Impact of introducing electric vehicles on ground-level O<sub>3</sub> and PM<sub>2.5</sub> in the Greater Tokyo Area: yearly trends and the importance of changes in the urban heat island effect
<p>Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are considered a solution for global warming and air pollution, and several countries have announced they will shift to BEVs in the 2030s. Even though previous studies have shown the effects of reducing vehicular emissions on the formation of tropospheric oz...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| Online Access: | https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/25/1037/2025/acp-25-1037-2025.pdf |
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| Summary: | <p>Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are considered a solution for global warming and air pollution, and several countries have announced they will shift to BEVs in the 2030s. Even though previous studies have shown the effects of reducing vehicular emissions on the formation of tropospheric ozone (O<span class="inline-formula"><sub>3</sub></span>), no studies have evaluated the effect of decreasing anthropogenic heat, which is expected to mitigate urban heat island (UHI) effect, on air quality issues. We used a numerical weather prediction to estimate changes in the UHI effect in the Greater Tokyo Area (GTA) of Japan by introducing BEVs. The results indicated that the introduction of BEVs would lead to a maximum local temperature decrease of 0.25 °C in the GTA. The effects of introducing BEVs on O<span class="inline-formula"><sub>3</sub></span> and fine particulate matter (PM<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2.5</sub></span>) were estimated using a regional chemical transport model. The results indicated that mitigating the UHI effect would lead to a reduction in ground-level O<span class="inline-formula"><sub>3</sub></span> formation. This is due to the increased NO titration effect caused by the lowered planetary boundary layer height and due to the degradation of photochemistry related to O<span class="inline-formula"><sub>3</sub></span> formation caused by a decrease in temperature and biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs). The mitigation of UHI would result in enhanced particle coagulation, with an increase in ground-level PM<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2.5</sub></span>. Furthermore, a decrease in BVOC emissions would result in increased PM<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2.5</sub></span> owing to enhancement of the OH <span class="inline-formula">+</span> SO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span> reaction. A total of 175 and 77 annual premature deaths would be prevented from changes in O<span class="inline-formula"><sub>3</sub></span> and PM<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2.5</sub></span>, respectively.</p> |
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| ISSN: | 1680-7316 1680-7324 |