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We Measure What Others Miss.

Clean Air Requires Action Beyond City Boundaries

World Emission Network collaborated with academic and research partners on a national-scale atmospheric modeling assessment published in Environmental Research Letters (2025). The study quantifies transboundary PM₂.₅ contributions across 143 Indian cities and demonstrates that urban air pollution in India is predominantly driven by emissions originating outside municipal limits. The findings reinforce the need for regional, not just city-level, clean air strategies.

What the Evidence Shows

Domestic biomass burning, power generation, and industry are dominant regional contributors
~85% of urban PM₂.₅ is transboundary in origin
107 of 122 NCAP cities receive more than 80% pollution from outside city boundaries
City-only mitigation strategies cannot deliver sustained air quality improvement
Effective clean air planning requires cross-boundary coordination and regional emission control
Read the Full Study

Sectoral and transboundary PM₂.₅ contributions across 143 Indian cities (Lal et al., ERL 2025).

Building Spatial–Temporal Intelligence for Clean Cooking Transitions

WEN is mapping household emissions at micro scales while analyzing how fuel transitions and seasonal activity patterns are shaping PM₂.₅ exposure across regions. We are continuously quantifying policy impact, identifying high-risk communities, and refining intervention strategies through updated emissions and activity data.

India’s air pollution crisis is not only industrial — it is burning inside homes.

Household cooking is one of the largest contributors to India’s PM2.5 burden.
Ward- and village-level spatial mapping identifies emission intensity and local hotspots.
Temporal analysis tracks fuel-use transitions and seasonal activity patterns.
Policy effectiveness is quantified using continuously updated emissions and activity data.
Intervention gaps are identified with precision across districts and communities.
Exposure risks — particularly for women and vulnerable populations — are made visible.
Transparent analytics strengthen accountability and enable targeted, evidence-based interventions.

Mapping Vehicular Exhaust and Non-Exhaust Emissions at Micro Scales

Saharanpur District—an urban–rural landscape in the Indo-Gangetic Plain—represents a rapidly evolving transport system embedded within an agriculture-driven regional economy. Despite being located in one of the world’s most studied pollution corridors, district-level vehicular emission dynamics remain structurally under-characterized.

WEN is addressing this gap by constructing a high-resolution, activity-based transport emissions inventory that captures both exhaust and non-exhaust sources across the entire district.

Analytical Framework

Allocating gridded on-road vehicle populations across urban and rural networks
Simulating vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) using activity-based trip modeling
Quantifying exhaust and non-exhaust (road dust resuspension) emissions
Spatially allocating emissions across road types and settlement patterns
Modeling PM₂.₅ dispersion using AERMOD to estimate concentration patterns

Structural Insights

Particle resuspension dominates PM₂.₅ emissions across all road types
Rural and peri-urban roads contribute more than conventional inventories capture
Two-wheelers shape urban emission patterns, while light commercial vehicles and tractors dominate rural corridors
Ignoring spatial allocation of VKT systematically distorts emission attribution

Why This Matters

Most emission inventories rely on aggregated statistics that overlook how vehicles actually move through mixed urban–rural systems. By incorporating spatially resolved vehicle activity and dispersion modeling, WEN is improving emission attribution accuracy and strengthening district-level air quality planning in the Indo-Gangetic Plain.

Source:
Read the full peer-reviewed article →

Spatial distribution of vehicular PM₂.₅ concentrations across Saharanpur District, highlighting urban hotspots and emission gradients along major transport corridors.

From Agricultural Waste to Clean Energy Systems

World Emission Network developed a national-scale spatial model to quantify decentralized cooking energy potential across 602 rural districts. The analysis evaluates livestock waste, surplus crop residue, and combined biomass scenarios to determine district-level energy sufficiency and intervention priority zones.

602 rural districts classified by cooking energy sufficiency tier
Districts capable of achieving 100% local energy fulfillment identified
Combined biomass scenarios demonstrate majority sufficiency potential
Spatial targeting framework developed for decentralized deployment
Evidence base established for air quality and energy transition planning

Source: Kumar et al., Science of the Total Environment (2023). District-level biomass energy sufficiency analysis across 602 rural districts.