Air pollution external costs of alternative-fuel buses in urban area

A. Sangi*, D. Dias, O. Tchepel

Department of Civil Engineering University of Coimbra, Pólo II, 3030-788, Portugal,

*amir.sangi@student.dec.uc.pt

Keywords: Urban bus, air quality, pollutant emissions, external cost, alternative fuel

Global concerns about climate change, public health and energy security have motivated to
adopt the policies which encourage energy efficient vehicle technology and alternative fuels
having low emissions. At urban scale, road traffic is one of the main sources of atmospheric
emissions directly related with negative impacts on the wide range of receptors including human
health and materials. To deal with these issues the impacts can be quantified and also further
expressed in monetary terms in so called ‘external costs’.
The current research work is focused on the bus public transport system realizing that a cleaner
bus solution will reduce emissions and contribute to air quality improvement of the city. The
prime objective of this research is to compare alternative fuel options for urban bus fleet taking
into account external cost of air pollution.
In order to achieve the defined objective, the monetary value of negative externalities is
estimated based on the modelling approach. For this purpose, a macroscopic simulation of
public transport system is performed using the VISUM model. The assignment modeling in
VISUM is based on bus time tables for a typical weekday. The outputs from transportation
model are used to characterize traffic flow for each road segment required by emission
modelling.
Atmospheric emissions are estimated in the current research by Road Traffic Emissions and
Energy Consumption Model (QTraffic). QTraffic is newly developed plugin for open source
QGIS. The model is based on the European methodology for emission factors (EMEP/EEA, 2014)
and takes into consideration vehicle technology, fuel properties and average vehicle speed. To
quantify air pollution external cost, the country specific values for Portugal are taken from
‘Update of the Handbook on External Costs of Transport’ (DG-Move, 2014).
To implement methodology described above, the Coimbra urban area was selected to evaluate
the potential impacts of alternative fuels in terms of external costs. The Coimbra urban area is
located in an important growth axis of the Iberian Peninsula and is one of the most important
urban centers in Portugal.
In sketching the scenarios, the baseline is assumed without alternative fuels. Other scenarios
are defined following the ‘Renewable Energy Directive’ (RED) of EU (2014/94/EU), where
transport sector target from renewable energy resources is set to 10% in 2020. Different
biodiesel blends are considered in the alternative scenarios starting from B10 (10% proportion
of biodiesel) up to B100. However, it should be noted that low-level blends could be easily
adapted by the current vehicles, while high-level biodiesel blends require different technological
solutions. Additionally, compressed natural gas (CNG) is considered for the analysis.
For the emission quantification, current bus fleet is characterized on the basis of statistical
information and taking into consideration European emission regulations (Euro classes), as
presented in Figure 1.The emission factors are defined from EMEP/EEA guidelines (EMEP/EEA,
2014).Only NOx and PM emissions are considered for the analysis due to their importance for
the local air quality at the study area.
 2.8% 1.9% Pre-Euro
Euro-I
16% Euro-II
Euro-III
22.8%
Euro-IV
Euro-V
Euro-VI
25.5%

33%

Figure 1: Bus Fleet composition

for the study area
The pollutant emissions were calculated
for each road segment on yearly basis.
As an example, the spatial distribution of
NOx emissions is presented in Figure 2
for the baseline scenario. Modeling
results highlight an increase of NOx
emissions with use of alternative biofuels
in comparison to conventional diesel fuel,
while PM emissions are decreasing.
Figure 2: Spatial distribution of annual NOx
emissions for the baseline scenario

External costs are calculated for all the scenarios based on country-specific values in terms of
the cost per mass of the emitted pollutant. The final results on external costs are presented in
Figure 3 allowing an intercomparison of the alternative fuels considered in this study. The
conventional diesel usage has the highest external cost, whereas CNG fuel has lowest external
cost. Additionally to the emission factors and the specific cost defined for each pollutant, these
results are influenced by the fleet composition considered for the study area.

NOx PM

B100

B20
Fuel Type

B10

CNG

Diesel

0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0

Cost (€)

Figure 3: External costs arising from air quality deterioration for conventional and alternative fuel
busses (in €/100 vkm) obtained for the study area
Based on the current research, quantitative results on alternative fuels relevant for the decision
making are provided. However, it should be stressed that only two pollutants important for air
quality deterioration at local scale are considered. More detailed research to quantify total
external cost should be conducted in order to make a complete analysis of the alternative fuel
options.

Acknowledgement:

Current research is developed within research fellowship supported by Foundation for Science
and Technology (PD/BD/105872/2014)Data provided by SMTUC – Serviços Municipalizados de
Transportes Urbanos de Coimbra are used to conduct the research work.

References:

 EEA Guidebook (2014): EMEP/EEA emission inventory guidebook. : European

Environmental Agency, 2014.
 DG-Move (2014): Update of the Handbook on External costs: European Commission – DG
Mobility and Transport, 2014.
 SMTUC (2014): Gestao the Relatario. The Management Report. Coimbra: SMTUC, 2014.