A study of air pollution by exhaust gases from cars in well courtyards of Saint Petersburg

Applied Study of the Fluidization Model of Logistics Transportation through the Prism of the Impact Generated on the Environment

A real problem of today's society is the loss of human lives due to road accidents and the pollution caused by freight transport through metropolitan areas. The restrictions imposed in the near future for freight transport could reduce its efficiency and create many more problems. Using data centralization and developing applications or algorithms dedicated to the freight transportation sectors, routes and emissions can be managed much more efficiently. In this work, general aspects are presented, as well as a route optimization model for freight transport, taking into account the environmental impact, based on a heuristic algorithm, that of the ant colony (ACO). A multitude of studies has focused on what represents the benefits created by the applicability of solutions rather than on generalities and perspectives. The paper aims to highlight the usefulness of an optimization model of freight transport routes and the minimization of time and social costs. The study will show us that an optimized route for freight transport has a huge impact on costs, but also on time efficiency and polluting emissions.

COVID-19 pandemic in Uttarakhand, India: Environmental recovery or degradation?

The human coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 is now a global pandemic. Personal hygiene such as hand-washing, the use of personal protective equipment, and social distancing via local and national lockdowns are used to reduce the risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2. COVID-19 and the associated lockdowns may have significant impacts on environmental quality and ergonomics. However, limited studies exists on the impacts of COVID-19 and the associated lockdowns on environmental quality and ergonomics in low-income settings. Therefore, the present study investigated the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on socioeconomics, ergonomics and environment (water quality, air quality and noise) in Uttarakhand, India. Approximately 55% of respondents experienced headaches, and the other common health-related issue was back pain, with 45% of respondents having problems with their backs. Water and air quality significantly improved during the lockdown relative to the pre-lockdown period, but was observed to return to their previous characteristics afterwards. Lockdowns significant increased the concentration of indoor air pollutants while noise pollution levels significantly declined. In summary, lockdowns have adverse impacts on ergonomics, resulting in work-related human health risks. The impacts of lockdowns on environmental quality are mixed: temporary improvements on water and air quality, and noise reduction were observed, but indoor air quality deteriorated. Therefore, during lockdowns there is a need to minimize the adverse environmental and ergonomic impacts of lockdowns while simultaneously enhancing the beneficial impacts.

Computer Simulation as a Tool for Managing the Technical Development of Methods for Diagnosing the Technical Condition of a Vehicle

Introduced by the Civil Code, the rules of road safety are introducing continuously increasingly strict requirements on motor vehicles. These requirements relate to various aspects of the technical condition of vehicles, both those that determine traffic safety and those that affect the vehicle’s environmental impact. The law requires regular diagnosis of the technical condition of vehicles in service. Diagnostic tests conducted in the form of road tests or the tests performed in workshop conditions allow to determine the symptoms of dysfunctions of the tested vehicle, not always clearly defining the causes and location of damage. The purpose of the work is the design the simulation of a station for of vehicle dynamics tests up to 3.5 t using simulation programs OpenModelica and SciLab. A simulation of the work of the stand for testing the dynamics of vehicles in the form of a chassis dynamometer was achieved. The program enables the simulation of tests: NEDC (New European Drive Cycle), WLTP (Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure), CADCM150 (joint Artemis driving cycle—Motorway at vMax = 150 kph), CADCU (Common Artemis Driving Cycle—Urban), FTP75 EPA (Federal Test Procedure, Environmental Protection Agency). The simulator (for any assumed type of vehicle) can be used in two modes: 1. Introduction of the presumed cause—Generates the expected results in the functioning of the vehicle. This function can be used to create a cause–effect relational database. 2. Analysis of data from the actual diagnostic system suggesting the causes of the observed (measured) errors in the functioning of the system. The simulator can be used both to design and implement the technological development of intelligent diagnostic systems, and to support the creation of application software for a workshop diagnostic system. Introducing the simulator into practice will also enable the improvement of road safety management.

Spatiotemporal variation and socioeconomic drivers of air pollution in China during 2005-2016

Air pollution in China has become a matter of significant public concern. In this study, we investigated the spatiotemporal patterns and socioeconomic drivers of air pollution in China during 2005-2016, based on a long time series of air monitoring data together with the spatial econometrics model. The results show that air pollution in China as a whole exhibited a decreasing trend during the study period whereas concentrated and intensified in the north of China. The heavily polluted areas, based on hierarchical clustering analysis, include the regions of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), Shandong Peninsula and the middle reaches of the Yellow River. Temporally, air pollution in China was higher in winter and lower in summer, while the primary pollutants varied seasonally. Empirical results at the national scale showed that the influencing factors can be ranked in descending order of importance, as follows: vehicle volume, energy consumption, secondary industry as a percentage of GDP, GDP per capita, greenery coverage rate, and expenditure on science and technology. In addition, the positive impact of vehicle volume on air pollution exhibited a significant increasing trend. On a regional scale, secondary industry and energy consumption had a strong impact on air pollution in Shandong Peninsula, and automobile exhaust pollution had the greatest impact on the BTH and Yangtze River Delta (YRD) regions. The estimated coefficients of GDP per capita in the regions of BTH, YRD and South China were significantly negative because of an Environmental Kuznets Curve relationship.