High-resolution inventory of atmospheric emissions from transport, industrial, energy, mining and residential activities in Chile

[摘要] This study presents the first high-resolution national inventoryof anthropogenic emissions for Chile (Inventario Nacional de Emisiones Antropogénicas, INEMA). Emissions for the vehicular, industrial, energy, mining and residential sectors are estimated for theperiod 2015–2017 and spatially distributed onto a high-resolution grid (approximately 1 km×1  km). The pollutants included are CO 2 , NO x , SO 2 ,CO, VOCs (volatile organic compounds), NH 3 and particulate matter (PM 10 and PM 2.5 ) forall sectors. CH 4 and black carbon are included for transport andresidential sources, while arsenic, benzene, mercury, lead, toluene, andpolychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furan (PCDD/F) are estimated forenergy, mining and industrial sources. New activity data and emissionsfactors are compiled to estimate emissions, which are subsequently spatiallydistributed using census data and Chile's road networkinformation. The estimated annual average total national emissions of PM 10 andPM 2.5 during the study period are 191 and 173 kt a −1 (kilotons per year),respectively. The residential sector is responsible for over 90 % of theseemissions. This sector also emits 81 % and 87 % of total CO and VOC,respectively. On the other hand, the energy and industry sectors contributesignificantly to NH 3 , SO 2 and CO 2 emissions, while the transportsector dominates NO x and CO 2 emissions, and the mining sector dominates SO 2 emissions. In general, emissions of anthropogenic air pollutantsand CO 2 in northern Chile are dominated by mining activities as well asthermoelectric power plants, while in central Chile the dominant sources aretransport and residential emissions. The latter also mostly dominatesemissions in southern Chile, which has a much colder climate. Preliminaryanalysis revealed the dominant role of the emission factors in the finalemission uncertainty. Nevertheless, uncertainty in activity data alsocontributes as suggested by the difference in CO 2 emissions betweenINEMA and EDGAR (Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research). A comparison between these two inventories also revealedconsiderable differences for all pollutants in terms of magnitude andsectoral contribution, especially for the residential sector. EDGAR presentslarger emissions for most of the pollutants except for CH 4 andPM 2.5. The differences between both inventories can partly beexplained by the use of different emission factors, in particular for theresidential sector, where emission factors incorporate information onfirewood and local operation conditions. Although both inventories usesimilar emission factors, differences in CO 2 emissions between bothinventories indicate biases in the quantification of the activity. This inventory (available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4784286 , Alamos et al., 2021) willsupport the design of policies that seek to mitigate climate change andimprove air quality by providing policymakers, stakeholders and scientistswith qualified scientific spatially explicit emission information.

[学科分类] 眼科学