Urban Freight System Emissions: Improved Characterization for Mitigation Planning

As government authorities, ports, and vehicle operators work to identify pathways to decarbonize freight transportation and support healthy and resilient Canadian communities, there is a need for a more comprehensive understanding of emissions from this sector under real-world operating conditions, and the potential for emissions mitigation through changes to fuels and technologies. This improved understanding is critical for designing targeted emissions reduction interventions that are feasible and maximize climate, air quality, and health benefits.

Project Goals and Objectives

To address these knowledge-to-action, UBC is undertaking a 5-year program funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) to address these gaps in understanding Urban Freight Emissions with partners in government and industry. This project will: – Comprehensively characterize GHG emissions, health harming air pollutants, and short-lived climate forcers from urban freight systems through a combination of on-vehicle emission testing, vehicle and engine-use tracking, ambient measurement, and in vitro toxicity testing. – Synthesize new field data through emissions and air quality dispersion modelling, including model validation and calibration against observations, and application of new data for improved estimates and optimization activities. – Combine measurements, models, toxicity data, and optimization tools to develop strategies for GHG and air pollution emissions reductions, through illustrative intervention-oriented case studies with project partners. – Develop usable datasets and tools for emissions scenario planning for knowledge users in government and industry. While highly relevant to Western Canada, the data, emission factors, modelling and optimization methodologies will be applicable to urban systems throughout Canada. This project will build on the efforts of leading jurisdictions and industry partners to: (1) develop multidimensional open data sets for urban freight systems by conducting real-world, high resolution (time and space) measurements of GHGs, short-lived climate forcers, air pollutants and health effects; and (2) integrate these data sets with modelling, optimization and visualization tools, to support decisionmaking in BC and beyond.

Project Activities

WORKSTREAM 1 – Comprehensive characterization of emissions of GHGs, air pollutants, and shortlived climate forcing air pollutants from individual freight systems

A series of measurement campaigns will be carried out to better assess the in-use emissions from actual freight systems in urban settings. In particular three categories of vehicle-specific emission measurement campaigns will be carried out for marine vessel, on-road trucks, and locomotives. Each of these campaigns will be facilitated through our partners (Seaspan Ferries, Hydra Energy, Southern Railway) and will include measurements under in-use conditions and under well controlled operation. Performance with conventional and low carbon intensity fuels will be evaluated.

WORKSTREAM 2 – Characterization of fleet-level freight emissions and impacts from transportation corridor measurements

To better characterize freight emissions factors at the fleet level, and to understand the impact of freight emissions on air quality and health, we will conduct a series of freight transport corridor measurement campaigns for road, rail, and freight yards. These measurements will be facilitated by project partners and stakeholders, who will support siting of equipment. Freight transport emissions include exhaust and non-exhaust (e.g., brake and tire wear, road dust) components, and the dispersion of these pollutants has implications for air quality and human health. Using a combination of mobile instrumentation, low-cost sensors, and detailed laboratory analysis of cascade impactor samples we will: characterize roadside emission factors from freight trucks at the fleet level, characterize pollutant emissions decay profiles, and characterize non-exhaust emissions from freight vehicles. As in Workstream 1, we will assess the toxicity of ambient air surrounding freight corridors through a cell culture exposure system.

WORKSTREAM 3 – Higher fidelity urban freight systems emissions and dispersion modelling through
integration of new data

The emission and vehicle activity data collected in Workstreams 1 and 2 will be used to develop higher fidelity emission factors for urban freight systems. These emissions factors and vehicle use datasets will then be implemented in mobile emissions modelling tools commonly used in regulatory planning to develop spatially and temporally resolved regional emissions inventories of GHGs and air pollutants for the present-day, and for future emissions scenarios. Gridded and temporally resolved emissions inventories will also support analysis of the air quality impacts of these mobile emissions. Metro Vancouver and TransLink (project partners and stakeholders) will provide access to existing emissions model data input files for the region (e.g., databases of existing emission factors, vehicle populations, vehicle miles travelled).

WORKSTREAM 4: Case studies and strategies for informed decision making

We will conduct intervention-oriented case studies for mitigating GHG and air pollutant emissions and impacts, informed by project partner priorities. For example, these case studies will include: exploring the potential for GHG reductions through fuel, technology, and operational changes; assessing regional GHG and air pollutant emission impacts of freight decarbonization at scale, considering the potential implications of new fuel technologies (e.g., hydrogen, biofuels, electrification, natural gas) and other policy levers; pollutant dispersion impacts under different decarbonization pathways and the implications for siting facilities using improved dispersion modelling tools and emissions factor data. These case study topics may evolve, guided by our Project Advisory Group, stakeholder input, and results from other project activities.

Research Team

Amanda Giang (lead)
Assistant Professor, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability and the Department of Mechanical Engineering, UBC
An expert on the use of integrated modelling, data analysis, and qualitative approaches for policy analysis related to pollution, climate, and energy. Her research focuses on the impacts of technology and policy on air quality, health, and equity; community-engaged environmental assessment; multi-objective planning of energy transitions; and pedagogy for complex sustainability challenges.
amanda.giang@ubc.ca

Patrick Kirchen (lead)
Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Associate Director of the Clean Energy Research Center, UBC
A leading expert on the use and development of optical diagnostics for use with alternative fuel systems in the lab and in the field. His team focusses on understanding the emissions for commercial vehicles (ships, locomotives, trucks) using a range of fuels (diesel, natural gas, hydrogen, biofuels).
pkirchen@mech.ubc.ca

Jeremy Rochussen (Program Manager)
Research Engineer, Department of Mechanical Engineering, UBC
His research focuses on improving the fidelity of emissions inventories from heavy-duty commercial freight vehicles. He has experience designing and managing numerous in-use emissions measurement campaigns for heavy-duty on-road, rail, and marine applications.
jrochussen@mech.ubc.ca

Allan Bertram
Professor, Department of Chemistry, UBC
His research focuses on the chemistry and physics of atmospheric aerosols and the role these aerosols play in urban air pollution and climate. He has also been involved in many studies focusing on the chemistry of Earth’s atmosphere.
bertram@chem.ubc.ca

Chris Carlsten
Professor, Faculty of Medicine, UBC,
Tier 2 Canada Research Chair and Astra-Zeneca Chair in Occupational and Environmental Lung Disease
An expert on the respiratory and immunological health effects of inhaled environmental and occupational exposures. He is the Scientific Director of the Legacy for Airway Health, the mission of which principally includes integrated knowledge translation for prevention of aerosol-driven adverse health effects. He is the Head of Respiratory Medicine and Director of the Air Pollution Exposure Laboratory (APEL) at UBC.
christopher.carlsten@ubc.ca

Bhushan Gopaluni
Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering,
Associate Dean, Faculty of Applied Science, UBC
A leading expert on data analytics, control and optimization. He has several years of experience in developing novel theoretical algorithms and successfully applying them to Canada’s pulp and paper, oil & gas, mining, pharmaceutical and other related industries.
bhushan.gopaluni@ubc.ca

Steven Rogak
Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, UBC
an expert on aerosols from combustion processes. Recently, his team discovered a ground-breaking connection between particle morphology and optical properties for particles from combustion processes, which resulted in new sensor development. This research has direct application to instrument development, particle toxicity, and the use of particle morphology as a possible tracer in emission source apportionment.
rogak@mech.ubc.ca

Naomi Zimmerman
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, UBC
Canada Research Chair in Sustainability
Prior to joining UBC she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies at Carnegie Mellon University. She has extensive experience using low-cost sensor networks and real-time mobile monitoring to characterize air pollution in urban contexts, including determining vehicle emission factors from complex roadside settings.
nzimmerman@mech.ubc.ca