Black carbon emissions in Russia: A critical review

Journal Article · Thu May 18 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Atmospheric Environment (1994)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.05.026· OSTI ID:1357802

Evans, Meredydd ^[1]; Kholod, Nazar ^[1]; Kuklinski, Teresa ^[2]; Denysenko, Artur ^[3]; Smith, Steven J. ^[1]; Staniszewski, Aaron ^[1]; Hao, Wei Min ^[4]; Liu, Liang ^[5]; Bond, Tami C. ^[5]

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1. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
2. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C. (United States)
3. Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE (United States)
4. U.S. Forest Service, Missoula, MT (United States)
5. Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL (United States)

Here, this study presents a comprehensive review of estimated black carbon (BC) emissions in Russia from a range of studies. Russia has an important role regarding BC emissions given the extent of its territory above the Arctic Circle, where BC emissions have a particularly pronounced effect on the climate. We assess underlying methodologies and data sources for each major emissions source based on their level of detail, accuracy and extent to which they represent current conditions. We then present reference values for each major emissions source. In the case of flaring, the study presents new estimates drawing on data on Russia's associated petroleum gas and the most recent satellite data on flaring. We also present estimates of organic carbon (OC) for each source, either based on the reference studies or from our own calculations. In addition, the study provides uncertainty estimates for each source. Total BC emissions are estimated at 688 Gg in 2014, with an uncertainty range 401 Gg-1453 Gg, while OC emissions are 9224 Gg with uncertainty ranging between 5596 Gg and 14,736 Gg. Wildfires dominated and contributed about 83% of the total BC emissions: however, the effect on radiative forcing is mitigated in part by OC emissions. We also present an adjusted estimate of Arctic forcing from Russia's BC and OC emissions. In recent years, Russia has pursued policies to reduce flaring and limit particulate emissions from on-road transport, both of which appear to significantly contribute to the lower emissions and forcing values found in this study.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1357802
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1374641; OSTI ID: 1397806
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA--120649; PII: S1352231017303278
• Journal Information: Atmospheric Environment (1994), Journal Name: Atmospheric Environment (1994) Vol. 163; ISSN 1352-2310
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Russia
black carbon
emission inventory
organic carbon
radiative forcing