Quantifying the Influence of Driver Behavior on Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Air Quality

Status: Active
Project Start Date: No Date

Summary:

This project will study how both greenhouse gas (CO2) and pollutant (NOx and particle) emissions of the Minnesota vehicle fleet compare to modeled values to quantify the increase in emissions attributable to driver behavior. A very large time-series dataset of over 1M vehicles owned by the University of Minnesota will be used to study real-driving cycles on Minnesota roads. Emissions factors from laboratory measurements and from literature will be used to estimate the increase in emissions over those predicted by models like the EPA-MOVES framework. On-road emissions will also be measured using gas and particle instruments mounted in a chase vehicle equipped with radar sensing to correlate emissions to local traffic speed and acceleration, a novel approach differing from conventional fixed site measurements. Measurements will also identify vehicles with higher-than-expected emissions due to poor maintenance and tampering and quantify their impact on overall pollution.