Urban Air Quality

In many urban areas, a perfect storm of vehicle emissions, pollutants released during power generation, industrial emissions, and pollutants from burning home heating fuel threatens environmental quality and the health of residents. A particular challenge to manage, transportation is a major source of air pollutants, with greenhouse gases, NOx, SOx, VOCs, and ozone precursors released as commuters move into and through cities on a daily basis. With the percentage of the global population in urban areas on the rise and with a warming climate expected to worsen urban air quality, it is imperative to reduce the release of transportation-related air pollutants. While some locations have made progress with mass transit and other approaches, transportation in cities like Los Angeles is primarily centered on the automobile. There are, however, encouraging developments. In this unit, you will look at three options a city might use to cut its transportation emissions: incentivizing hydrogen fuel cell-powered private vehicles, converting city buses to compressed natural gas, and purchasing electric municipal trucks for the city’s fleet.