Life cycle air quality impacts of conventional and alternative light-duty transportation in the United States

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1406853111
• Publication Date: 2014-12-16T03:25:14Z
• Authors: Christopher W. Te...; Jason D. Hill; Julian D. Marshall
• Keywords: Male; Transportation; Models, Theoretical; 01 natural sciences; 7. Clean energy; United States; 3. Good health; Ozone; 13. Climate action; Air Pollution, Indoor; Biofuels; 11. Sustainability; Humans; Female; Renewable Energy; Gasoline; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

Significance Our assessment of the life cycle air quality impacts on human health 10 alternatives to conventional gasoline vehicles finds that electric (EVs) powered by electricity from natural gas or wind, water, solar power are best for improving quality, whereas corn ethanol and EVs coal worst. This work advances current debate over environmental versus alternative transportation options combining detailed spatially temporally explicit emissions inventories with state-of-the-science impact analysis using advanced chemical transport modeling. results reinforce previous findings quality-related damages generally comparable larger than climate change-related damages.