Grantee Research Project Results
2024 Progress Report: 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 , Erdal, Serap , Lin, Jane , Cordova, Jose Acosta
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 May 12, 2025
Project Period Covered by this Report: July 1, 2023 through June 30,2024
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 , Endocrine Disruptors , Environmental Engineering , Environmental Justice , Lifecycle assessment (LCA) , Social Science , Watersheds
Objective:
This project seeks to understand how air quality, the environment, and public health in underserved communities might be improved through freight vehicle electrification while minimizing potential negative impacts; identify 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 understand how socioeconomic, organizational, and institutional factors affect decisions regarding the adoption and diffusion of electric freight vehicles in these communities. The project aims to apply theoretical frameworks to an environmental justice community in Chicago, Little Village, in partnership with the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO), to assess environmental and health risks and benefits of different electrical scenarios to create a blueprint for similar studies in other EJ communities across the nation.
Progress Summary:
Cidell’s team at Iniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign(UIUC) produced the following outputs: 1) Identification of key organizations in the Chicago metropolitan area to be interviewed regarding freight vehicle electrification; 2) Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval from UIUC; 3) Review of literature on the multi-level perspective that forms the theoretical framework of the social science portion of the project; and 4) Surveys with 7 truckers.
Lin’s team produced the following outputs:
Publications/Presentations:
Lin, J., Cheng, Y-L*, Cheng, X. *, Shen, H. *, Pawar, A. *, and Koziel, K. * (2024) Development of Commercial Vehicle Emission Inventory and Analysis, prepared for Illinois Department of Transportation, Illinois Center for Transportation, Report No.FHWA-ICT-24-002.
Cheng, X.*, Lin, J. (2024) Is Electric Truck a Viable Alternative to Diesel Truck in Long-haul Operation? Transportation Research Part D: Transportation and the Environment Vol.129, April 2024, 104119
Cheng, X.*, Zeng, X.*, Shafiee, A.*, Rastegar Moghaddam, H. *, Xie, C., and Lin, J. (2025) Combined Large-Scale Charging Station Location and Long-Haul Electric Truck Routing Problem Incorporating the Effects of Temperature Variation, submitted to the 104th Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, Washington D.C., January 5-9, 2025
Rastegar Moghaddam, H. *, Shafiee, A. *, Cheng, X. *, and Lin, J.+ (2025) Mixed Fleet Of Diesel and Electric Trucks in a Mixed Pickup and Delivery Problem With Temperature Effect on Electricity Consumption and Charging, submitted to the 104th Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, Washington D.C., January 5-9, 2025.
Erdal’s team produced the following outputs: 1) “Air Monitoring and Exposure Assessment Plan (AMEAP)” quantitative data components to facilitate the establishment of air monitoring network in a manner that takes the quantitative data for Little Village from publicly available sources. For this, we compiled all available data from the EPA resources (National Emissions Inventory (NEI), National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA), Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), EJSCEEN, Chicago Department of Public Health Environmental Justice Score data that mines 23 exposure, environmental, sensitive population, and socioeconomic variables); 2) BenMAP model use, operation, strengths, weaknesses and a comprehensive literature review that informs the research team about the BenMAP model for health benefit analysis.
Future Activities:
Task 1(a): Cidell’s team will conduct interviews with Chicago-area actors involved in the governance of freight vehicle electrification.
Task 1(b): Cidell’s team will continue to conduct surveys with truckers in the Chicago metropolitan area and pass this information to Lin for use in the modeling process.
Task 1(c): Cidell’s team will work with LVEJO to determine the potential impacts of possible charging sites for electric freight vehicles in the Little Village neighborhood and pass this information to Lin for use in the modeling process.
Task 2(a): Lin’s and Erdal’s teams will work with LVEJO to collect real-time air quality data and collect personal attribute data in the community. Lin and Erdal will also submit and obtain IRB approval once the “Air Monitoring and Exposure Assessment Plan (AMEAP)” is finalized in collaboration with LVEJO.
Task 2(b): Lin’s team will fine-tune the local truck emissions in Little Village using the local truck traffic data and consideration of possible charging locations.
Task 2(c): Lin’s team will set up a working version of the dispersion model for Little Village. The model will be calibrated and validated by the air quality sensor data collected in Task 2(a).
Task 2(d): Erdal’s and Lin’s teams will plan to establish the baseline health and economic impact assessment in the BenMAP model in year 2.
Task 2(e): All three PIs will work with LVEJO to select potential charging locations in Little Village and conduct e-truck conversion feasibility analysis.
Journal Articles on this Report : 1 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
| Other project views: | All 2 publications | 2 publications in selected types | All 1 journal articles |
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Cheng X, Lin J. Is electric truck a viable alternative to diesel truck in long-haul operation? Transportation Research Part D:Transport and Environment. 2024;129:104119. |
R840566 (2024) |
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Supplemental Keywords:
electrification, environmental justice, health, BenMAP, policyRelevant Websites:
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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.