Assessment of the Contribution of Road Traffic to Greenhouse Emissions: A Case of an Algerian City

Abstract

Rapid urbanisation brings about increase in air pollution. These emissions are generally linked to the production of energy, to industrial activities and to transport in the densely inhabited areas. Estimating the pollutants quantities released in the air is an important stage in the evaluation of air quality. However, the problem of air pollution in urban areas is a problem in all Algerian cities. Similar to all Algerian big cities, the city of Batna has become a major urban area with an ever increasing fleet of motor vehicles most of which are practically old ones. This state of affairs increases the demand in fuel consumption and undeniably intensifies polluting emissions. As the situation goes, it has become the utmost urgency to wonder about a possible support that may be given to this sector in order to evaluate how air quality is managed in a durable way. The main objective of this study is to assess the quantity of CO2 pollutant known as the most significant greenhouse gas emission from traffic. The approach used is mainly based on a number of assumptions, which allows us to find the amount of 192 g/km/day CO2 released into the urban atmosphere of the city of Batna.