POTENTIAL AIR-QUALITY EFFECTS OF USING ETHANOL-GASOLINE FUEL BLENDS -A FIELD-STUDY IN ALBUQUERQUE, NEW-MEXICO

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.