Health and Climate Incentives for the Deployment of Cleaner On-Road Vehicle Technologies

Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of private passenger vehicles, transit buses, and commercial vehicles with newer technology can improve air quality, and, subsequently, population exposure and public health. For the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, we estimated the burden of each vehicle fl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science & technology 2021-05, Vol.55 (10), p.6602-6612
Main Authors: Minet, Laura, Wang, An, Hatzopoulou, Marianne
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air quality
Anthropogenic Impacts on the Atmosphere
Automobiles
Buses
Buses (vehicles)
Climate change
Commercial vehicles
Electrification
Emissions control
Environmental impact
Fatalities
Greenhouse effect
Greenhouse gases
Incentives
Outdoor air quality
Passengers
Premature mortality
Public health
Transit
Trucks
Vehicles
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Summary:Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of private passenger vehicles, transit buses, and commercial vehicles with newer technology can improve air quality, and, subsequently, population exposure and public health. For the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, we estimated the burden of each vehicle fleet on population health in the units of years of life lost and premature deaths. We then assessed the separate health benefits of electrifying private vehicles, transit buses, and replacing the oldest commercial vehicles with newer trucks. A complete deployment of electric passenger vehicles would lead to health benefits similar to replacing all trucks older than 8 years (i.e., about 300 premature deaths prevented) in the first year of implementation; however, GHG emissions would be mainly reduced with passenger fleet electrification. Transit bus electrification has similar health benefits as electrifying half of the passenger fleet (i.e., about 150 premature deaths prevented); however, the GHG emission reductions reached under the bus electrification scenario are lower by 90%. By accelerating policies to electrify cars and buses and renew older trucks, governments can save hundreds of lives per year and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
ISSN:0013-936X
1520-5851
DOI:10.1021/acs.est.0c07639