Sustainability in road transport : an integrated life cycle analysis for estimating emissions

Despite of a significant contribution of transport sector in the global economy and society, it is one of the largest sources of global energy consumption, green house gas emissions and environmental pollutions. A complete look onto the whole life cycle environmental inventory of this sector will be helpful to generate a holistic understanding of contributory factors causing emissions. Previous studies were mainly based on segmental views which mostly compare environmental impacts of different modes of transport, but very few consider impacts other than the operational phase. Ignoring the impacts of non-operational phases, e.g., manufacture, construction, maintenance, may not accurately reflect total contributions on emissions. Moreover an integrated study for all motorized modes of road transport is also needed to achieve a holistic estimation. The objective of this study is to develop a component based life cycle inventory model which considers impacts of both operational and non-operational phases of the whole life as well as different transport modes. In particular, the whole life cycle of road transport has been segmented into vehicle, infrastructure, fuel and operational components and inventories have been conducted on each component. The inventory model has been demonstrated using the road transport of Singapore. Results show that total life cycle green house gas emissions from the road transport sector of Singapore is 7.8 million tons per year, among which operational phase and non-operational phases contribute about 55% and about 45%, respectively. Total amount of criteria air pollutants are 46, 8.5, 33.6, 13.6 and 2.6 thousand tons per year for CO, SO2, NOx, VOC and PM10, respectively. From the findings, it can be deduced that stringent government policies on emission control measures have a significant impact on reducing environmental pollutions. In combating global warming and environmental pollutions the promotion of public transport over private modes is an effective sustainable policy.

A comparison of submicrometer particle dose between Australian and Italian people

Alveolar and tracheobronchial-deposited submicrometer particle number and surface area data received by different age groups in Australia are shown. Activity patterns were combined with microenvironmental data through a Monte-Carlo method. Particle number distributions for the most significant microenvironments were obtained from our measurement survey data and people activity pattern data from the Australian Human Activity Pattern Survey were used. Daily alveolar particle number (surface area) dose received by all age groups was equal to 3.0×1010 particles (4.5×102 mm2), varying slightly between males and females. In contrast to gender, the lifestyle was found to significantly affect the daily dose, with highest depositions characterizing adults. The main contribution was due to indoor microenvironments. Finally a comparison between Italian and Australian people in terms of received particle dose was reported; it shows that different cooking styles can affect dose levels: higher doses were received by Italians, mainly due to their particular cooking activity.

Planning for sustainable urban futures: an ecological approach to sustainable urban development

In recent years, cities have shown increasing signs of environmental problems due to the negative impacts of urban activities. The degradation and depletion of natural resources, climate change, and development pressure on green areas have become major concerns for cities. In response to these problems, urban planning policies have shifted to a sustainable focus and authorities have begun to develop new strategies for improving the quality of urban ecosystems. An extremely important function of an urban ecosystem is to provide healthy and sustainable environments for both natural systems and communities. Therefore, ecological planning is a functional requirement in the establishment of sustainable built environment. With ecological planning, human needs are supplied while natural resources are used in the most effective and sustainable manner and ecological balance is sustained. Protecting human and environmental health, having healthy ecosystems, reducing environmental pollution and providing green spaces are just a few of the many benefits of ecological planning. In this context, this chapter briefly presents a short overview of the importance of the implementation of ecological planning into sustainable urban development. Furthermore, it presents a conceptual framework for a new methodology for developing sustainable urban ecosystems through ecological planning approach.

Spinning a sustainable yarn: assessing the claims of Australian companies’ eco-initiatives

In Australia, few fashion brands have intervened in the design of their products or the systems around their product to tackle environmental pollution and waste. Instead, support of charities (whether social or environmental) has become conflated with sustainability in the eyes of the public.However, three established Australian brands recently put forward initiatives which explicitly tackle the pre-consumer or post-consumer waste associated with their products. In 2011, Billabong, one of the largest surfwear companies in the world, developed a collection of board shorts made from recycled bottles that are also recyclable at end of life. The initiative has been promoted in partnership with Bob Marley’s son Rohan Marley, and the graphics of the board shorts reference the Rastafarian colours and make use of Marley’s song lyrics. In this way, the company has tapped into an aspect of surf culture linked to environmental activism, in which the natural world is venerated. Two mid-market initiatives, by Metalicus and Country Road, each have a social outcome that arguably aligns to the values of their middle-class consumer base. Metalicus is spear-heading a campaign for Australian garment manufacturers to donate their pre consumer waste – fabric off-cuts – to charity Open Family Australia to be manufactured into quilts for the homeless. Country Road has partnered with the Australian Red Cross to implement a recycling scheme in which consumers donate their old Country Road garments in exchange for a Country Road gift voucher. Both strategies, while tackling waste, tell an altruistic story in which the disadvantaged can benefit from the consumption habits of the middle-class. To varying degrees, the initiative chosen by each company feeds into the stories they tell about themselves and about the consumers who purchase their clothing. However, how can we assess the impact of these schemes on waste management in real terms, or indeed the worth of each scheme in the wider context of the fashion system? This paper will assess the claims made by the companies and analyse their efficacy, suggesting that a more nuanced assessment of green claims is required, in which ‘green’ comes in many tonal variations.

Characterising metal build-up on urban road surfaces

Reliable approaches for predicting pollutant build-up are essential for accurate urban stormwater quality modelling. Based on the in-depth investigation of metal build-up on residential road surfaces, this paper presents empirical models for predicting metal loads on these surfaces. The study investigated metals commonly present in the urban environment. Analysis undertaken found that the build-up process for metals primarily originating from anthropogenic (copper and zinc) and geogenic (aluminium, calcium, iron and manganese) sources were different. Chromium and nickel were below detection limits. Lead was primarily associated with geogenic sources, but also exhibited a significant relationship with anthropogenic sources. The empirical prediction models developed were validated using an independent data set and found to have relative prediction errors of 12-50%, which is generally acceptable for complex systems such as urban road surfaces. Also, the predicted values were very close to the observed values and well within 95% prediction interval.

Health effects of daily airborne particle dose in children : direct association between personal dose and respiratory health effects

Air pollution is a widespread health problem associated with respiratory symptoms. Continuous exposure monitoring was performed to estimate alveolar and tracheobronchial dose, measured as deposited surface area, for 103 children and to evaluate the long-term effects of exposure to airborne particles through spirometry, skin prick tests and measurement of exhaled nitric oxide (eNO). The mean daily alveolar deposited surface area dose received by children was 1.35×103 mm2. The lowest and highest particle number concentrations were found during sleeping and eating time. A significant negative association was found between changes in pulmonary function tests and individual dose estimates. Significant differences were found for asthmatics, children with allergic rhinitis and sensitive to allergens compared to healthy subjects for eNO. Variation is a child’s activity over time appeared to have a strong impact on respiratory outcomes, which indicates that personal monitoring is vital for assessing the expected health effects of exposure to particles.

First measurements of source apportionment of organic aerosols in the Southern Hemisphere

An Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer was deployed at five urban schools to examine spatial and temporal variability of organic aerosols (OA) and positive matrix factorization (PMF) used for the first time in the Southern Hemisphere to apportion the sources of the OA across an urban area. The sources identified included hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA), biomass burning OA (BBOA) and oxygenated OA (OOA). At all sites, the main source was OOA, which accounted for 62–73% of the total OA mass and was generally more oxidized compared to those reported in the Northern Hemisphere. This suggests that there are differences in aging processes or regional sources in the two hemispheres. Unlike HOA and BBOA, OOA demonstrated instructive temporal variations but not spatial variation across the urban area. Application of cluster analysis to the PMF-derived sources offered a simple and effective method for qualitative comparison of PMF sources that can be used in other studies.

Role of particle size and composition in metal adsorption by solids deposited on urban road surfaces

Despite common knowledge that the metal content adsorbed by fine particles is relatively higher compared to coarser particles, the reasons for this phenomenon has gained little research attention. The research study discussed in the paper investigated the variations in metal content for different particle sizes of solids associated with pollutant build-up on urban road surfaces. Data analysis confirmed that parameters favourable for metal adsorption to solids such as specific surface area, organic carbon content, effective cation exchange capacity and clay forming minerals content decrease with the increase in particle size. Furthermore, the mineralogical composition of solids was found to be the governing factor influencing the specific surface area and effective cation exchange capacity. There is high quartz content in particles >150µm compared to particles <150µm. As particle size reduces below 150µm, the clay forming minerals content increases, providing favourable physical and chemical properties that influence adsorption.

Reply to comment on “Characterising metal build-up on urban road surfaces” by Egodawatta et al. (2013)

In the recent manuscript published by Egodawatta et al. (2013), the authors investigated the build-up process of heavy metals (HMs) associated with road-deposited sediment (RDS) on residential road surfaces, and presented empirical models for the prediction of both the surface loads and build-up rates of HMs on these surfaces...

An overview of the role of goethite surfaces in the environment

Goethite, one of the most thermodynamically stable iron oxides, has been extensively researched especially the structure (including surface structure), the adsorption capacity to anions, organic/organic acid (especially for the soil organic carbon) and cations in the natural environment and its potential application in environmental protection. For example, the adsorption of heavy metals by goethite can decrease the concentration of heavy metals in aqueous solution and immobilize; the adsorption to soil organic carbon can decrease the release of carbon and fix carbon. In this present overview, the possible physicochemical properties of the goethite surface contributing to the strong affinity of goethite to nutrients and contaminants in natural environment are reported. Moreover, these chemicals adsorbed by goethite were also summarized and the suggested adsorption mechanism for these adsorbates was elucidated, which will help us understand the role of goethite in natural environment and provide some information about goethite as an absorbent. In addition, the feasibility of goethite used as catalyst carrier and the precursor of NZVI was proposed for removal of environmental pollution.

Enzyme activities and biotechnological applications of cold-active microfungi

Fungi are eukaryotic organisms and considered to be less adaptable to extreme environments when compared to bacteria. While there are no thermophilic microfungi in a strict sense, some fungi have adapted to life in the cold. Cold-active microfungi have been isolated from the Antarctic and their enzyme activities explored with a view to finding new candidates for industrial use. On another front, environmental pollution by petroleum products in the Antarctic has led to a search for, and the subsequent discovery of, fungal isolates capable of degrading hydrocarbons. The work has paved the way to developing a bioremedial approach to containing this type of contamination in cold climates. Here we discuss our efforts to map the capability of Antarctic microfungi to degrade oil and also introduce a novel cold-active fungal lipase enzyme.

Nanoparticle emissions from a fleet of CNG buses in transient and steady state operation

Particle emission measurements from a fleet of 14 CNG and 5 Diesel buses were measured both for transient and steady state mode s on a chassis dynamometer with a CVS dilution system. Several transient DT80 cycles and 4 steady sate modes (0, 25, 50 100% of maximum load) were measured for each bus tested. Particle number concentration data was collected by three CPC’s (TSI 3022, 3010 3782WCPC) having D50 cut-offs set to 5, 10 and 20nm respectively. The size distributions were measured with a TSI 3080 SMPS with a 3025 CPC during the steady state modes. Particle mass emissions were measured with a TSI Dustrak. Particle mass emissions for Diesel buses were upto 2 orders of magnitude higher than for CNG buses. Particle number emissions during steady state modes for Diesel busses were 2 to 5 times higher than for CNG busses for all of the tested loads. On the other hand for the DT80 transient cycle particle number emissions were up to 3 times higher for the CNG buses. More detailed analysis of the transient cycles revealed that the reason for this was due to high particle number emissions from CNG busses during the acceleration parts of the cycles. Particles emitted by the CNG busses during acceleration were in the nucleation mode with the majority being smaller than 10nm. Volatility measurements have also shown that they were highly volatile.

On-road rapid identification of high-polluting transport buses

Exhaust emissions from motor vehicles vary widely and depend on factors such as engine operating conditions, fuel, age, mileage and service history. A method has been devised to rapidly identify high-polluting vehicles as they travel on the road. The method is able to monitor emissions from a large number of vehicles in a short time and avoids the need to conduct expensive and time consuming tests on chassis dynamometers. A sample of the exhaust plume is captured as each vehicle passes a roadside monitoring station and the pollutant emission factors are calculated from the measured concentrations using carbon dioxide as a tracer. Although, similar methods have been used to monitor soot and gaseous mass emissions, to-date it has not been used to monitor particle number emissions from a large fleet of vehicles. This is particularly important as epidemiological studies have shown that particle number concentration is an important parameter in determining adverse health effects. The method was applied to measurements of particle number emissions from individual buses in the Brisbane City Council diesel fleet operating on the South-East Busway. Results indicate that the particle number emission factors are gamma- distributed, with a high proportion of the emissions being emitted by a small percentage of the buses. Although most of the high-emitters are the oldest buses in the fleet, there are clear exceptions, with some newer buses emitting as much. We attribute this to their recent service history, particularly pertaining to improper tuning of the engines. We recommend that a targeted correction program would be a highly effective measure in mitigating urban environmental pollution.

Nano and ultrafine particle number concentrations in different environments : application towards air quality regulations

Particle number concentrations vary significantly with environment and, in this study, we attempt to assess the significance of these differences. Towards this aim, we reviewed 85 papers that have reported particle number concentrations levels at 126 sites covering different environments. We grouped the results into eight categories according to measurement location including: road tunnel, on-road, road-side, street canyon, urban, urban background, rural, and clean background. From these reports, the overall median number concentration for each of the eight site categories was calculated. The eight location categories may be classified into four distinct groups. The mean median particle number locations for these four types were found to be statistically different from each other. Rural and clean background sites had the lowest concentrations of about 3x103 cm-3. Urban and urban background sites showed concentrations that were three times higher (9x103 cm-3). The mean concentration for the street canyon, roadside and on-road measurement sites was 4.6x104 cm-3, while the highest concentrations were observed in the road tunnels (8.6x104 cm-3). This variation is important when assessing human exposure-response for which there is very little data available, making it difficult to develop health guidelines, a basis for national regulations. Our analyses shows that the current levels in environments affected by vehicle emissions are 3 to 28 times higher than in the natural environments. At present, there is no threshold level in response to exposure to ultrafine particles. Therefore, future control and management strategies should target a decrease of these particles in urban environments by more than one order of magnitude to bring them down to the natural background. At present there is a long way to go to achieve this.

Determinants of eco-efficiency in the Chinese industrial sector

This study measures productive inefficiency within the context of multi-environmental pollution (eco-efficiency) in the Chinese industrial sector. The weighted Russell directional distance model is applied to measure eco-efficiency using production technology. The objective is to clarify how external factors affect eco-efficiency. The major findings are that both foreign direct investment and investment for pollution abatement improve eco-efficiency as measured by air pollutant substances. A levy system for wastewater discharge improves eco-efficiency as measured by wastewater pollutant substances. However, an air pollutant levy does not significantly affect eco-efficiency as measured by air pollutants.