AAAR 36th Annual Conference October 16 - October 20, 2017 Raleigh Convention Center Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
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Modeling the Impact of Cookstove Emissions on Ambient Aerosol in Rural India
BRIGITTE ROONEY, Kirk Smith, John Seinfeld, Ajay Pillarisetti, Rufus Edwards, Lauren Fleming, Sergey Nizkorodov, Tami Bond, Nicholas Lam, Sumit Sharma, Seema Kundu, Shaocai Yu, Pengfei Li, Kelvin Bates, Ran Zhao, California Institute of Technology
Abstract Number: 156 Working Group: Source Apportionment
Abstract In India, particulate matter (PM) pollution is a significant cause of health problems and increased mortality. However, specific source contributions to PM have remained largely understudied, as work that has been done has mostly focused on indoor air quality. Within the residential sector, a majority of Indian households still rely on solid biofuels, mainly wood and dung, for cooking. Combustion of solid fuels is known to produce more aerosol than liquid fuels, and thus cookstove use has been identified as a potential significant source of PM pollution.
To better understand the production of ambient aerosol by the residential sector in rural India, we have undertaken a series of modeling experiments using the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) atmospheric chemistry transport model. This work incorporates updated emissions inventories and time varying boundary conditions, and represents some of the highest resolution (1km and 4km grid cells) modeling of its kind. By varying such parameters as fuel type and emission factors, we are able to determine the fraction of PM attributable to cookstove use. Our expectation is that the results will further incentivize the transition from household use of solid fuels to more modern liquid fuels in order to reduce the health risks associated with aerosol pollution.