UC Irvine

The San Pedro Bay Port Complex is a critical piece of the world economy as a hub of good movement and its activities generate significant pollutant emissions in an air basin that frequently struggles with degraded air quality. This research explores fuel cell deployment in place of diesel combustion engines for port activities and the air quality, GHG emissions, and human health impacts as a mitigation strategy for the degraded air quality induced by the ports. Fuel cell deployments are modeled as emission reductions in the year 2035 for port activities and ambient concentrations of air pollutants are obtained by simulating atmospheric chemistry (CMAQ). Ambient pollutant concentrations are compared against national standards and human health response functions from literature to assess impacts on morbidity and mortality as well as socioeconomics. Finally, Greenhouse Gas equivalency is determined for the emissions reductions modeled for the atmospheric simulation including upstream impacts associated with displaced diesel production and new hydrogen production. Results show potential for widespread reduction in ozone and fine particulate concentrations with titration-related increases in ozone at the immediate vicinity of the port. The maximum change in ozone was calculated to be a reduction of 5.09 ppb with a corresponding reduction in PM2.5 of 2.56 µg/m3 for the same case. Human health and socioeconomic modeling predict large net health and economic benefits. The valuation of health benefits is estimated to range $3,209,700 to $7,108,100 per day using modeling strategies demonstrated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board.