CO2 Concentrations Reduction Influenced by Traffic in Beijing due to COVID-19

Abstract:

To prevent the spread of COVID19 epidemic, restrictions, like “stay-at-home” and “lockdown”, were conducted globally. These prohibitions have influenced industrial production and social life, which lead to drastic reduction of energy consumption and especially for transportation. Many studies have estimated that as a consequence of the epidemic, the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions is 17% globally (C.Le Quéré et al., 2020) and 10% China (Liu Zhu et al., 2020). Among reduction sectors, ground transports is obviously as 36% globally and 50% in China. However, due to weather condition and long-live of CO2, few observations proved it. We conducted several on-road CO2 measurements in Beijing using mobile platforms before, during and after COVID-19 control. To eliminate weather impacts, we firstly chose the trips closest weather as possible, and then calculate the on-road CO2 enhancement relative to a city ‘background’ measured at IAP tower. The results showed, during COVID-19 control the on-road CO2 enhancement is ~30 ppm decreased than before and after. Our observations demonstrate the reduction of CO2 concentration and emissions influenced by ground transportation due to COVID-19.