Assessment of pollutant emission in Poland from various categories of transport

Abstract This paper refers to the inventory of pollutant emissions in Poland from different transport categories over the period 1990–2020. The changes in the annual national emissions of selected pollutants, i.e. nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds, sulfur oxides, PM2.5, PM10, total suspended particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and lead were analysed. The shares of the national annual emissions of the examined pollutants from each studied transport category in the national annual emission from total transport were assessed. The sensitivity of the national annual pollutant emission inventory with regard to the transport categories and emitted substances under the study was assessed. The trend of decrease in the national annual emissions of the substances analysed was appraised as positive in the face of a substantial intensification of transport activities. Taking into account the fact that road transportation is responsible for a dominant share of the national emission of pollutants, important progress in the reduction of emissions is attributable to the substantial technical improvement of the internal combustion engines of road vehicles.