Inventory of conventional air pollutants emissions from road transportation for the state of Rio de Janeiro Cristiane Duarte Ribeiro de Souza n , Suellem Deodoro Silva, Marcelino Aure ´ lio Vieira da Silva, Ma ´ rcio de Almeida D’Agosto, Arthur Prado Barboza Programa de Engenharia de Transportes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro–UFRJ, Cidade Universita ´ria, Centro de Tecnologia, Bloco H, sala 111, CEP: 21.941-972, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil HIGHLIGHTS c We estimate road transportation emissions for Rio de Janeiro from 1980 to 2010. c C gasoline was most responsible for CO (74%) and diesel for PM (91%). c Emissions/vehicle for Rio de Janeiro are (12% to 59%) smaller than Brazilian. c 1,760,370 t of emissions was avoided using non-petroleum-based fuels. c Strategies to reduce the emissions of these air pollutants were proposed. article info Article history: Received 15 May 2012 Accepted 6 October 2012 Available online 13 November 2012 Keywords: Air pollutants Vehicle emissions Road transportation abstract Road transportation has contributed to increased emissions of conventional air pollutants and, consequently, to the increase in problems associated with the environment and human health, depending on the type of pollutant and the concentration of it. To support the development of public policies aimed to decrease total tonnes of emissions, we used a bottom-up approach to estimate the amount of air pollutants, such as carbon monoxide (CO), total hydrocarbons (THC), nitrogen oxides (NO x ), particulate matter (PM), and aldehydes (RCHO), that are emitted by road transportation in the state of Rio de Janeiro (RJ) from 1980 to 2010. The results from 2010 show that cars are responsible for 55% of CO emissions, 61% of THC emissions, and 93% of RCHO emissions. Due to the use of hydrated ethanol and compressed natural gas (CNG) instead of petroleum based fuels during the period analyzed, 1,760,370 t of air pollutant emissions were avoided. Compared to Brazil, in 2010, RJ had a quantity of emissions per vehicle from 12% (CO) to 59% (PM) smaller than the national average. As strategies to reduce air pollutant emissions, we consider reducing the intensity of use, with a proportional reduction in emissions, and increased the use of biodiesel. & 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Due to an energy dependency on petroleum products such as gasoline and diesel fuel, road transportation has contributed decisively to the emission of atmospheric pollutants, with con- sequent problems for the environment and human health (Faiz, 1993; Colvile et al., 2001; Saija and Romano, 2002; O ¨ ner and Altun, 2009; Uherek et al., 2010; and Progiou and Ziomas, 2011). According to the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), Ministe ´ rio de Minas e Energia [Ministry of Mines and Energy], 2011, in 2010, the transportation sector consumed 53.1% of petroleum derivatives, of which 90% was used in road trans- portation. By analyzing the Brazilian states, we see that the state of Rio de Janeiro follows the national trend and stands out with the second highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the country (11.3%) (IPEA, 2011). During the next five years (2012 to 2016), it will host international events such as the World Cup in 2014, and the Olympic Games in 2016. Because of Rio de Janeiro’s contribution to the Brazilian economy and its global exposure, it is important to identify the state’s contribution to atmospheric pollutant emissions from road transportation in order to highlight upcoming opportunities to show the rest of the world how a country can successfully make the transition to cleaner transportation. In the last two decades, the automobile industry has invested in technologies to reduce the emissions of air pollutants from Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol Energy Policy 0301-4215/$ - see front matter & 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.10.021 n Corresponding author. Tel.: þ55 21 2562 8139; fax: þ51 21 2562 8131. E-mail address: cristiane@ltc.coppe.ufrj.br (C.D.R. Souza). Energy Policy 53 (2013) 125–135