FEW1050 - UoL Research Agreement Air Quality Grant 2020

LEICESTER City Council has been awarded £249,600 of air quality grant to help make further improvements to local air quality.

The Defra air quality grant will be used to establish a pilot project over an 18-month period which will focus on behaviour change in a specific area of the city.

In a continuation of previous joint working with the University of Leicester on Exposure to Air Quality Dependent on Transport Mode, UoL have outlined how they can achieve our goal of reducing air pollution in the defined location of the project by completing two areas of work:

1. Investigation into wood burning sources of PM2.5

• Biomass burning is a source of atmospheric PM2.5. Levoglucosan generated through biomass burning can be used to calculate wood burning fraction of PM2.5.

• Using filters placed in two or more locations, the contribution of wood burning to atmospheric aerosol can be identified.

2. Conducting detailed analysis of AQ monitor and map data and supporting traffic and wood burning fraction data, developing data-based public engagement strategies

Due to previous joint working, where this project builds on work completed together from 2019/20 - 2020/21, together with time constraints between being awarded the funding and starting the project, the best course of action would be to secure services of UoL and to apply for the waiver. Without this the project will not be able to be successfully delivered which in turn is likely to negatively impact outcomes of our future bids for Defra grants.