Js. Gaffney et al., POTENTIAL AIR-QUALITY EFFECTS OF USING ETHANOL-GASOLINE FUEL BLENDS -A FIELD-STUDY IN ALBUQUERQUE, NEW-MEXICO, Environmental science & technology, 31(11), 1997, pp. 3053-3061
The use of alternate fuels has been proposed as a method of improving
urban air quality by reducing combustion-related pollution. One such p
rogram mandates the use of oxygenates in the wintertime to reduce CO e
missions in cities such as Albuquerque, NM. A field study was conducte
d in Albuquerque to determine the atmospheric impacts of the use of et
hanol fuels. Atmospheric concentrations of ozone, oxides of nitrogen,
CO, peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN), aldehydes, and organic acids were meas
ured in the summer of 1993, before the use of ethanol fuels, and in th
e winters of 1994 and 1995, during the use of 10% ethanol fuel (>99%).
Data showed increased levels of peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) and aldehy
des in winter. The formaldehyde/acetaldehyde ratio was 1.4, indicating
an anthropogenic source, and PAN and acetaldehyde levels were anti-co
rrelated over short time periods, indicating primary acetaldehyde emis
sions. A comparison of data taken at rural sites south of the city ind
icates that although there is a significant anthropogenic component to
the aldehyde concentrations during the winter, there are also contrib
utions from the photochemical oxidation of natural hydrocarbons.