How many premature deaths could be avoided by reducing traffic by 25% in Barcelona?
According to ISGlobal, the death toll would increase if the port were electrified.
BarcelonaA study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) states that reducing motor traffic in Barcelona by 25% could prevent almost 200 premature deaths each year, as it would achieve a 17.6% decrease in nitrogen dioxide (NO) levels.2). In addition, if the project is completedelectrification of the port Barcelona's efforts to decarbonize infrastructure could lead to 228 preventable deaths annually.
These are the conclusions of a study conducted in collaboration with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center - National Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS) published this Tuesday. in the magazine Health & PlaceTo do this, the researchers proposed three different hypothetical scenarios, although all of them include the measures that already appeared in the Urban Mobility Plan.
According to the first scenario suggested by scientists, in which traffic volume is not reduced but polluting vehicles are removed from circulation, NO levels2 would be reduced by 5.9% and around 67 premature deaths would be avoided. The second scenario goes further in terms of restrictions and achieves a 25% reduction in private traffic volume. In this case, the decrease in NO concentrations2 is 17.6% and, thus, 199 deaths per year would be prevented, most of them concentrated in the city center - where the higher levels of pollution– as well as in areas of the northwest. The third scenario, the most ambitious, would involve not only reducing private traffic but also reducing emissions from the Port of Barcelona. It is estimated that this infrastructure contributes around 7% to NO-related mortality.2 in the city.
The European directive is being breached
Far from hypothetical situations, the port of Barcelona has a dock electrification plan to reduce ship emissions during their stay in the port, which is scheduled to end in 2030. Thus, when the third scenario takes into account the electrification of the port, what it really wants to propose is that reducing NO levels2 by 19.4% this would translate into avoiding 228 deaths per year.
"Although the preventable mortality we estimate is of a considerable magnitude, in none of the scenarios we propose in our study would it be possible to comply with the new maximum NO limits."2 proposed by the European Union for its new air quality directive, which will come into force in 2030," says Ana Ramos, researcher at ISGlobal and first author of the study.
