Studies of Aerosols and Trace Gas Emissions from Biomass Fuel Used in India

Abstract

Biomass burning has recently become one of the most important issues in the field of newlineatmospheric sciences because of its impact on the earth, atmospheric radiation budget, newlineair quality, global climate change as well as human health. Accurate emission newlineestimation of trace gas and particulate matter from biomass burning is essential to newlineassess its potential impact. This thesis presents the estimation of refined emission newlinefactors for trace gases (SO2 and NOx), particulate matter (PM) and its chemical newlineproperties (organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC) and water soluble ionic newlinespecies (WSIS)) of emissions from household biomass fuel burning of the Indo- newlineGangetic plains (IGP), India, under controlled laboratory conditions using modified newlinedilution sampler. newlineSamples of household biomass fuels were collected from different parts of the IGP at newlinedistrict level for the first time in India for precise preparation of emission inventory. newlineDung cake, fuel wood and crop residue are the main sources of energy in rural areas newlineof the IGP. Dung cake is the major domestic fuel (80-90%) used in the rural areas of newlineDelhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar whereas, in Uttarakhand, 99% of newlinerural households use wood as the main energy source among biomass fuels as dung newlinecake and crop residues are normally not used. Using crop production data and usage newlineof crop residues as energy, new consumption values have been estimated (21.13Mt). newlineThe average emission factor of PM from dung cake, fuel-wood and crop residue over newlineDelhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Bihar and West Bengal is newlineestimated as 14.53±4.70 g kg-1, 4.19±1.08 g kg-1 and 6.92±4.03 g kg-1, respectively.