Grantee Research Project Results
Electrification, Emissions, Exposure, and Equity: Community-Driven Scenarios for Freight Vehicle Electrification
EPA Grant Number: R840566Title: Electrification, Emissions, Exposure, and Equity: Community-Driven Scenarios for Freight Vehicle Electrification
Investigators: Cidell, Julie , Cordova, Jose Acosta , Erdal, Serap , Lin, Jane
Institution: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign , Little Village Environmental Justice Organization , University of Illinois at Chicago
EPA Project Officer: Chung, Serena
Project Period: July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2026
Project Amount: $991,796
RFA: Drivers and Environmental Impacts of Energy Transitions in Underserved Communities. (2022) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Air Quality and Air Toxics , Environmental Justice , Social Science , Lifecycle assessment (LCA)
Objective:
Understanding how air quality, the environment, and public health in underserved communities might be improved through freight vehicle electrification while minimizing potential negative impacts; identifying approaches or strategies to ensure that freight vehicle electrification provides air quality benefits and reduces environmental risks while meeting the needs of underserved communities; and understanding how socioeconomic, organizational, and institutional factors affect decisions at the organizational, governmental, and community levels regarding the adoption and diffusion of electric freight vehicles in underserved communities.
Approach:
Analyzing the sociotechnical regime in which a transition to electrified freight vehicles will occur; evaluating potential scenarios for such a transition in terms of their reduction in air emissions; and determining the health benefits of such a transition for a community that is heavily impacted by freight vehicle traffic.
Expected Results:
Community Air Monitoring and Exposure Assessment Plan (AMEAP), community air monitoring guidance manuals for low cost sensors, training manuals and videos; a data repository that contains a variety of environmental and traffic data collected by the project, a holistic environmental impact analysis tool kit that contains emission modeling, air dispersion modeling, LCA, and exposure assessment; and an online mapping tool to allow community stakeholders to query the 4Es in real-time and provide continuous monitoring of the environmental impacts beyond the project timeline.
Supplemental Keywords:
electric vehicles, freight transportation, air quality, diesel emissions, environmental justice, environmental policy, machine learning, interactive decision-making tools, community engagementThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.