DieselNet/Ecopoint Inc.
http://www.dieselnet.com/
Fuels for urban buses: cost-effectiveness of health benefit ----
An analysis, perhaps the first of its kind, of the cost-effectiveness
of emission reduction from urban transit buses and the associated
health benefit obtained using two alternative fuel paths: (1)
compressed natural gas (CNG) and (2) emission-controlled diesel (ECD)
was published by a team of researchers from the Harvard School of
Public Health led by Joshua Cohen. It was concluded that CNG affords
a third more health benefits than ECD, but that the cost per unit of
health improvement is 6 to 9 times higher for CNG than for ECD.
Since comparable, low emission levels may be achieved using both
emission-controlled diesel and CNG, the choice between fuels
increasingly depends on the economy. The quantification of health and
environmental impacts of air pollution is a difficult and challenging
task, and its results critically depend on assumptions that are made.
In the Harvard study, the "cost per unit of health improvement" was
calculated for ECD and CNG, relative to conventional diesel (CD). One
of the assumptions was that both ECD and CNG bring a 75% PM emission
reduction (compared to CD), while CNG still provides lower NOx than
ECD (i.e., no EGR or other NOx control technologies were present in
the ECD option). The analysis found that new ECD and CNG buses
reduced "health damages" by 40% and 55%, respectively, relative to
CD. However, the unit cost of health improvement using CNG was
estimated to be 6 to 9 times greater than for ECD.
If EGR or other NOx control techniques were factored into the ECD
option, it would become more effective in reducing adverse health
impact, but its cost would also increase.
The study was funded by the International Truck and Engine Corporation.
J.T. Cohen et al., 2003. "Fuels for Urban Transit Buses:
A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis", Environmental Science &
Technology, 37 (8), 1477-1484
Press release:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/press/releases/press04032003.html
Download the paper (US$25):
http://pubs.acs.org/emeta/AcsLogin?url=%2FUADB%2Fxppview%2Fcgi-bin%2F
article.cgi%2Festhag%2F2003%2F37%2Fi08%2Fpdf%2Fes0205030.pdf&mode=logi
n
Supporting information (free of charge):
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/suppinfo.pl?es0205030
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