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McNeil W, Tong F, Harley RA, Auffhammer M, Scown CD. Corridor-Level Impacts of Battery-Electric Heavy-Duty Trucks and the Effects of Policy in the United States. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2024; 58:33-42. [PMID: 38109378 PMCID: PMC10785805 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c05139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Revised: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 11/15/2023] [Indexed: 12/20/2023]
Abstract
Electrifying freight trucks will be key to alleviating air pollution burdens on disadvantaged communities and mitigating climate change. The United States plans to pursue this aim by adding vehicle charging infrastructure along specific freight corridors. This study explores the coevolution of the electricity grid and freight trucking landscape using an integrated assessment framework to identify when each interstate and drayage corridor becomes advantageous to electrify from a climate and human health standpoint. Nearly all corridors achieve greenhouse gas emission reductions if electrified now. Most can reduce health impacts from air pollution if electrified by 2040 although some corridors in the Midwest, South, and Mid-Atlantic regions remain unfavorable to electrify from a human health standpoint, absent policy support. Recent policy, namely, the Inflation Reduction Act, accelerates this timeline to 2030 for most corridors and results in net human health benefits on all corridors by 2050, suggesting that near-term investments in truck electrification, particularly drayage corridors, can meaningfully reduce climate and health burdens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wilson
H. McNeil
- Energy
Technologies Area, Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Department
of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8041, New Zealand
| | - Fan Tong
- School
of Economics and Management, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, People’s Republic of China
- Lab
for Low-carbon Intelligent Governance, Beihang
University, Beijing 100191, People’s Republic
of China
- Peking
University Ordos Research Institute of Energy, Ordos City 017000, Inner Mongolia, People’s Republic of
China
| | - Robert A. Harley
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Maximilian Auffhammer
- Energy
Technologies Area, Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Department
of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- National
Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, United States
| | - Corinne D. Scown
- Energy
Technologies Area, Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Life-Cycle,
Economics and Agronomy Division, Joint BioEnergy
Institute, Emeryville, California 94608, United States
- Biosciences
Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Energy
and Biosciences Institute, University of
California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
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