The strategic gap in air-quality management

Cannibal, G.L; Lemon, Mark

doi:10.1006/jema.2000.0385

Cited by 12 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Barriers to behaviour change exist in the physical and social environment that information alone is unable to overcome. Cycling or taking public transport choices for example may depend on travel distances, accessibility of affordable public transport or cycle paths (Blanken et al 2001), availability of (Cannibal and Lemon 2000;Laferriere and Crighton 2017;Noonan 2014;Tribby et al 2013;Vardoulakis et al 2018), schedule inflexibility (Eghbalnia et al 2013;Henry and Gordon 2003;Johnson 2003;Lissåker et al 2016;Tribby et al 2013), family commitments (Carducci et al 2017), or lack of time to consider and change behaviour (Carducci et al 2017;Radisic and Newbold 2016;Vardoulakis et al 2018). Even the most 'perfectly' worded messages delivered at the right time will not change a person's behaviour if they do not have the physical or social opportunity to engage.…”

Section: Target Barriers In the Social And Physical Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

How do we effectively communicate air pollution to change public attitudes and behaviours? A review

et al. 2021

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Solutions that engage the public are needed to tackle air pollution. Technological approaches are insufficient to bring urban air quality to recommended target levels, and miss out on opportunities to promote health more holistically through behavioural solutions, such as active travel. Behaviour change is not straightforward, however, and is more likely to be achieved when communication campaigns are based on established theory and evidence-based practices. We systematically reviewed the academic literature on air pollution communication campaigns aimed at influencing air pollution-related behaviour. Based on these findings, we developed an evidence-based framework for stimulating behaviour change through engagement. Across the 37 studies selected for analyses, we identified 28 different behaviours assessed using a variety of designs including natural and research-manipulated experiments, cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys and focus groups. While avoidance behaviour (e.g. reducing outdoor activity) followed by contributing behaviours (e.g. reducing idling) were by far the most commonly studied, supporting behaviour (e.g. civil engagement) shows promising results, with the added benefit that supporting local and national policies may eventually lead to the removal of social and physical barriers that prevent wider behavioural changes. Providing a range of actionable information will reduce disengagement due to feelings of powerlessness. Targeted localized information will appear more immediate and engaging, and positive framing will prevent cognitive dissonance whereby people rationalize their behaviour to avoid living with feelings of unease. Communicating the co-benefits of action may persuade individuals with different drivers but as an effective solution, it remains to be explored. Generally, finding ways to connect with people’s emotions, including activating social norms and identities and creating a sense of collective responsibility, provide promising yet under-explored directions. Smartphones provide unique opportunities that enable flexible and targeted engagement, but care must be taken to avoid transferring responsibility for action from national and local authorities onto individuals. Multidisciplinary teams involving artists, members of the public, community and pressure groups, policy makers, researchers, and businesses, are needed to co-create the stories and tools that can lead to effective action to tackle air pollution through behavioural solutions.

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Section: Target Barriers In the Social And Physical Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

How do we effectively communicate air pollution to change public attitudes and behaviours? A review

et al. 2021

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“…Air quality provides an appropriate case to examine the effects of institutional designs on an inter‐jurisdictional policy problem with ambiguous causes, effects and parameters (Cannibal and Lemon ). Under the CAA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets national standards and oversees state efforts, while states develop SIPs to achieve compliance with those standards.…”

Section: Context Of Air Quality Management In the Usmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, air quality management tends to involve monitoring and testing equipment that is not applicable to other public services, which creates high fixed costs and barriers to market entry. Specialized agencies overcome these issues by developing specific capacities for a unique purpose (Cannibal and Lemon ; Brown and Potoski , ; Brown et al ; Hefetz and Warner ).…”

Section: Competing Institutional Designsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Governance, federalism and organizing institutions to manage complex problems

Fowler

2019

Public Administration

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In managing complex policy problems in the federal system, state and local governments are organized into different arrangements for translating policy goals into policy outcomes. Air quality management is used as a test case to understand these variations and their impact on policy outcomes. With data from Clean Air Act implementation plans and a survey of state and local air quality managers, five separate institutional designs are identified: (1) central agencies; (2) top‐down; (3) donor–recipient; (4) regional agencies; and (5) emergent governance. Findings indicate that some arrangements (donor–recipient and emergent governance) result in notably better air quality than others (central agencies, top‐down). Specifically, when designed to allow bargaining between state and local officials, intergovernmental management is still the most effective approach to complex policy problems; but, in absence of this, conventional federalism arrangements are less effective than public agencies self‐organizing around shared policy goals.

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“…In the next 25 years the continuous growth of the vehicles use could cancel the effects of technological improvements; therefore an exclusively technological answer to environmental problems related with transport could not be expected (Cannibal and Lemon, 2000). On the other hand, the new technologies and alternative fuels introduction may have secondary impacts, such as unexpected changes in emissions composition (Richter and Williams, 1998;Fenger, 1999).…”

Section: 13mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it may have secondary impacts such as unexpected changes in emissions composition (Richter and Williams, 1998;Fenger, 1999). Moreover the continuous growth of the vehicles use in the next 25 years would cancel the effects of technological improvements; therefore an exclusively technological answer to environmental problems related to transport could not be expected (Cannibal and Lemon, 2000). The combination of different strategies may be applied in the future.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assesing variations in urban air quality when introducing on-road traffic management strategies by means of high-resolution modelling: application to Barcelona and Madrid urban areas

Gonçalves Ageitos

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La contaminación del aire urbano tiene efectos negativos en la salud humana, los ecosistemas y se asocia con el transporte de contaminantes a larga distancia. La región del sur del Mediterráneo y en concreto la Península Ibérica se ven sometidos frecuentemente a episodios de contaminación fotoquímica. Los niveles de O3 troposférico y, en zonas urbanas, las concentraciones de NO2 y material particulado, superan frecuentemente los niveles establecidos por la legislación europea. El tráfico rodado constituye la mayor fuente de emisiones antropogénicas en el entorno urbano. Actualmente, se están ensayando distintas alternativas para reducir su contribución. El pronóstico cuantitativo de sus efectos es fundamental y proporciona la base para la toma de decisiones. La herramienta más adecuada para llevar a cabo este tipo de evaluaciones es la modelización atmosférica. Esta tesis propone el uso del modelo mesoescalar WRF-ARW/HERMES/CMAQ con alta resolución para pronosticar el efecto de distintas estrategias de reducción de emisiones de tráfico. Se centra en las dos mayores ciudades de España: Barcelona y Madrid, representativas de un entorno costero y un entorno continental. Como caso de estudio se ha seleccionado el 17 y 18 de Junio de 2004, que se corresponde simultáneamente con altos niveles de contaminación y con un patrón de circulación de tráfico habitual (días laborables) Se han seleccionado distintas estrategias realizables a corto plazo, que incluyen: el uso de combustibles alternativos: como gas natural o biodiesel, la introducción de nuevas tecnologías en vehículos, como el uso de vehículos híbridos, o sistemas de planificación urbana, como la introducción de un límite de velocidad. Se han evaluado en términos de cambio de emisiones, consumo de combustible y calidad del aire, no sólo en las zonas urbanas si no a escala regional (en el Noreste y Centro de la Península Ibérica) Los efectos de dichas estrategias dependen de la zona de aplicación. Los factores principales que condicionan dichas diferencias son: (1) la composición específica de la flota, teniendo la de Barcelona mayor número de vehículos pesados diesel y menor número de turismos que la de Madrid, (2) el peso de los distintos sectores de actividad en el balance de emisiones total, que en Barcelona y el noreste peninsular refleja una mayor actividad industrial frente a Madrid y el centro de la Península, (3) las distintas contribuciones de los procesos atmosféricos a la concentración final de contaminantes, la cuantificación de dichos procesos permite definir patrones de circulación característicos de zonas costeras y con una orografía muy compleja en el área de Barcelona, mientras que en Madrid, el comportamiento es más simple, (4) el régimen de sensibilidad química, que es diferente en ambas ciudades, determina la respuesta del O3 troposférico a la disminución de emisiones de NOx. El efecto de las estrategias estudiadas es positivo en términos de concentración de NO2, SO2 y PM10, siendo éstas menores que en el escenario base (sin cambios). Sin embargo, el alcance depende en gran medida de las flotas específicas afectadas y del área urbana que se considere. La introducción de vehículos a gas natural constituye una medida eficaz para reducir los niveles de SO2 y PM10 en las ciudades. El uso de biodiesel B20 disminuye fundamentalmente la concentración de SO2, aunque puede conllevar un ligero incremento de concentración de NO2. El uso de vehículos híbridos reduce fundamentalmente las emisiones de NOx, lo que produce una disminución de los niveles de NO2 urbanos. En Madrid este hecho tiene efectos positivos en la concentración de O3 local, sin embargo en Barcelona la disminución de emisiones de NOx supone un incremento del O3 local en todos los casos. La limitación de velocidad a 80 km h-1 en el área de Barcelona reduce los niveles de NO2 y PM10, sobre todo en las zonas directamente afectadas por la medida. La introducción en el modelo de velocidades de circulación horarias, en lugar de la velocidad constante previamente considerada, ha permitido determinar estos cambios en calidad del aire de manera más precisa, teniendo en cuenta patrones de circulación reales y el efecto de la congestión. En general las estrategias seleccionadas tienen efectos positivos en zonas a sotavento de las ciudades, incluso en el caso del O3. La aplicación de modelización atmosférica con alta resolución es una herramienta útil para determinar cuantitativamente los efectos de estrategias de reducción de emisiones de tráfico. Los inventarios de emisiones detallados y la disponibilidad de factores de emisión para nuevas tecnologías o combustibles alternativos son un factor clave para este tipo de desarrollos. The urban air pollution affects human health, causes damage to ecosystems and transboundary air pollution. The southern Mediterranean region and specifically the Iberian Peninsula are commonly affected by highly polluted episodes. The high O3 levels, and specifically the NO2 and PM concentrations in urban areas, are of special concern, frequently exceeding the European air quality targets. On road traffic is the main source of anthropogenic emissions in the urban environment. Different strategies addressed to reduce this contribution are being currently implemented and tested. The quantitative assessment of their effects in advance is fundamental to help decision makers. Air quality modelling is the most suitable tool to perform this kind of evaluations. This PhD Thesis proposes the use of the mesoscalar WRF-ARW/HERMES/CMAQ modelling system with high resolution to test in advance such strategies for on-road traffic emissions abatement. It focuses on the two most populated urban areas of Spain, Barcelona and Madrid, which constitute a typically coastal and continental environment. The 17-18 June, 2004 is chosen as the study case. It fits in a poor air quality situation in both areas but also in an usual traffic circulation pattern (working days). Several feasible short-term strategies are selected and implemented in the emission model in the most realistic way as possible. They include: use of alternative fuels, such as natural gas or biodiesel, introduction of new technologies, such as hybrid electric vehicles, and urban management schemes, such as speed circulation limit. They are evaluated in terms of emissions, fuel consumption and air quality changes in the urban areas and at a regional scale, over the North-eastern and Central Iberian Peninsula. The effects of these strategies depend on the study areas. The factors that condition these differences are mainly: (1) the specific vehicle fleet composition, having Barcelona a larger proportion of diesel and commercial vehicles and lower quantity of passenger cars than Madrid; (2) the different contributions of the activity sectors to anthropogenic emissions, which in Barcelona and the North-eastern Iberian Peninsula reflect a heavier industrial activity against Madrid and the Central Iberian Peninsula region; (3) the different contributions of atmospheric processes leading to the concentration of pollutants; their quantification leads to the observance of characteristic transport patterns of a coastal area and very complex terrains in Barcelona, and a much simpler behaviour in Madrid, a typically continental area; (4) the chemical sensitivity regime also differs, which particularly affects the O3 response to NOx abatement strategies. The effect of all the tested strategies in urban NO2, SO2 and PM10 concentrations is positive, being lower than in the base case. Nevertheless the extent of this effect largely depends on the affected fleets and on the urban area of application. The introduction of natural gas vehicles proved to be specifically effective in reducing SO2 and PM10 concentrations in Barcelona and Madrid areas. The introduction of biodiesel as a fuel would slightly affect the urban air quality levels, improving mainly the SO2 levels. The use of hybrid cars affects the NOx emissions considerably, reducing NO2 urban levels. Moreover in Madrid it causes a noticeable reduction in the local O3 concentrations. The Barcelona photochemical regime involves local O3 concentrations increase when reducing NOx emissions. The introduction of an 80 km h-1 speed limit in the Barcelona area reduces NO2 and PM10 levels, specifically in the zones affected by the measure. The inclusion in the model of hourly speed data from measurement campaigns instead of the previously constant speed considered, allowed assessing the gains of such a measure in a more realistic manner, taking into account real circulation patterns and the congestion effect. The effects of the selected strategies are always positive in downwind areas, even in terms of O3 concentration. The application of high resolution modelling proved to be a useful tool to quantitatively asses the effect of management strategies. The detailed emissions inventories and the availability of emission factors for new technology vehicles or alternative fuels are key factors to this kind of developments.

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The strategic gap in air-quality management

Cited by 12 publications

References 21 publications

How do we effectively communicate air pollution to change public attitudes and behaviours? A review

How do we effectively communicate air pollution to change public attitudes and behaviours? A review

Governance, federalism and organizing institutions to manage complex problems

Assesing variations in urban air quality when introducing on-road traffic management strategies by means of high-resolution modelling: application to Barcelona and Madrid urban areas

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