Grantee Research Project Results
Improving Air Quality, Health and the Environment Through Household Energy Interventions in the Tibetan Plateau
EPA Grant Number: R835422Title: Improving Air Quality, Health and the Environment Through Household Energy Interventions in the Tibetan Plateau
Investigators: Baumgartner, Jill , Schauer, James J. , Wiedinmyer, Christine , Paradis, Gilles , Ezzati, Majid , Yang, Xudong
Institution: University of Minnesota , University of Wisconsin - Madison , Tsinghua University , McGill University , National Center for Atmospheric Research
Current Institution: University of Minnesota , McGill University , National Center for Atmospheric Research , Tsinghua University , University of Wisconsin - Madison
EPA Project Officer: Keating, Terry
Project Period: September 1, 2013 through August 31, 2016 (Extended to August 31, 2018)
Project Amount: $1,489,361
RFA: Measurements and Modeling for Quantifying Air Quality and Climatic Impacts of Residential Biomass or Coal Combustion for Cooking, Heating, and Lighting (2012) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Air Quality and Air Toxics , Climate Change , Tribal Environmental Health Research , Air
Objective:
The overall objective of this project is to develop tools to quantify the benefits of interventions for household use of solid fuels on air quality, climate change mitigation and human health and to demonstrate these tools to a novel energy innovation program in the Tibetan Plateau. This goal will be achieved by integrating emissions and exposure measurements with a Chinese government sponsored solid fuel intervention program that addresses cookstoves, heating stoves, and residential fuel, and applying these measurements to regional climate models and a health intervention study to quantify health and climate mitigation benefits of the intervention. The study will demonstrate a framework to quantify the benefits of real world interventions and policies aimed at reducing household solid fuel emissions.
Approach:
The project will leverage an existing intervention program led by Tsinghua University to replace traditional fuels and stoves in over 200 rural homes in the Tibetan Plateau. The project will integrate expertise of the project team in household stove and fuel intervention programs (Yang), source testing and emissions characterization (Schauer), exposure assessment and health studies (Baumgartner), and regional emissions, chemistry and climate modeling (Wiedinmyer) to quantify the reduction in emissions and exposures and cardiovascular impacts of the intervention, and to estimate the impact of large scale interventions on regional climate. The study results and their interpretation will be disseminated to policy makers and other relevant environmental and public health groups through links with our Chinese collaborators.
Expected Results:
Our proposed project will provide critical information on assessment tools and the application of these tools to the air quality, climate and health benefits that can be achieved through available, high-quality household energy interventions under real-world conditions. It will also provide new insights into the mechanistic drivers of the relationship between pollution and cardiovascular risk. These results as well as the measurements and methods will be innovative and directly inform the planning and evaluation of future energy intervention programs in China and other countries.
Publications and Presentations:
Publications have been submitted on this project: View all 42 publications for this projectJournal Articles:
Journal Articles have been submitted on this project: View all 18 journal articles for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
air quality, biomass, black carbon, community-based, China, energy use, environmental chemistry, exposure, household air pollution, human health, interventions, particulates, regional climateProgress and Final Reports:
The 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.