Emissions Inventories: Essential for Air Quality Management and Joint Action

At the forefront of air quality management are tools like Air Pollution Modeling, Source Apportionment Studies, and Air Quality Monitoring. These methodologies are essential for providing insights into pollution sources and their impacts, guiding strategies that improve air quality. However, one tool that we believe truly stands out in its ability to shape policy, identify pollution hotspots, and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions is the emissions inventory.

Emissions inventories are the cornerstone of understanding pollutant emissions across various sources. They offer a detailed map of when and where emissions occur, serving as a critical resource for identifying problem areas, assessing intervention outcomes, and crafting targeted policies. While other tools may capture a snapshot of current conditions, emissions inventories provide a dynamic, evolving picture that supports long-term planning and sustainable solutions.

Despite their vital importance, emissions inventories are often underutilized due to challenges like limited data availability and methodological constraints. This is a significant oversight, as these inventories have the power to provide micro-level insights that are both temporally and spatially precise. High-resolution inventories can pinpoint exact times and locations where emissions are most problematic, making them indispensable for developing targeted policies, engaging communities, and securing necessary resources for effective environmental action.

Our ongoing work is focused on pushing the boundaries of emissions inventory development. We are dedicated to creating high-resolution, temporally and spatially dynamic datasets that offer unparalleled insights. For example, in one of our recent studies, we completed a comprehensive analysis of emissions from the household cooking sector at the ward and village levels across India. This dataset spans 12 months, seven days a week, and 24 hours a day, providing a detailed and non-uniform distribution of emissions. It includes key pollutants such as greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O), volatile organic compounds (Benzene, Toluene, Xylenes), and particulate matter (PM2.5), among others.

We believe that our cutting-edge approach to developing emissions inventories can serve as a powerful tool for policymakers, local communities, and other stakeholders. By presenting this data in a clear and actionable format, we aim to facilitate informed decision-making, foster collaboration, and contribute to more effective air quality management.

As we continue to refine and expand our datasets, we are enthusiastic about the potential for collaboration. Whether you are looking to integrate our high-resolution data into your projects, co-develop innovative methodologies, or address specific air quality challenges together, we are eager to explore how we can join forces to make a meaningful impact. We welcome the opportunity to collaborate and look forward to working together towards a cleaner, healthier future.

Ajay