Carbon Dioxide emissions question

[Necross]

I've been wondering recently about the air quality in cities. Suppose all cars/transport methods were to go electric or clean (electric cars etc...) how much would air quality improve by? In other words what % of the nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide emissions are mobile sources responsible for? I've been trying to look this up but can't seem to get a consistant number. Any help in clearing this issue would be appreciated.

- Necross

 

[mgb_phys]

It depends on the area.
In most cities mobile sources are the source of most pollution, overall (for most countries) they are less than fixed sources - power stations/factories.
Your local government, city/municipality/state probably publishes local figures for their standards from local mobile/fixed sources.

You also have to consider the actual effects - smog from traffic exhausts emitted at street level in LA in summer has a bigger effect on the people than the same mass of the same chemicals emitted from a power station stack in the middle of nowhere.

If you are in the USA, start here http://www.epa.gov/oar/data/index.html

 

[Doug Huffman]

mgb_phys provided a fine static analysis.

The overall air quality might marginally improve for the higher quality emissions from power plants, but their total emissions would increase, with a constant pollutant fraction, as they pick-up the otherwise distributed transportation power demand.

For transmission efficiency, power plants are not far removed from major loads like cities.

NIMBY isn't good enough. Nuclear power is secure power.

 

[Eric McClean]

I agree with Doug Huffman's view...