• DOI:10.1021/acs.est.9b04115
• Corpus ID: 209483259

Direct Radiative Effect and Public Health Implications of Aerosol Emissions Associated with Shifting to Gasoline Direct-Injection (GDI) Technologies in Light-duty Vehicles in the United States.

@article{Neyestani2019DirectRE,
  title={Direct Radiative Effect and Public Health Implications of Aerosol Emissions Associated with Shifting to Gasoline Direct-Injection (GDI) Technologies in Light-duty Vehicles in the United States.},
  author={Soroush E. Neyestani and Stacy Walters and Gabriele G. Pfister and Gabriel J. Kooperman and Rawad Saleh},
  journal={Environmental science \& technology},
  year={2019}
}

• Soroush E. Neyestani, S. Walters, +2 authors R. Saleh
• Published 26 December 2019
• Environmental Science
• Environmental science & technology

Due to their enhanced fuel economy, the market share of gasoline direct-injection (GDI) vehicles has increased significantly over the past decade. However, GDI engines emit higher levels of black carbon (BC) aerosols compared to the traditional port-fuel injection (PFI) engines. Here, we performed coupled chemical-transport and radiative-transfer simulations to estimate the aerosol-induced public-health and direct radiative effects of shifting the U.S. fleet from PFI to GDI technology. By comparing simulations with current emission profiles and emission profiles modified to reflect a shift from PFI to GDI, we calculated the change in aerosol (mostly BC) concentrations associated with the fleet change. Standard concentration-response calculations indicated that the total annual deaths in the U.S. attributed to particulate gasoline-vehicle emissions would increase from 855 to 1599 due to shifting from PFI to GDI. Furthermore, the increase in BC associated with the shift would lead to an annual-average positive radiative effect over the U.S. of approximately +0.075 W/m2, with values as large as +0.45 W/m2 over urban regions. On the other hand, the reduction in CO2 emissions associated with the enhanced fuel economy of GDI vehicles would yield a globally uniform negative radiative effect, estimated to be -0.013 W/m2 over a 20-year time horizon. Therefore, the climate burden of the increase in BC emissions dominates over the U.S., especially over source regions.