Particle emission prevention and impact: from real-world emissions of traffic to secondary PM of urban air

Mobility is essential to our modern world to move people and goods between places and countries to serve needs relating to food, energy and all human necessities.

However, mobility and its benefits do not come without harm: all transport sectors are substantial emitters of greenhouse gases and air pollutants.

Furthermore, transport sectors, particularly aviation and maritime, are difficult to decarbonise by electrification, hence the combustion engines and turbines will remain in use for the foreseeable future.

Energy efficiency increases and carbon-neutral fuels will reduce the climate impact of these technologies, but solutions are needed also to remove exhaust emissions completely, including those formed through secondary reactions in the atmosphere.

Particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions are especially harmful, causing premature deaths and significant harm to humans and all global ecosystems.

The PAREMPI project will reveal the contribution of the secondary aerosols (SecA) from transport sources to ambient PM2.5 levels via increased understanding of precursors, their atmospheric reactions and by a novel digital software (ePMI module) to be developed in the PAREMPI project. In combination with toxicity and health impact assessments, quantification of transport externalities will be improved.

The consortium members are top-scientists in the research of the precursor emissions, SecA formation, and health impact of aerosols, many of them have focused in these topics all their careers and earlier collaboration assure seamless work. Consortium members have experts also on road, non-road, marine and aviation sectors, and on the emissions standards.

Thus, the consortium is capable of formulating sound policy recommendations based on scientific evidence obtained.

The PAREMPI results, efficiently disseminated, communicated and exploited, have the potential to significantly contribute to the goal of making transportation systems in Europe clean, secure, and efficient.