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Phase 2: Co-Benefits
IES programs for
History and Objectives
Within the broad objectives of the IES program, Phase 2 examined five measures of priority interest in more detail:
- Renovation of the taxi fleet
- Expansion of the metro system
- Hybrid buses
- Measures to reduce leaks of liquified petroleum gas
- Co-generation
Also, the analysis was expanded to include an assessment of the air quality impacts of these measures and their associated health impacts.
Team
The IES team is based at the National Institute of Ecology (INE) in coordination with the other members of the Metropolitan Environmental Commission (CAM) and the governments of the State of Mexico and the Federal District. Dr. Adrián Fernández, Dr. Leonora Rojas Bracho, and Julia Martinez (Biól.) of INE oversee the technical team. Through coordination by and collaboration with INE, individuals from several other institutions have contributed to the various phases of IES-Mexico work.
Methodology
The steps in the Phase 2 co-benefits study were:
- Policies
- Activities
- Urban Emissions
- Concentrations
- Exposures
- Health Effects
- GHG Emissions
During this phase of work, the team focused on the MCMA and considered effects of the measures analyzed on primary and secondary particulate matter (for both PM2.5 and PM10) and ozone (O3). The associated greenhouse gases (GHGs) under consideration were carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O).
The time horizons for this work were 2010 and 2020. 2010 was chosen because it is the timeframe for the PROAIRE program and thus has a relevance to current decision-making, and 2020 was chosen because the benefits reaped from long-term projects requiring large initial investments (e.g., Metro expansion) will be more appropriately estimated over this longer period.
Study Results
In the Phase 2 final report (176 pp, 2,176 KB, About PDF), the Mexico team describes how the five measures considered in this study could reduce annualized exposure to particulate air pollution by 1 percent and to maximum daily ozone by 3 percent. They would also reduce GHG emissions by 2 percent (more than 300,000 tons carbon equivalent per year) for both the time periods. The IES team estimated that for both time horizons, over 4,400 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) per year could be saved, with monetized public health benefits on the order of 200 million U.S. dollars (USD) per year. In contrast, total costs are under 70 million USD per year. The mean cost per QALY year is estimated to be under 40,000 USD for the five measures. Of the measures considered, transportation measures are most promising for simultaneous reductions of both local and global pollution in Mexico City.