Impact of the development of electromobility in Poland on the background level of atmospheric pollution

The objective of the work was to analyse the environmental effects of the development of the electric car fleet in Poland on air pollution. Three distinct scenarios for the growth of electromobility were analysed, considering spatial distribution and estimating emissions in both the transport and energy production sectors. Based on the modelling results from GEM-AQ model, the differences in average annual gaseous pollutants concentrations were calculated and compared with the baseline scenario in 2015. In the case of NO2 and SO2, the largest increases occurred around power plants. For CO, a very small reduction over most of the country was achieved in all scenarios (up to - 0.25%). Ozone background concentrations mainly decreased compared to 2015 across the country by -2%. The alternative scenario, which does not assume the anticipated constant growth in electricity demand, is characterized by the reduction of concentrations background for NOSO2 (up to 1.5%) and CO (up to -0.25%), a smaller increase of SO2 concentrations (up to 5%) and on average higher ozone background. Alternative scenario revealed the most differences, with power sector emissions and constant electricity demand growth overshadowing the impact of electric vehicle fleet changes on air pollution.