Vehicle emissions: what will change with use of biofuel?

Abstract

In urban areas, large concentrations of chemical compounds are emitted into the atmosphere by industries, vehicles and other human activities. Nearly 3000 different compounds, mostly organic, resulting from human activity have been identified in the atmosphere. This complex mixture of pollutants can have impacts on health and the environment. Thus, the systematic determination of air quality should be, for practical reasons, limited to a restricted number of pollutants, defined in terms of their importance and the human and material resources available to identify and measure them. Generally, pollutants chosen to serve as indicators of air quality are the currently regulated and universally occurring compounds: sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). They are chosen due to their frequency of occurrence and adverse effects on the environment. Thus, the effects of air pollution can be characterized by a deterioration of good quality environmental conditions and the exacerbation of existing problems, which can manifest themselves in health, population welfare, vegetation, fauna, and urban structures. The attention of regulatory authorities and researchers must not only look to the standards of air quality. There are compounds that despite being unregulated deserve attention because of the damage they cause to the environment and, especially, to human health.