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Title: Black carbon emissions in Russia: A critical review

Journal Article · · Atmospheric Environment (1994)
 [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [4]; ORCiD logo [5];  [5]
  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:
DW-089924383; AC05-76RL01830; AC05-76RL01831
OSTI ID:
1357802
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1397806
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-120649; PII: S1352231017303278
Journal Information:
Atmospheric Environment (1994), Vol. 163; ISSN 1352-2310
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 24 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (6)

Global Research on Carbon Emissions: A Scientometric Review
  • Udara Willhelm Abeydeera, Lebunu Hewage; Wadu Mesthrige, Jayantha; Samarasinghalage, Tharushi Imalka
  • Sustainability, Vol. 11, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.3390/su11143972
journal July 2019
High Arctic aircraft measurements characterising black carbon vertical variability in spring and summer journal January 2019
A missing component of Arctic warming: black carbon from gas flaring journal September 2019
Temporally delineated sources of major chemical species in high Arctic snow journal January 2018
Source apportionment of circum-Arctic atmospheric black carbon from isotopes and modeling journal February 2019
Global anthropogenic emissions of particulate matter including black carbon journal January 2017

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