Air Quality and Transport - UCL · Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation works to facilitate India’s transition to a cleaner energy future by aiding the design and implementation

1July 2017Unclassified - Public Domain© Ricardo plc 2017

Delivering Excellence Through Innovation and Technology

Ricardo Energy & Environment

Air Quality and Transport

Tim Curtis, February 2019

3D visualisation of London street-level air quality data


• World-leading capability, comprising 470 scientists,

engineers, economists and data specialists

• Providing analysis and solutions for major

environmental challenges

• Covering full range of skills in energy, climate, scarce

resources, waste management, water, air quality,

environmental impact, sustainable transportation, and

chemical risk management

• Client base of international organisations,

governments and businesses

Ricardo Energy & Environment - who we are


Air Quality – why is it important?

• Air Pollution responsible for 7,000,000 premature

deaths annually (source: WHO)

• 400,000 die prematurely in Europe a result of air

pollution (source: EEA)

• Huge economic costs to society … 10% of EU GDP

(source: UNEP)

• In the future air pollution is predicted to kill more

people in cities than dirty water and lack of sanitation

(source: OECD)

• Ever tighter legislation eg EURO vehicle standards /

Air Quality Directive

• Huge increase in public awareness due to poor air

quality and impact on health


Air Quality – why is it important?


Air Quality – what has transport got to do with it?

EU NOX levels to 2016 (Source: European Environment Agency)

• Between 1990 and 2016, the EU

transport sector significantly reduced

emissions of major air pollutants

• But, emission reductions from road

transport have been lower than

originally anticipated, because:

Transport activity has grown more

than forecasted

For certain pollutants, growth in diesel

vehicles (which produce higher

NOx and PM emissions than petrol-

fuelled vehicles) has been

greater than expected

‘Real-world emissions' of NOx,

particularly from diesel passenger

cars and vans, generally exceed the

permitted European emission (Euro)

standards


• Operation of air pollution measurement networks around the globe

• Delivery of atmospheric modelling studies and pollution forecasting

• Emission inventory design, development, compilation, interpretation

• Technical and economic analysis of new low carbon vehicle technologies

• Modelling future transport solutions / sustainable mobility strategies

• Advising on vehicle electrification and infrastructure requirements

• Assessing the social, economic and environmental impacts of policy

Ricardo - Air Quality and Sustainable Transport

We have advised over 250

cities on their transportation

and air pollution problems

Over 130 engineers,

scientists, modellers,

economists, data specialists

and consultants

Most at Masters level


Air Quality action in the UK

• £260 million was committed by UK Government in 2018

to help improve air quality in the most polluted areas

• Councils can make proposals to obtain funding for

actions like:

New “park and ride” services

Freight consolidation centres (to prevent heavy trucks

driving into city centres)

Incentives to travel by bus or train instead of car

Installing electric charge point hubs in car parks

Funding for ultra-low emission taxi leasing schemes

Traffic management and monitoring systems

Low emission technology retrofit to bus fleets

Ricardo has worked with over 10 Councils so far, and

helped them to produce the scientific evidence to

secure over £25m of funding for clean air actions




Low emission strategy support

Evidence is used to shape,

low emissions strategies at

city, regional and national

scales, with the ultimate aim

to reduce exposure to

pollutants and improve

health outcomes.

Ricardo’s city-scale air

pollution and decision

support tool, RapidAir®,

provides highly spatially

resolved air pollution

evidence to city decision

makers.

The link between air

pollution and negative health

outcomes for inhabitants of

towns and cities around the

world is now universally

accepted.

High Quality EvidenceUrban Air Pollution Informed Policy




Supporting UK Power Networks in

understanding the implications of

Vehicle to Grid (V2G) services

Project output will be

network modelling to

understand the impact and

opportunities V2G can

provide to electricity sector.

The aim will be to defer

expensive reinforcement.

Ricardo’s world-leading

expertise in Smart Grids will

provide V2G modelling

capabilities, using an

existing distribution network

planning tool to understand

electricity demand changes.

UK Power Networks is

exploring new services

related to electric vehicles

(EV) through four Innovate

UK V2G projects, involving

residential EVs, fleet EVs

and electric buses.

Network Modelling ExpertiseTransPower Project Impact Analysis of V2G




Solutions to deliver low carbon

traction power for railways

Benefits to Network Rail:

• Lower electricity costs

over a long term period

• Additional power allows

increasing train length and

higher service frequency

• Supporting Network Rail’s

de-carbonisation target

Ricardo’s renewable energy

experts developed a solution

which:

• Can connect easily to the

existing system

• Matches solar PV

generation with demand,

using electricity storage

Traction power for rail is

increasing, but very

intermittent in its nature,

linked to train timetables and

acceleration.

Renewable electricity

generation and storage can

provide an effective solution.

The SolutionThe Challenge Client Benefits




Real-world vehicle emissions and

Ricardo’s unique remote-sensing database

This work supports improved air

quality model and inventory

development and Clean Air Zone

scenario planning.

Now looking at combining with

automatic number plate

recognition (ANPR) camera

networks to allow cities to act on

the vehicles entering their area.

To address this problem, Ricardo

has developed a database of

over 250,000 real-world vehicle

emissions measurements.

This provides unrivalled insight

into old and new vehicle types,

across a range of ambient

temperatures, road types and

different driving conditions.

Vehicles driven under ‘real-world’

conditions produce higher

emissions than those measured

under laboratory-based test

procedures.

Such discrepancies have

resulted in pollution reduction

policies failing to deliver the

benefits originally anticipated.

Emissions DatabaseReal-world Vehicle Emissions Better Air Quality Policy


Air Quality in China

Air Quality issues rank 4th in all leading

factors for premature deaths in China

(MEE, China). Ricardo has worked on

several air quality projects in China

Jinan Air quality management strategy

Air quality action plan for greater Beijing




Strengthening industry emission

standards in India

The work entailed a detailed

review of current processes and a

global benchmarking exercise.

This led to recommendations to

improve the process (resourcing,

evidence base and engagement)

and a workshop disseminating

findings to government, industry

and NGOs.

Industrial pollution is a major

contributor to pollution problems

in India. The Shakti Foundation

tasked us to undertake an in-

depth review of the process for

setting industry emission

standards in India and provide

recommendations for

strengthening the process.

Shakti Sustainable Energy

Foundation works to facilitate

India’s transition to a cleaner

energy future by aiding the

design and implementation of

policies that promote clean

power, energy efficiency,

sustainable transport, climate

policy and clean energy finance.

Industrial Pollution ControlShakti Sustainable

Energy FoundationImproving Policy

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Air Quality and Transport - UCL · Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation works to facilitate India’s transition to a cleaner energy future by aiding the design and implementation