Air pollutants and greenhouse gases emission inventory for power plants in the Antarctic

The article is devoted to the assessment of emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases into the atmospheric air in Antarctica from power plants equipped with diesel generator sets, which are the main sources of energy at the Antarctic research stations and the main stationary sources of anthropogenic emissions in the Antarctic. A bottom-up approach to emission inventory for the Antarctic, which allows estimating emissions at various spatial levels by sequentially aggregating emission estimates from point emission sources, has been proposed and applied for the first time. Emissions of CO2, NOx, particulate matter (PM10) and CO by stations, geographical regions, natural domains, biogeographic regions, parts of the continent and the continent as a whole for the modern period were estimated. In the paper yearly emissions are described; the approach allows estimating of emissions of different averaging periods: in addition to yearly emissions, monthly, daily, hourly etc. can be obtained, as well as both averaged and maximum emissions. The estimates obtained can be used to model the transmission and dispersion of pollutants, assess impacts, and develop emission forecasts for various scenarios. Citation:Kakareka S. Air pollutants and greenhouse gases emission inventory for power plants in the Antarctic. Adv Polar Sci, 2020, 31(4): 274-283, doi: 10.13679/j.advps.2020.0032