Grantee Research Project Results

Air Pollutant Control Strategies in a Changing World

EPA Grant Number: R835873C004
Subproject: this is subproject number 004 , established and managed by the Center Director under grant R835873
(EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
Center: Center for Air, Climate, and Energy Solutions
Center Director: Robinson, Allen
Title: Air Pollutant Control Strategies in a Changing World
Investigators: Hill, Jason , Millet, Dylan B , Marshall, Julian D. , Michalek, Jeremy J. , Azevedo, Inês L , Boies, Adam M. , Pandis, Spyros N. , Coggins, Jay S. , Apte, Joshua S. , Matthews, H. Scott , Robinson, Allen , Muller, Nicholas , Jaramillo, Paulina , Adams, Peter , Polasky, Stephen , Hankey, Steve
Institution: Carnegie Mellon University , Virginia Tech , The University of Texas at Austin , Middlebury College , University of Minnesota
Current Institution: Carnegie Mellon University , Middlebury College , The University of Texas at Austin , University of Minnesota , Virginia Tech
EPA Project Officer: Chung, Serena
Project Period: May 1, 2016 through April 30, 2021
RFA: Air, Climate And Energy (ACE) Centers: Science Supporting Solutions (2014) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Air , Climate Change

Objective:

Our over-arching objective is to develop and demonstrate a comprehensive policy assessment framework that is both broad (multipollutant) and tall (from scenario specification to emissions to impacts). Related objectives are: 1) Apply chemical transport and reduced-form air quality models to assess the air quality and health impacts of various technology, policy, land-use, and climate scenarios; 2) Assess alternative policies, technology trajectories, and land-use variations; and 3) Assess statistical, scenario, and model specification uncertainty, determine the degree to which results are sufficiently robust to justify findings and recommendations, and identify key factors that drive uncertainty.

Approach:

We will develop a common multipollutant policy framework for studying air quality and climate change that integrates expertise in energy policy, life-cycle assessment, and economics with traditional air quality methods. Our focus will be on four main elements: electricity generation; transportation; land use; and climate-dependent emissions, transport, and chemistry. For each focus area, policy scenarios will be developed with spatially- and temporally-explicit life-cycle emissions inventories that will be used as inputs to newly developed reduced-form models (Project 1) for all scenarios, and state-of-the-science chemical transport models (Project 1) for a subset of scenarios deemed most interesting. We will investigate the role of uncertainty in technology, land use, and policy in shaping model results. The scenarios will explicitly consider both changes in energy and fuel consumption as well urban form.

Expected Results:

We will demonstrate a multidisciplinary, comprehensive, and internally consistent approach for scenario development and assessment, combining models for energy use, transportation technology, life-cycle analysis, state-of-the-art and reduced complexity chemical transport models, exposure, and health effects (with new results from Project 5). Model predictions will quantify the current and future health impacts, climate-related impacts, and the resulting social costs for several technological and policy trajectories. We will examine variability by pollutant and region for each scenario. We will also evaluate results in terms of potential differential effects on specific subpopulations, especially disadvantaged groups (“environmental justice”). Findings will identify region-specific win-win opportunities to address air, climate, energy, health, and environmental justice goals simultaneously.

Publications and Presentations:

Publications have been submitted on this subproject: View all 4 publications for this subproject | View all 148 publications for this center

Journal Articles:

Journal Articles have been submitted on this subproject: View all 4 journal articles for this subproject | View all 136 journal articles for this center

Supplemental Keywords:

Air quality, cost-benefit, decision making, energy, exposure, health effects, integrated assessment, land, life-cycle analysis, public policy, renewable;

Progress and Final Reports:

Main Center Abstract and Reports:

R835873 Center for Air, Climate, and Energy Solutions

Subprojects under this Center: (EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
R835873C001 Mechanistic Air Quality Impact Models for Assessment of Multiple Pollutants at High Spatial Resolution
R835873C002 Air Quality Observatory
R835873C003 Next Generation LUR Models: Development of Nationwide Modeling Tools for Exposure Assessment and Epidemiology
R835873C004 Air Pollutant Control Strategies in a Changing World
R835873C005 Health Effects of Air Pollution and Mitigation Scenarios

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The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.