CLEANAIR: Assessment of the impact of aviation on air quality
At a glance
- Project leader : Dr. Julien Anet
- Project team : Dr. Jacinta Edebeli, Curdin Spirig, Simon Wacker
- Project budget : CHF 49'000
- Project status : completed
- Funding partner : Internal
- Contact person : Julien Anet
Description
Last summer's extraordinary heat waves, and the "Fridays for
Future" movement, have once again fueled the climate debate and had
a significant impact on the "green wave" of this year's
parliamentary elections. This is very welcome, because with every
IPCC report, the future scenarios of global climate change are
darkening.
Worldwide, more than 40% of CO2 emissions are emitted by the
generation of electricity and heat. Immediately afterwards,
mobility comes in second place with just under 25% of emissions. In
addition to CO2 emissions, the total number of non-volatile
particulate matter (soot) is also increasing every year.
Unfortunately, a strong trend from coarse dust (PM10) to ultra-fine
dust (nanometer range) has been observed for quite some time. An
aircraft engine, for example, but also diesel engines, emit
particles in a median size of about 60-110 nm. These nanoparticles
reach the finest ramifications of the human lung almost unfiltered
and from there pass through the blood-air barrier into our
bloodstream. What health effects nanoparticles have is currently
the subject of in-depth studies. The suspicion of a carcinogenic
effect has arisen from numerous long-term studies. It is therefore
agreed that nanoparticle emissions should be minimized as a matter
of principle.
As by-products of fuel combustion, other pollutants are also
produced, such as carbon monoxide (CO), unburnt hydrocarbons (UHC),
nitrogen oxides (NOx) and, in some cases, large quantities of
sulphur dioxide (SO2) in shipping and aviation. It is known that
unburnt hydrocarbons in combination with soot nanoparticles have a
cytotoxic effect on lung tissue. Likewise, CO, NOx and UHC are
considered as source materials for the secondary formation of
greenhouse gases such as ozone. However, SO2 also has a significant
effect on the environment, as it has a highly hygroscopic effect
after an initial oxidation stage and a) thus influences cloud
formation and b) strongly supports the formation of aerosols.
Today, air traffic is responsible for about 6% of the global CO2
equivalent footprint. However, IATA expects passenger numbers to
double by 2035, and with the simultaneous electrification of the
rest of the transport industry, the percentage of emissions from
aviation will increase significantly. It is therefore of utmost
importance to investigate the effect of the future aviation
industry on the climate and the environment in order to contribute
to the reduction of emissions.
In order to investigate the impact of air traffic, the continuous
development of a framework for an atmosphere-biosphere-chemistry
model should be aimed at. This would enable the ZHAW to investigate
the influence of aviation on
(a) local air quality, focusing for example on the local
contribution of air traffic to secondary toxic irritants (e.g.
ozone, peroxyacetyl nitrate, etc.) and
b) to study the climate in more detail, focusing on the calculation
of the production of secondary formed greenhouse gases, cloud and
aerosol formation
c) In addition, this project offers the opportunity for capacity
building, which will enable the participation in future
multinational cooperation in EU research projects.