Air quality model for Barcelona

Abstract

Some cities and metropolitan areas have a hard time complying with EU regulations regarding certain pollutant concentration levels. In 2008, Barcelona's monitoring stations reported NO2 levels above the EU limit of 40 μg/m3. This paper shows the process and results of NO2 dispersion analysis in Barcelona using 2008 as the base year, as well as the results of the 2020 forecast. Barcelona City Council has drawn up an air-quality model as part of the "PECQ" (Energy, Climate Change and Air Quality Plan for Barcelona 2011-2020) to help decision makers implement actions aimed at reducing NO2. In the first stage, a real inventory of vehicles was performed, recording over 90,000 vehicle plates and also measuring 42,000 actual emissions via Remote Sensing Devices. We discovered that the vehicles on the road are newer than the city census vehicles. We also found out that real-world vehicle emissions are 16.2% higher than COPERT. We used GIS tools to compile the geographical inventory of emissions inside and outside the city. The base-year results show that 65.6% of NO2 concentration levels come from vehicles, 8.6% from the residential and commercial, 4.8% from industry, including heat and power production close to the city, 2.1% from Barcelona Port, and 0.1% from Barcelona Airport. The local background contribution was calculated as 10.1% and the regional background accounts for 8.6%. The PECQ Plan will run projects from 2011 until 2020 aimed at reducing NOX emissions in various sectors. Improvements in vehicle technology are also expected. The 2020 forecast scenario shows that NO2 concentration levels will drop by 35% to reach EU standards. © 2011 WIT Press.