AQMRC participate in Air Pollution 2016 in Crete

Over the 20^th to the 22^nd of June Jim, Tim and Ben participated in the 24th International Conference on Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Air Pollution in Crete. Jim co-chaired the conference with Carlos Brebbia of the Wessex Institute of Technology, gave a keynote speech on the ‘Progress with air quality management in the 60 years since the UK Clean Air Act, 1956’, and chaired two sessions, the first of which was on the health effects of air pollution and the second on the monitoring and measurement of air pollution. Tim gave two talks at the conference, the first was on ‘An environmental justice analysis of exposure to traffic-related pollutants in England and Wales’ and the second on ‘A social and spatial analysis of emissions from private vehicle use in Great Britain’. Ben presented a paper on ‘A critical review of the robustness of the UK government's air quality plan and expected compliance dates’ and chaired a session on air pollution modelling.

All papers presented at the conference will be available through open access arrangements here: http://www.witpress.com/elibrary 

Several new acquaintances were made and the team looks forward to participating next year when the conference will be held in Cadiz, Spain. Details for this conference can be found here: http://www.wessex.ac.uk/conferences/2017/air-pollution-2017 

New AQMRC paper on energy justice

Jo and Tim have just had a paper on mapping household energy consumption published in Energy Research and Social Science.  The paper is another output from the MOT (Motoring and vehicle Ownership Trends in the UK) project www.MOTproject.net.

 

The paper takes new datasets from the Department for Transport and Department of Energy and Climate Change and uses it to map and analyse patterns of energy use from domestic gas and electricity and from private vehicle use.

Then, based on identified inequalities in energy consumption and spatial structural determinants, it poses the question “Can we identify the difference between ‘energy decadence’ and ‘high energy need’?”

 

Highlights

• Analysis of new UK datasets based on over 70 million domestic energy meters and vehicle odometers.

• New spatial analyses of household direct energy consumption, through gas, electricity and private car use.

• Investigation of high energy consuming areas in terms of ‘choice’ or ‘need’.

• Assessment of greater capabilities of high energy consumers to reduce energy consumption.

• Recommendations for policy to target high energy consumers on the basis of principles of equity and justice.

 

The paper is open access.

 

Chatterton, T., Anable, J., Barnes, J. and Yeboah, G. (2016) Mapping household direct energy consumption in the United Kingdom to provide a new perspective on energy justice. Energy Research & Social Science. ISSN 22146296 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2016.04.013

 

Abstract:

 

Targets for reductions in carbon emissions and energy use are often framed solely in terms of percentage reductions. However, the amount of energy used by households varies greatly, with some using considerably more than others and, therefore, potentially being able to make a bigger contribution towards overall reductions. Using two recently released UK datasets based on combined readings from over 70 million domestic energy meters and vehicle odometers, we present exploratory analyses of patterns of direct household energy usage. Whilst much energy justice work has previously focussed on energy vulnerability, mainly in low consumers, our findings suggest that a minority of areas appear to be placing much greater strain on energy networks and environmental systems than they need. Households in these areas are not only the most likely to be able to afford energy efficiency measures to reduce their impacts, but are also found to have other capabilities that would allow them to take action to reduce consumption (such as higher levels of income, education and particular configurations of housing type and tenure). We argue that these areas should therefore be a higher priority in the targeting of policy interventions.

 

 

UWE Bristol successful in £5.2 million (€6.7m) EU project tackling air pollution

Thousands of people across Europe will be invited to share their views on how to reduce air pollution and improve public health in six cities as part of a multi-million pound project featuring the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol).

In an innovative approach to addressing air quality, residents will use a specially-created game on their smartphones, tablets and laptops to suggest how their home cities should develop in future.

Responses gathered from players will form a 'people's vision' spelling out to civic leaders exactly how the cities should be shaped over the next 35 years – and what measures need to be taken to improve air quality, reduce CO2e emissions and diminish negative health effects.

Named CLAiR-City, the four-year project which kicked-off in Bristol last month, features 16 partners including the pilot cities of Bristol; Amsterdam; Aveiro, in Portugal; Ljubljana, in SIovenia; Sosnowiec, in Poland; and the Liguria region in Italy.

UWE Bristol's Dr Enda Hayes, Technical Director of CLAiR-City, said a bold approach was being taken because all other efforts were struggling to combat air pollution, a problem responsible for the deaths of more than 400,000 people in Europe every year.

Up to a third of Europeans living in cities are exposed to pollutant levels exceeding EU air quality standards, with approximately 90 per cent affected according to the World Health Organization's more stringent guidelines.

Dr Hayes, an Associate Professor and Director of the Air Quality Management Resource Centre (AQMRC) at UWE Bristol, said: "Air quality management is failing in many cities around the world. This is an exciting and innovative project to try to address one of the key issues – how do you empower citizens to define their own solution?

"Using game technology as an engagement platform means everyone's voice and opinion is valued. If you run traditional workshops or surveys it can be that the quiet voices get lost and the reach can be limited. With our game, everyone's voice is equal and we can all be experts on our own city."

Funded by the European Commission Horizon 2020 programme, the project is aimed at creating a major shift in public understanding towards the causes of poor air quality – encouraging a focus on people's everyday practices like commuting and shopping rather than technology such as cars, buses and HGVs.

Dr Hayes said: "To date, air quality policy has primarily been focussed on technology and technological solutions. Instead of apportioning the pollution to the technology (e.g. cars), this project will apportion it to people and our behaviour (e.g. why do we use our cars).

"By apportioning pollution to behaviour and practises, we want to give people a better understanding of how their behaviour generates pollution. If they change their behaviour it can have a substantial impact on a city. The innovation lies in how we are bringing social science into our data analysis and then engaging city citizens with that data to help them visualise and define their city's future."

The game, being developed by UWE's in-house gaming studio PlayWest, will give the player the chance to outline how they would like to live, behave and interact in their city up to 2050. Responses from players will lead to the creation of a 'citizen-led future city scenario' which will be delivered to city leaders as a 'policy package' document setting out what changes they would eventually like to see introduced.

Dr Hayes said: "We wanted to empower citizens to define their futures and use that to influence policy. We are using game technology to engage a wider population and to envision what a city looks like in 2050 so the project is particularly relevant to younger people.

"Also involved in the project is UWE Bristol's Science Communication Unit, whose internationally-recognised expertise in public engagement and dissemination will help enhance the reach of the study."

The project will also involve detailed data and policy analysis, with a study of existing evidence on themes such as energy and transport at a local, national and European level. It will explore six cities in detail but will also generate data which could be utilised by all EU cities with a population of more than 50,000.

The 16 partners include universities, cities, small and medium sized enterprises and research organisations.

Ten members of staff from UWE Bristol – which has received over £980,000 (€1.25m) of the total funding - will be involved including members of the Air Quality Resource Management Resource Centre, Science Communication Unit and PlayWest.

Jeroen van der Laan, of economic policy consultancy Trinomics, the project coordinator, said: "We are very excited to start implementing our CLAiR-City project over the next four years with the excellent group of Europe's leading research organisations and frontrunner cities we have in our consortium. CLAiR-City will develop innovative approaches and means of communication to inform European citizens about the air quality in their cities and engage them in forming ideas and pathways on how their living environment should look like in 2050."

UWE's Assistant Vice Chancellor for Environment & Sustainability, Professor Jim Longhurst, said: "CLAiR-City is a great example of how different expertise can be blended together across the university, and indeed Europe, to build imaginative and effective responses to the profound environmental and public health challenges we face."

Citizen Led Air pollution Reduction in Cities (CLAiR-City) Consortium Members:

1. Trinomics B.V. (Project Coordinator - Netherlands)

2. University of the West of England, Bristol (Technical Lead - UK)

3. Statistics Netherlands (Netherlands)

4. Technical University of Denmark (Denmark)

5. Norwegian Institute for Air Research (Norway)

6. PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (Netherlands)

7. REC Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe (Hungary)

8. Techne Consulting (Italy)

9. Transport & Mobility Leuven (Belgium)

10. University of Aveiro (Portugal)

11. Municipality of Amsterdam (Netherlands)

12. Bristol City Council (UK)

13. Intermunicipal Community of Aveiro Region (Portugal)

14. Liguria Region (Italy)

15. Municipality of Ljubljana (Slovenia)

16. Sosnowiec City Council (Poland)

Dr Ben Williams awarded Researcher of the Year - full-house for AQMRC

 

Dr Ben Williams has just been awarded the Department of Geography and Environmental Management Researcher of the Year, following in the footsteps of his AQMRC colleagues, Dr Enda Hayes, Dr Jo Barnes and D Tim Chatterton, who have in turn each received the accolade over the last three years.

Ben joined the Air Quality Management Resource Centre as a Research Associate in October 2014 and seamlessly embedded himself into the team while quickly exploring and building connections across the Department and Faculty. Ben has proven himself to be an able, diligent, enthusiastic and reliable team member and has been instrumental in helping the group grow and work towards the UWE Strategy 2020 priorities. Ben has taken a lead role in winning and delivering two major Research Council funded projects (‘EndotoxII’ funded by NERC and ‘Upstream’ funded by the Wellcome Trust) collectively valued at over £1.8m. Additionally, Ben has led a project to support Gatwick Airport in understanding the implications of the UK’s Air Quality Plans and is now frequently invited by Gatwick to be their representative at national events. Ben has taken a keen interest in knowledge exchange and public engagement activities such as running a well-attended air quality event during the 2015 Bristol Bright Night initiative and is now co-organising the ‘Routes to Clean Air 2’ conference with the Institute of Air Quality Management. He is building his publications profile while also developing his national and international standing through attendance and presentations at conferences. In addition to his research activities, Ben has proactively sought out UG and MSc projects to supervise, while also delivering teaching and CPD provision linked to his and AQMRC’s research.

Congratulations Ben, on this well-deserved award!

 

 

 

  
   

Tim giving talk at Centre on Innovation and Energy Demand

On Tuesday 3rd May, Tim will be giving a presentation to the Centre on Innovation and Energy Demand at Sussex University.

The talk, titled 'Energy Consumption from Private Motor Vehicles - Exploring a rich new dataset' will present an overview of the EPSRC funded Motoring and vehicle Ownership and Trends (MOT) project.

http://cied.ac.uk/engagement/newsandevents/events?id=35193

Emissions in the news - when will the government wake up?

In a week when we have seen evidence of further emissions cheating in Japan
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36089558) while VW agrees compensation deals for its use of defeat devices in the US (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36103903), and DfT finally provides evidence that real-world emissions across all motor manufacturers are on average six times higher that the type approval tests (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vehicle-emissions-testing-programme-conclusions), how then can the PM continue to defend the motor industry (http://www.airqualitynews.com/2016/04/21/prime-minister-defends-car-industry-over-diesel-emissions/) that has proven itself time and again to not have public health interests at heart. When will the government wake up to the incontrovertible proof that our motor industry is killing us and that no amount of economic growth can justify that!
 

Expert response to the Department for Transport report on the real-world emissions from diesel vehicles

In response to the Department for Transport report out yesterday on the real-world emissions from diesel vehicles, Dr Jo Barnes made the following statement: “It is fantastic news that the UK government has now finally officially, and independently, acknowledged the extent of the discrepancy between test cycle and real world emissions across all motor manufacturers. At last air quality modellers can now stop labouring under the false pretence that published emission factors are “realistic” and, through the implementation of on-road real-world emission testing, motor manufacturers will now have to ensure new vehicles are cleaner. There is still a long way to go however to ensure public health is protected from vehicle emissions. The agreed new emissions tests will still allow emissions to exceed the standards by twice as much and, compared to US standards, it could be argued even the standards themselves are too lenient. It is also unclear what the government plans to do about the dirty vehicles that are already on our roads. Will a new scrappage scheme be in order? This will also have implications for the new Air Quality Plan that Defra has just submitted to the European Commission. Effectively this announcement undermines the emissions forecasts that underpinned Defra’s assumption that health-based air quality limit values would be achieved by 2020 in most areas and by 2025 in London and would push this date on by years.” In addition, the government should seriously consider introducing NOx and PM testing into MOT tests and funding roadside testing in order to check the on-going effectiveness of emissions management systems in real-world driving conditions over time.

UWE air quality training on new LAQM Guidance - book now!

The AQMRC at UWE, Bristol have launched a new suite of IES and IAQM-accredited air quality training sessions to help policy makers and practitioners to understand their role and requirements in the latest Local Air Quality Management Policy and Technical Guidance. Technical Guidance TG(16) for the UK (except London) and Policy Guidance PG(16) for the Devolved Administrations was released by Defra last Friday. The new guidance will have implications for anyone working in air quality, transport, development control, public health and sustainability, both in the public and private sector.

In the week commencing 23rd May 2016, the AQMRC will be running updated sessions on:

•        Air Quality Management
•        Air Quality Monitoring
•        Air Quality Dispersion Modelling
•        Air Quality and Development Control
•        Air Quality Action Planning

Each session is delivered in one day and delegates can book on to as many or few days as they like, although there are discounts available for bookings of all five sessions. Each day costs £200, which includes course materials, car parking, lunch and refreshments. Full details of each of the sessions, including online booking forms are available by clicking on the links above. Places are limited, so please book now to avoid disappointment. If you have any queries, please contact jo.barnes@uwe.ac.uk.

Tim at American Association of Geographers Conference

Tim will be attending the American Association of Geographers annual conference in Chicago between the 28^th March and 2^nd April. http://www.aag.org/cs/annualmeeting

He is presenting a paper on “Energy Justice” based on the work of the MOT project (www.MOTproject.net) as well as organising and chairing a panel session for the project on “Vehicle Odometers and Other Novel Methods of Examining Car Ownership and Usage” with a range of international coleages, including Dr Deborah Salon from University of Arizona State University, Professor Joseph Ferreira from MIT, and MOT PI Prof. Jillian Anable from Leeds University.

Tim invited participant at the DEMAND conference

Tim is an invited panel member on the “Energy and Money” workshop stream at the 2016 DEMAND Centre conference (13-15^th April)  http://www.demand.ac.uk/conference-2016/

He will also be giving a presentation on “The Financial Implications of Car Ownership and Use” based on the work of the MOT project (www.MOTproject.net)

Air quality in the media

Jo Barnes has been invited to participate in interviews on BBC Radio Bristol's Breakfast programme and with ITV and BBC News tomorrow morning. The interviews are linked to the 'Smogmobile' which will be making a trip to Bristol tomorrow. In previous journeys the Smogmobile has demonstrated that air pollution levels within vehicles can be as high or even higher than those measured outside. This, together with the findings from the report from the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health released last week, encouraging walking and cycling to reduce air pollution, help to highlight the need to reduce our reliance on cars, not only to reduce emissions but also to reduce our personal exposure to pollution.

AQMRC welcomes the publication of 'Every breath we take: the lifelong impact of air pollution' by the RCP and the RCPCH

The AQMRC welcomes this report into the lifelong impact of air pollution by the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. This is yet another publication that reinforces the fact that air pollution contributes significantly to poor health outcomes locally, nationally and internationally.

 

We are pleased to see that the working group have gone beyond the three principal tenets of reducing the long term health effects of air pollution that we set out in our consultation response.   The report emphasises the importance of embracing  a number technological, behavioural and statutory means to achieve better health outcomes for both individuals and society as a whole.

 

The RCP and RCPCH report can be found here: https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/projects/outputs/every-breath-we-take-lifelong-impact-air-pollution

 

 

 

Jo presentated at Westminster Briefing event on Tuesday

On Tuesday 16th February, Jo gave a presentation on 'Local and National Action - Next Steps' at the Westminster Briefing 'Air Quality Management Under the New Government: Understanding National Priorities and the Next Steps for LAQM'. The presentation covered the latest LAQM and Action Plan consultations from Defra and speculated on the effects that recent legislative actions may have on air quality management in the near future. The presentation can be accessed here: https://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/secure/28240/








 

Jo invited to speak at Westminster Briefing Air Quality event

Jo Barnes has been invited to speak at the Westminster Briefing event 'Air Quality Management Under the New Local Government: Understanding National Priorities and the Next Steps for LAQM'. The event is to be held in Victoria, London on Tuesday 16th February. There are still places available though, so to book yours, please register online at: http://www.westminster-briefing.com/home/event-detail/newsarticle/air-quality-management-under-the-new-government/

Bristol Method - UWE's transport module most popular

The Bristol Method: Transport modules, which AQMRC, UWE helped write and coordinate, have just been announced as the most popular. The Bristol Method is a knowledge-transfer programme aimed at helping people in other cities understand and apply the lessons that Bristol has learned in becoming a sustainable city.In a summary of the web stats:

• 25 modules have now been published on line. A further seven are due to be published before end of Feb taking the final total to 32.
• The Method has been accessed by people in 56 different countries including 20 unique users in Japan and four in Nigeria.
• As expected, the bulk of the audience to date has been from the UK and western Europe, particularly Belgium, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Around 2% of traffic has come from the USA.
• In total, 2,400 unique users have visited 3,300 pages.

AQMRC's Jo Barnes helped to write and coordinate the module 'How to reduce traffic and its impacts' in conjunction with Bristol City Council and with additional contributions from the Centre for Transport and Society at UWE.

Financial Implications of Car Ownership - a social and spatial analysis

On 6th January, Tim presented work from the MOT (Motoring and vehicle Ownership Trends in the UK) project (www.tinyurl.com/MOTproject) at the 48th Annual Universities' Transport Study Group conference in Bristol.

Tim gives presentation at CTS Winter Conference

On 14th December, Tim gave a presentation at the annual UWE Centre for Transport and Society Winter Conference. The presentation was on 'Financial Implications of Car Ownership' was based on analyses undertaken in the MOT (Motoring and vehicle Ownership Trends in the UK' project (www.tinyurl.com/MOTproject).

AQMRC signatories to 'The Truth about Diesel Cars' open letter

An open letter to European public and policy makers was published by the IAQM today (11/12/2015). The letter, from a group of concerned air quality practitioners and researchers, believe that the public should be made aware of the true nature of the pollution from diesel cars. Both Jim and Enda are signatories to this important document.

 

The letter itself can be found here: http://iaqm.co.uk/text/letters/Truth%20about%20Diesel%20Cars_11Dec15.pdf

 

 

Jim and Ben contribute to the Bristol Earth Champions short film

Jim and Ben were filmed as part of a Bristol Earth Champions film, due to be shown at the Conference of Parties (COP) 21 climate meeting in Paris this week. They represented UWE’s contribution to addressing the challenge of air pollution within Bristol and beyond.  Other contributors to the film,  organised by the international environmental charity Earth Champions, included local Bristol organisations Modcell and Lifecycle.

 

The video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ-wFhHb-Zg&feature=youtu.be

 

Air pollution on topic at the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution

Ben contributed to the annual Geography A-level Conference at the Bath Literary and Scientific Institution on Thursday 19^th November. Students from schools across North Somerset were taken on an ‘air pollution journey’ from Roman times through to the modern era and into the future. Questions from the students were wide and varied and a good discussion was had around current topical issues, including real-world driving emissions and Bath’s Air Quality Management Area.