UBC study shows air quality policies can boost climate change efforts

VANCOUVER: Many cities in rapidly industrialising countries such as India are instituting fuel-switching programs—converting diesel and gasoline engines to run on compressed natural gas—in an attempt to reduce their air pollution impacts.  However, these programs can also have climate benefits.  That’s the conclusion of a new study by UBC researchers Conor Reynolds and Milind Kandlikar, published in the online version of the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

The study takes the case of the Indian city of New Delhi to examine the climate impacts of fuel-switching programs.  In 2003, Delhi completed the conversion of its public transportation fleet (comprising almost 90,000 buses, cars, and auto-rickshaws) from gasoline and diesel to natural gas.  The city’s goal was to reduce air pollution and its associated threats to health. 

The UBC team wanted to investigate whether Delhi’s project to improve air quality also had an impact on emissions related to climate change.  “Many of the vehicle emissions associated with air pollution are also significant contributors to global warming,” says Reynolds.  “So it makes sense that when air pollution is addressed, there may be climate benefits as well.”

The research team gathered data on the characteristics and activity patterns of the public transportation fleet in Delhi and calculated the change in global warming-related emission levels that resulted from the fuel conversion process.  They found that fuel switching resulted in a 10% decrease in harmful greenhouse gases when a range of emissions (including carbon dioxide, methane, and aerosols) was considered.

However, the study finds much room for improvement in fuel-switching programs.  Natural gas is composed mostly of methane, which is an important contributor to climate change.  When the engines are converted to run on natural gas , they don’t work as well as they were originally designed to. Significant amounts of methane are lost to the environment and contribute to global warming.  The research team is now investigating options to improve the process of converting engines.  “If we can reduce the amount of methane emitted from these converted engines, the net climate benefit could increase from 10% to at least 20%,” Reynolds notes. 

Policy incentives to target methane reduction could be found in the form of funding from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Clean Development Mechanism.  The research team is now investigating the feasibility of aligning methane reduction efforts with this funding program, which pairs developed and developing countries on joint projects to reduce global-warming emissions.

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For more information, please contact:

Conor Reynolds
PhD Candidate
Institute for Resources, Environment & Sustainability
2202 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
c.reynolds@ires.ubc.ca

Dr. Milind Kandlikar
Assistant Professor
Liu Institute for Global Issues
251-1855 West Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2
Tel: (604) 822-6722
mkandlikar@ires.ubc.ca

Christie Hurrell
Communications
UBC Centre for Health and Environment Research
3rd Floor, 2206 East Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3
Tel: 604-827-5622
Fax: 604-822-9588
hurrell@interchange.ubc.ca

www.cher.ubc.ca

Funding for the study came from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Auto-21 Network for Centers of Excellence, the University of British Columbia Bridge Program, and the Exxon-Mobil Educational Fund.