Light absorption by primary particle emissions from a lignite burning plant

Anthropogenic aerosols from the burning of fossil fuels contribute to clima te forcing by both scattering and absorbing solar radiation, and estimates of climate forcing by light-absorbing primary particles have recently been published. While the mass and optical properties of emissions are needed fo r these studies, the available measurements do not characterize the low-tec hnology burning that is thought to contribute a large fraction of light-abs orbing material to the global budget. We have measured characteristics of p articulate matter (PM) emitted from a small, low-technology lignite-burning plant. The PM emission factor is comparable to those used to calculate emi ssion inventories of light-absorbing particles. However, the fine fraction, the absorbing fraction, and the absorption efficiency of the emissions are substantially below assumptions that have been made in inventories of blac k carbon emissions and calculations of climate forcing. The measurements su ggest that nonblack, light-absorbing particles are emitted from tow-technol ogy coal burning. As the burning rate increases, the emitted absorption cro ss-section decreases, and the wavelength dependence of absorption becomes c loser to that of black particles.