Page - 9 - in options, Volume winter 2017/2018

T he newspaper was reporting on a study by IIASA and India’s National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), which found that Delhi’s incessant traffic is, contrary to popular belief, not the chief cause of its fine particulate pollution. In fact, most of it wafts in from neighbouring states. The discovery has led the pollution control boards of Delhi and surrounding states to meet, realising that they can’t solve their pollution problems alone. Scientists from NEERI used their abundant air pollution data and an atmospheric dispersion model for Delhi. Gregor Kiesewetter, of IIASA, and colleagues, married this to their regional model, GAINS (Greenhouse Gas – Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies) in work directed by Markus Amann, Air Quality and Greenhouse Gases Program director. It turns out that when one of Delhi’s 18 million citizens inhales a lungful of air, over a third of the particulates come from power plants, industry, and agriculture; a fifth come from cookstoves; 17% from transport emissions; 12% from the burning of agricultural and municipal waste—and nearly a tenth from natural sources such as soil and sea salt. “It was certainly a result that our partners and policymakers were not necessarily expecting,” says Kiesewetter. Current air quality legislation will barely manage to keep this pollution to today’s levels because of rising population and economic growth. But the scientists also modelled various interventions. While high-tech controls on the industrial sources are “clearly the first thing to do,” says Kiesewetter, low-tech interventions could make a “massive” difference. These include paving the roads, since half of the vehicle pollution comes from resuspended road dust, tyre, and brake wear; systematic rubbish collection to forestall the burning of waste; and cleaner cooking methods for the poor. If these and other interventions were implemented in Delhi and surrounding states, fine particulate levels could be halved, says Kiesewetter. AI Further info Amann M, Purohit P, Bhanarkar AD, Bertok I, et al. (2017). Managing future air quality in megacities: A case study for Delhi. Atmospheric Environment 161: 99-111. [pure.iiasa.ac.at/14552] Gregor Kiesewetter kiesewet@iiasa.ac.at Markus Amann amann@iiasa.ac.at science into policyiiasa research www.iiasa.ac.at 9 winter 2017/18 ◼ options IIASA informs UN aging projections The UN has used the new measures of aging developed at IIASA in its updated aging projections published this fall. Traditional population research assumes that people hit “old age” after an arbitrary cut-off of 60-65 years old, but older people today are fitter and healthier than ever before, and living longer. The IIASA measures reflect that, as they are based on people’s characteristics and changing life expectancies, rather than chronological age. Use of the IIASA metrics led to more optimistic aging projections showing, for example, that the proportion of older people who are dependent on others would increase more slowly, or even decrease, compared to projections that rely on traditional chronological age. www.iiasa.ac.at/news/UN-aging-17 Given the green light China’s Green Lights Program, designed to promote energy efficiency in lighting, has been a success, IIASA researchers Fei Guo and Shonali Pachauri found. Initiated in 1996, the program sought to reduce electricity consumption and pollutants, slow the need for new power generation capacity, and provide efficient lighting. The paper, which was featured as a highlight in the journal Nature Energy, found that the program led to savings of 3% of annual household electricity consumption and consumer cost savings of 70%. Average annual production of compact fluorescent lamps grew by 28.4% from 1996-2016, with over a million jobs created by 2015. The long-term commitment of the government to the program played a big role in its success, the research concluded. pure.iiasa.ac.at/14771 IIASA at the UN The theme for this year’s UN high-level political forum on sustainable development was “Eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world.” IIASA researchers attended the event to showcase the institute’s work on implementation and interactions between the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as developing policies for advancing science, technology, and innovation. www.iiasa.ac.at/events/UNSD-17 “Neighbouring states responsible for 60% of Delhi pollution”, said a recent headline in the Indian Express, adding to the megacity’s debate about its dirty air. Solving Delhi’s pollution troubles