Subnational implications from climate and air pollution policies in India's electricity sector.

Emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants in India are important contributors to climate change and health damages. This study estimates current emissions from India's electricity sector and simulates the state-level implications of climate change and air pollution policies. We find that (i) a carbon tax results in little short-term emissions reductions because there is not enough dispatchable lower emission spare capacity to substitute coal; (ii) moving toward regional dispatch markets rather than state-level dispatch decisions will not lead to emissions reductions; (iii) policies that have modest emissions effects at the national level nonetheless have disparate state-level emissions impacts; and (iv) pricing or incentive mechanisms tied to production or consumption will result in markedly different costs to states.

Current and Future Estimates of Marginal Emission Factors for Indian Power Generation.

Emission factors from Indian electricity remain poorly characterized, despite known spatial and temporal variability. Limited publicly available emissions and generation data at sufficient detail make it difficult to understand the consequences of emissions to climate change and air pollution, potentially missing cost-effective policy designs for the world's third largest power grid. We use reduced-form and full-form power dispatch models to quantify current (2017-2018) and future (2030-2031) marginal CO, SO, NO, and PM emission factors from Indian power generation.

Should India Move toward Vehicle Electrification? Assessing Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas and Criteria Air Pollutant Emissions of Alternative and Conventional Fuel Vehicles in India.

We perform a state-specific life-cycle assessment of greenhouse gases (GHG) (CO) and sulfur dioxide (SO) emissions in India for representative passenger vehicles (two-wheelers, three-wheelers, four-wheelers, and buses) and technologies (internal combustion engine, battery electric, hybrid electric, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles). We find that in most states, four-wheeler battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) have higher GHG and SO emissions than other conventional or alternative vehicles. Electrification of those vehicle classes under present conditions would not lead to emission reductions.

Spatial Correlation of Ultrafine Particle Number and Fine Particle Mass at Urban Scales: Implications for Health Assessment.

The epidemiological evidence for ultrafine particles (UFP; particles with diameter <100 nm) causing chronic health effects independent of fine particulate matter (PM) mass is inconclusive. A prevailing view is that urban UFP and PM mass have different spatial patterns, which should allow epidemiological studies to distinguish their independent, chronic health effects. We investigate intraurban spatial correlation of PM and UFP exposures in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.