Estimating Emission Load from Road Transportation within the Bhaktapur Municipality, Nepal

Vehicular emissions have been playing a pivotal role in deteriorating air quality in many urban parts of Nepal causing adverse impacts upon the health of commuters and pedestrians attributed to severe respiratory diseases. Primary data such as the number of vehicles (N) were obtained using two-hour...

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Main Authors: Prasidha R. Neupane, Iswor Bajracharya, Bhai R. Manandhar, Meera Prajapati, Hishila Sujakhu, Pramod Awal
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Limited 2020-01-01
Series:Journal of Environmental and Public Health
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/2828643
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spelling doaj-08b7a25f277c472c9bd08d1894dc6c5d2020-11-25T04:08:43ZengHindawi LimitedJournal of Environmental and Public Health1687-98051687-98132020-01-01202010.1155/2020/28286432828643Estimating Emission Load from Road Transportation within the Bhaktapur Municipality, NepalPrasidha R. Neupane0Iswor Bajracharya1Bhai R. Manandhar2Meera Prajapati3Hishila Sujakhu4Pramod Awal5Khwopa College, Bhaktapur, NepalNepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), Lalitpur, NepalSchEMS School of Environmental Science and Management, Kathmandu, NepalKhwopa College, Bhaktapur, NepalKhwopa College, Bhaktapur, NepalKhwopa College, Bhaktapur, NepalVehicular emissions have been playing a pivotal role in deteriorating air quality in many urban parts of Nepal causing adverse impacts upon the health of commuters and pedestrians attributed to severe respiratory diseases. Primary data such as the number of vehicles (N) were obtained using two-hour peak (8 am to 10 am) and two-hour nonpeak (1 pm to 3 pm) count, after which average annual vehicle kilometer (VKT) and fuel economy (F) required for emission load estimation were obtained from vehicle survey using the simple random sampling method, sampling size taken statistically under 5% margin of error. Secondary data in this study include emission factors and derived equations from a published article. The vehicular emission load of Bhaktapur Municipality were found to be 3,310 tons/year including CO2, CO, NOx, HC, and PM10 of which CO2 accounts for 94.36% of total emissions followed by CO (4.39%), HC (0.72%), NOx (0.35%), and PM10 (0.18%), respectively. Significant positive correlation was found (r = 0.92, p=0.002) between CO2 and PM10 (r = 0.87, p=0.009), between CO2 and NOx (r = 0.90, p=0.004), between CO and HC (r = 0.74, p=0.05), and between NOx and PM10, respectively. The scenario analysis shows that the introduction of electric vehicles at different rates within the municipality can reduce the emissions to a significant amount. Exponential growth in vehicular gaseous pollutants potent to jeopardize the environment and welfare can become inevitable in the future if clean energy technology is not promoted early.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/2828643
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Prasidha R. Neupane
Iswor Bajracharya
Bhai R. Manandhar
Meera Prajapati
Hishila Sujakhu
Pramod Awal
spellingShingle Prasidha R. Neupane
Iswor Bajracharya
Bhai R. Manandhar
Meera Prajapati
Hishila Sujakhu
Pramod Awal
Estimating Emission Load from Road Transportation within the Bhaktapur Municipality, Nepal
Journal of Environmental and Public Health
author_facet Prasidha R. Neupane
Iswor Bajracharya
Bhai R. Manandhar
Meera Prajapati
Hishila Sujakhu
Pramod Awal
author_sort Prasidha R. Neupane
title Estimating Emission Load from Road Transportation within the Bhaktapur Municipality, Nepal
title_short Estimating Emission Load from Road Transportation within the Bhaktapur Municipality, Nepal
title_full Estimating Emission Load from Road Transportation within the Bhaktapur Municipality, Nepal
title_fullStr Estimating Emission Load from Road Transportation within the Bhaktapur Municipality, Nepal
title_full_unstemmed Estimating Emission Load from Road Transportation within the Bhaktapur Municipality, Nepal
title_sort estimating emission load from road transportation within the bhaktapur municipality, nepal
publisher Hindawi Limited
series Journal of Environmental and Public Health
issn 1687-9805
1687-9813
publishDate 2020-01-01
description Vehicular emissions have been playing a pivotal role in deteriorating air quality in many urban parts of Nepal causing adverse impacts upon the health of commuters and pedestrians attributed to severe respiratory diseases. Primary data such as the number of vehicles (N) were obtained using two-hour peak (8 am to 10 am) and two-hour nonpeak (1 pm to 3 pm) count, after which average annual vehicle kilometer (VKT) and fuel economy (F) required for emission load estimation were obtained from vehicle survey using the simple random sampling method, sampling size taken statistically under 5% margin of error. Secondary data in this study include emission factors and derived equations from a published article. The vehicular emission load of Bhaktapur Municipality were found to be 3,310 tons/year including CO2, CO, NOx, HC, and PM10 of which CO2 accounts for 94.36% of total emissions followed by CO (4.39%), HC (0.72%), NOx (0.35%), and PM10 (0.18%), respectively. Significant positive correlation was found (r = 0.92, p=0.002) between CO2 and PM10 (r = 0.87, p=0.009), between CO2 and NOx (r = 0.90, p=0.004), between CO and HC (r = 0.74, p=0.05), and between NOx and PM10, respectively. The scenario analysis shows that the introduction of electric vehicles at different rates within the municipality can reduce the emissions to a significant amount. Exponential growth in vehicular gaseous pollutants potent to jeopardize the environment and welfare can become inevitable in the future if clean energy technology is not promoted early.
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/2828643
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