The Cost Of Air Pollution Health Impacts Of Road Transport

This study reports on the economic cost of the health impacts of air pollution from road transport – on a global scale but with special reference to China, India and the OECD countries.

Evidence has come to light regarding the impact of benzene emissions from road transport, the incidence of asthmatic attacks and the possible toll of particulate matter from diesel engines on human health. This book examines the issues and argues that, without a fundamental change in policy, it is inevitable that the transport sector will continue to impose increasing costs on the natural environment, human health and the economy. It also quantifies the external costs of road transport and suggests new measures, such as road pricing and financial incentives, to pave the way to a sustainable transport system.

Transport is very important for the economy and our welfare. However, transport also causes a lot of problems, including air pollution. Such problems should be taken into account, when making decisions. A prerequisite for doing so is, that the impacts are known, quantitatively measured and allocated to the different activities in transport. Furthermore, they should be transformed into monetary units to be used as a basis for cost-benefit analyses or as an aid for setting taxes and charges, that reflect the external costs. This book describes a methodology for calculating impacts of transport activities and external costs caused by air pollution and presents numerous applications of this methodology for different transport technologies, locations and policy case studies. The approach has been developed and results have been calculated within the research project 'ExternE Core/Transport', financed to a large extent by the European Commission, Directorate General Research. We would like to thank especially Pierre Vallette and Pekka Jarviletho from the EC for their advice and support. A considerable number of experts with expertise in the different disciplines of this highly interdisciplinary work contributed to this book. The editors would like to thank the authors (see list on p. XV) for their contributions; it is especially remarkable, that the authors helped to make this book an integrated whole instead of a number of independent contributions.

This report provides a comprehensive assessment of the economic consequences of outdoor air pollution in the coming decades, focusing on the impacts on mortality, morbidity, and changes in crop yields as caused by high concentrations of pollutants.

This report is an introductory source document to assist in policy development, public information and technical discussion concerning the health impacts of vehicle-related air pollution, with special reference to Melbourne and the role of local groups and communities. The review is neither critical nor analytical. Information is recorded as offered by the various sources, with contradictions noted where they are apparent. The material is organised in four sections: vehicles and air quality; health impacts of pollutants; health costs of motor vehicle emissions and countermeasures to control mobile-source emissions. Several transport-related measures and programs that local communities and groups could consider initiating or supporting to improve air quality are noted.

Available online: https://pub.norden.org/temanord2021-521/ A study performed by TØI, DTU and VTI and funded by the Nordic Council, compares the handling of climate and environmental effects in CBA in transport projects in the Nordic countries. The main emphasis has been the comparison of recommended methods and assessments between the countries for noise, air pollution and climate effects. Important findings:- For noise Finland take nuisance in consideration while the other countries also include health effects.- For PM, the values are related to PM2.5 in Denmark and Finland, to PM10 in Norway and to both PM2.5 and PM10 in Sweden.- For NOX, the values in Finland and Sweden are almost negligible compared to the values used in Denmark and Norway.- The most extreme difference between values in the Nordic countries relate to global warming emissions where the values of emissions in 2020 vary from €24/ton CO2 in Denmark (with an alternative calculation of €197/ton) to €665/ton in Sweden.