We present an examination of the potential emissions and air quality benefits of shifting freight from truck to rail in the upper Midwestern United States. Using a novel, freight-specific emissions inventory (the Wisconsin Inventory of Freight Emissions, WIFE) and a three-dimensional Eulerian photochemical transport model (the Community Multiscale Air Quality Model, CMAQ), we quantify how specific freight mode choices impact ambient air pollution concentrations. Using WIFE, we developed two modal shift scenarios: one focusing on intraregional freight movements within the Midwest and a second on through-freight movements through the region. Freight truck and rail emissions inventories for each scenario were gridded to a 12 km × 12 km horizontal resolution as input to CMAQ, along with emissions from all other major sectors, and three-dimensional time-varying meteorology from the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF). The through-freight scenario reduced monthly mean (January and July) localized concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) by 28% (-2.33 ppbV) in highway grid cells, and reduced elemental carbon (EC) by 16% (-0.05 μg/m(3)) in highway grid cells. There were corresponding localized increases in railway grid cells of 25% (+0.83 ppbV) for NO2, and 22% (+0.05 μg/m(3)) for EC. The through-freight scenario reduced CO2 emissions 31% compared to baseline trucking. The through-freight scenario yields a July mean change in ground-level ambient PM2.5 and O3 over the central and eastern part of the domain (up to -3%).

With a growing focus on energy and environment, there is need to include emission constraints in electricity markets. Current methods to reduce emissions include the Acid Rain Program, NOx Trading Programs and Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR). Even with these cap-and-trade programs in effect, there are substantial Nonattainment Areas in the USA with respect to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. In this paper, we present a novel approach to reduce emissions by coupling the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) atmospheric model CMAQ, and an electricity market model. We include weather, chemistry, time and locational aspects of NOx and SOx emissions to reduce specific pollutants which cap-andtrade programs do not implement. We introduce a linear emission constraint within our electricity model which implicitly involves the atmospheric effects. We present an example to successfully reduce a sulfate particulate matter (ASO4) concentration at a specific location and at a specific time period.

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