and network design as a pollution exposure abatement measure; however, these findings show moderate advantages of separated facilities over in-street facilities and more substantial advantages for off-road facilities over either.
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    Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Transportation Sources in Minnesota
    (University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies, 2008-06) Boies, Adam; Kittelson, David B.; Watts, Winthrop J.; Lucke, Jan; McGinnis, Laurie; Marshall, Julian; Patterson, Tyler; Nussbaum, Peter; Wilson, Elizabeth
    The 2007 Minnesota Next Generation Energy Act established goals for reducing statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 15% by 2015, 30% by 2025, and 80% by 2050, relative to 2005 levels. This report investigates strategies for meeting those reductions in Minnesota?s transportation sector, which produces approximately 24% of total state GHG emissions. The study focuses on three types of emission-reduction strategies: those that improve vehicle fuel economy, those that reduce the number of vehicle-miles traveled, and others that decrease the carbon content of fuel. The researchers used a quantitative model to test the effectiveness of specific strategies for GHG emission reduction from transportation in Minnesota. Modeled scenario outcomes depend strongly on input assumptions, and lead us to the following three main conclusions. 1. Meeting state goals will require all three types of policies. For example, Minnesota could adopt a GHG emissions standard, a low-carbon fuel standard, and comprehensive transit and Smart Growth policies. 2. Technologies are available today to substantially improve fuel economy and vehicle GHG emissions. Requiring these technologies could save Minnesota consumers money and better insulate them from oil price volatility. 3. Changes in vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) have a strong impact on whether the goals can be met, and increases in VMT can offset GHG reductions. Overall, the research indicates that the goals can be met, but achieving them requires consistent and concerted action beginning immediately.
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    A Smaller Carbon Footprint: Research Suggests Combining Strategies to Meet Legislative Goals in the Transportation Sector
    (University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies, 2008-06) Boies, Adam; Kittelson, David B.; Watts, Winthrop J.; Lucke, Jan; McGinnis, Laurie; Marshall, Julian; Nussbaum, Peter; Wilson, Elizabeth
    The 2007 Minnesota Next Generation Energy Act established goals for reducing statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 15% by 2015, 30% by 2025, and 80% by 2050, relative to 2005 levels. This document summarizes a longer report which investigates strategies for meeting those reductions in Minnesota's transportation sector, which produces approximately 24% of total state GHG emissions.