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Abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of specific emission control measures on the air quality of urban centres and local area hotspots. In order to achieve this, a sequence of regional, urban and local scale models was applied to assess the impact of European emission control strategies on urban and local scale air quality. First, vehicle fleet and activity data were estimated using appropriate models. The results of these models were used as input to the COPERT model in order to estimate vehicle emissions (NO2 and PM10) at country level up to the year 2030. Vehicle emissions were calculated according to two different scenarios: A baseline scenario, CLE (Current LEgislation) and an optimistic alternative, MFR (Maximum Feasible Reductions). Urban background and traffic hotspot concentrations of air pollutants were then calculated using the OFIS (Ozone FIne Structure) and OSPM (Operational Street Pollution Model) models respectively for 20 cities in Europe and for particular types of streets. Air quality was found to improve in 2030 compared to the reference year 2000, in line with the stricter NOx and PM vehicle emission limits imposed. The NO2 street increments for narrow canyons estimated for the reference year were found to be in the range of 16–53 μg m−3, depending on the city considered. These were reduced to 14–36 μg m−3 in the CLE scenario and 7–24 μg m−3 in the MFR scenario. The corresponding range for PM10 was estimated to be 5–15 μg m−3 for the reference year and was reduced to 2–8 μg m−3 and 0.2–2.4 μg m−3 for the CLE and the MFR scenarios respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Road transport on one hand plays an important role in the world economy and significantly contributes to the global gross domestic product; on the other hand, it is one of the main sources of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, mostly originating from the consumption of liquid fossil fuels. One of the main tools to monitor emissions, in an effort to reduce them, is to maintain inventories where emissions are estimated on a regular basis. Many countries maintain their own inventories, while there are also centralised databases gathering data from various countries and producing aggregated results, e.g. on total European Union level. However, maintaining emission inventories on a global scale is a tedious process mainly due to lack or poor quality of data for some countries and because of inconsistencies in the emission estimation methodologies followed. This article presents the methodology and results of a global road transport emission inventory, as part of the EDGAR (Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research) v6.1 database. It covers the majority of countries and regions in the world, i.e. global road vehicle fleet emissions. The vehicle emission processes considered comprise exhaust, fuel evaporation, tyre and brake wear, and road abrasion. The methodology involves the collection and processing of the relevant statistical data, i.e. vehicle fleet, activity, and energy from various sources. This information is combined with the appropriate emission factors, resulting in emission calculations per country, year, and vehicle category. The dataset developed is validated by comparison against official inventories and third-party emission estimates. The current database can be used to obtain a global view of emissions from the road transport sector for the period 1990–2020. Significant conclusions can be reached from analysing this dataset, for example which countries contribute the most to each pollutant, which vehicle types are the biggest emitters and more. The dataset can be useful for emission and air quality modellers, scientists and policy makers and can help design better policies for the future. [Display omitted] • Global road transport inventory with main trends of vehicle fleet, fuel, emissions. • Complete time series as a tool to monitor emissions and evaluate their impact. • Robust methodology with concrete steps that can be followed for any country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]