For agriculture, the requirements for its spatial resolution are not as high as for
urban emission sources. Horizontal resolution of approx. 10 Â 10 km
2 is often
practical. In case detailed farm registers are available, activity estimates
farm-by-farm basis (bottom-up) might be possible. However, at national level
assessments, top-down allocation based on agricultural field areas or animal
numbers might be sufficient.
Output
The output of the DRIVERS block is used as an input to PRESSURES. Therefore it
needs to contain all relevant activity information for emission calculation. Activities
used in the emission calculation typically include fuel use amounts, production
intensities and kilometres driven aggregated in such a way to include emission-wise
relevant classification of sectors, sources and technologies. Technological changes
over time are important parameters for emission calculation, and are taken into
account in the PRESSURE block. Especially for city level assessments, spatial
patterns of activities and their change over time are essential.
Synergies among scales
Activity changes in the form of fuel switching and industrial production changes are
affected largely at international (e.g. global markets) and national (e.g. national
taxation) scale. On the other hand, population, housing and transport demand
changes are affected largely at city (e.g. city taxation policies, general “attractiveness” of the city) and sub-city (e.g. traffic planning, zoning policies) scales.
Technological changes that are mainly of interest for the PRESSURE block are
also affected at different scales. Many of the emission-related (e.g. traffic EURO
standards, IE Directive) and climate-related (e.g. RE Directive) legislations that
influence technological developments are defined at EU level. National level
decisions may have a great impact as well (e.g. consumption or emission based
vehicle taxation). At city level, it is possible to influence local problem spots (e.g.
low emission zones, prohibitions of residential wood combustion) and set more
general goals (city climate strategies) that influence technological developments.
Uncertainty
A short summary of the main challenges for the above emission source sectors is
given in the following.
• Road traffic: Traffic models and/or detailed road segment specific traffic information are relatively commonly available. Technological parameters are relatively well known at least at national level. Parameters required for reliable
non-exhaust emission assessment (e.g. road surface type and condition) can be a
considerable source of uncertainty.
• Non-road traffic and machinery: For some forms of non-road activities, e.g. sea
vessels, trains and airplanes, activities and spatial patterns are often relatively
well known. For many other forms of machinery, in contrast, the activity data
can be much more uncertain.
• Residential combustion: Residential wood combustion activities and technology
information are often uncertain because a lot of the wood fuel is used from
2 A Framework for Integrated Assessment Modelling
19
urban emission sources. Horizontal resolution of approx. 10 Â 10 km
2 is often
practical. In case detailed farm registers are available, activity estimates
farm-by-farm basis (bottom-up) might be possible. However, at national level
assessments, top-down allocation based on agricultural field areas or animal
numbers might be sufficient.
Output
The output of the DRIVERS block is used as an input to PRESSURES. Therefore it
needs to contain all relevant activity information for emission calculation. Activities
used in the emission calculation typically include fuel use amounts, production
intensities and kilometres driven aggregated in such a way to include emission-wise
relevant classification of sectors, sources and technologies. Technological changes
over time are important parameters for emission calculation, and are taken into
account in the PRESSURE block. Especially for city level assessments, spatial
patterns of activities and their change over time are essential.
Synergies among scales
Activity changes in the form of fuel switching and industrial production changes are
affected largely at international (e.g. global markets) and national (e.g. national
taxation) scale. On the other hand, population, housing and transport demand
changes are affected largely at city (e.g. city taxation policies, general “attractiveness” of the city) and sub-city (e.g. traffic planning, zoning policies) scales.
Technological changes that are mainly of interest for the PRESSURE block are
also affected at different scales. Many of the emission-related (e.g. traffic EURO
standards, IE Directive) and climate-related (e.g. RE Directive) legislations that
influence technological developments are defined at EU level. National level
decisions may have a great impact as well (e.g. consumption or emission based
vehicle taxation). At city level, it is possible to influence local problem spots (e.g.
low emission zones, prohibitions of residential wood combustion) and set more
general goals (city climate strategies) that influence technological developments.
Uncertainty
A short summary of the main challenges for the above emission source sectors is
given in the following.
• Road traffic: Traffic models and/or detailed road segment specific traffic information are relatively commonly available. Technological parameters are relatively well known at least at national level. Parameters required for reliable
non-exhaust emission assessment (e.g. road surface type and condition) can be a
considerable source of uncertainty.
• Non-road traffic and machinery: For some forms of non-road activities, e.g. sea
vessels, trains and airplanes, activities and spatial patterns are often relatively
well known. For many other forms of machinery, in contrast, the activity data
can be much more uncertain.
• Residential combustion: Residential wood combustion activities and technology
information are often uncertain because a lot of the wood fuel is used from
2 A Framework for Integrated Assessment Modelling
19