1. State of Planning: exploring the health dimensions of climate action plans in BC
2. Non-road Engines – Estimating Emission and Electrification
Time: 12:30pm to 1:20pm
Location: Beaty Museum Allan Yap Theatre (Basement, 2212 Main Mall). Please check in at front desk on main floor before going downstairs.
No food or drinks allowed in the Theatre.
Click here for Zoom Recording
Talk summary:
Climate action plans are instrumental tools designed to guide regions in mitigating and/or adapting to climate change. In 2008, British Columbia (BC) passed the Local Government Statutes Amendment Act which mandates that all municipalities incorporate actions to reduce GHG emissions within their official community plan. This policy has facilitated the widespread incorporation of climate change considerations within local policy and planning documents. This work investigates the scope of health considerations in these climate action and adaptation plans. This line of inquiry aims to understand what these governance systems perceive as the health dimensions of adaptation planning, and the role of health systems in the work of building adaptive capacity. In this talk, I will present a summary of results of this document analysis.
Bio:
Glory Apantaku (she/her/hers) is a PhD candidate at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, she is co-supervised by Dr. Terre Satterfield in IRES and Dr. Mark Harrison in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Glory holds a master’s degree in Population and Public health and her research explores how health considerations shape adaptation planning. She also supports projects aimed at building resilience to climate impacts in collaboration with the ministry of health, health authorities, and municipalities across British Columbia.
Talk summary:
Exposure to air pollutants causes adverse health impacts including respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Non-road engines (NREs), used in construction, mining, agriculture, landscaping, etc., are a major source of emissions in Metro Vancouver, contributing to about 8% of GHG emissions in the region. Many NREs operate in dense residential zones and near sensitive receptors such as hospitals and daycares. Despite this, NREs are widely understudied. This study develops a methodology for creating a comprehensive emissions inventory for non-road engines for Metro Vancouver using top-down data from ECCC and bottom-up data from the MOVES model. The study also explores the electrification of NREs through expert interviews. We identify socio-technical, economic, and regulatory barriers to the electrification of engines in the construction and yard and garden sectors and provide strategies for the energy transition towards electric NREs.
Bio:
Rudri Bhatt is a PhD candidate at UBC in the Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability, supervised by Dr. Milind Kandlikar. Her research focuses on clean energy technologies and electrification of non-road engines in Metro Vancouver from an air quality perspective. She is interested in reducing emissions from non-road and on-road sources. She has a Master of Science in Resources, Environment and Sustainability from UBC where she looked at incentivizing clean alternatives to agricultural waste burning in Northern India through a mixed-methods approach. Rudri has a Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.