arXiv subjects

Parth Vaishnav

Publications and source records attributed to Parth Vaishnav.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2022

Environmental injustice in America: Racial disparities in exposure to air pollution health damages from freight trucking

PM2.5 produced by freight trucks has adverse impacts on human health. However, it is unknown to what extent freight trucking affects communities of color and the total public health burden arising from the sector. Based on spatially resolved US federal government data, we explore the geographic distribution of freight trucking emissions and demonstrate that Black and Hispanic populations are more likely to be exposed to elevated emissions from freight trucks. Our results indicate that freight trucks contribute ~10% of NOx and ~12% of CO2 emissions from all sources in the continental US. The annual costs to human health and the environment due to NOx, PM2.5, SO2, and CO2 from freight trucking in the US are estimated respectively to be $11B, $5.5B, $110M, and $30B. Overall, the sector is responsible for nearly two-fifths (~$47B out of $120B) of all transportation-related public health damages.

econ.GN↗

arXiv2021

Sustained cost declines in solar PV and battery storage needed to eliminate coal generation in India

Unabated coal power in India must be phased out by mid-century to achieve global climate targets under the Paris Agreement. Here we estimate the costs of hybrid power plants - lithium-ion battery storage with wind and solar PV - to replace coal generation. We design least cost mixes of these technologies to supply stylized baseload and load-following generation profiles in three Indian states - Karnataka, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu. Our analysis shows that availability of low cost capital, solar PV capital costs of at least $250/kW, and battery storage capacity costs at least 50% cheaper than current levels will be required to phase out existing coal power plants. Phaseout by 2040 requires a 6% annual decline in the cost of hybrid systems over the next two decades. We find that replacing coal generation with hybrid systems 99% of the hours over multiple decades is roughly 40% cheaper than 100% replacement, indicating a key role for other low cost grid flexibility mechanisms to help hasten coal phaseout. Solar PV is more suited to pairing with short duration storage than wind power. Overall, our results describe the challenging technological and policy advances needed to achieve the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement.

econ.GN↗

arXiv2019

Automation is no barrier to light vehicle electrification

Weight, computational load, sensor load, and possibly higher drag may increase the energy use of automated electric vehicles (AEVs) relative to human-driven electric vehicles (EVs), although this increase may be offset by smoother driving. We use a vehicle dynamics model to show that automation is likely to impose a minor penalty on EV range and have negligible effect on battery longevity. As such, while some commentators have suggested that the power and energy requirements of automation mean that the first automated vehicles (AVs) will be gas-electric hybrids, we conclude that this need not be the case. We also find that drivers need to place only a modest value on the time saved by automation for its benefits to exceed direct costs.

cs.CY↗