Bridging existing energy and chemical transport models to enhance air quality policy assessment

Connecting changes in emissions to air quality is critical for evaluating the effects of a specific policy. Here, we introduce a methodology to aid in assessing the air quality impacts of changes in the energy system. A set of widely varying scenarios that describe alternative potential evolutions of the US energy system is constructed using the TIMES energy system model. For each scenario, an R script is used to communicate future emissions changes to the CMAQ photochemical air quality model. Example results are shown, and the development of the TIMES scenarios is described for users who wish to adapt them to alternate geographies. Possible use cases include evaluating the air quality effects of specific emissions reduction measures or of broad changes to dominant technologies in major sectors such as transportation.