John Wenger is Professor of Chemistry and founding director of the Centre for Research into Atmospheric Chemistry at University College Cork (UCC) in Ireland. He has over 25 years research experience in atmospheric chemistry and air pollution, conducting numerous investigations into the chemical composition, sources and impacts of atmospheric aerosols on air quality. Prof. Wenger was co-ordinator of the SAPPHIRE project, which highlighted the dominant contribution that solid fuel burning makes to wintertime air pollution in towns across Ireland, and played a key role in informing national policy in the area.
The levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in urban areas across Europe are elevated in winter months due to the burning of solid fuels for home heating. Identifying and quantifying the contribution that solid fuel burning makes to ambient PM2.5 is therefore a major goal in air pollution research. In this presentation, results from field-based research on residential solid fuel burning in towns and cities across Ireland over the last 15 years will be discussed. The studies employed online aerosol mass spectrometry techniques for the real-time, in situ chemical characterisation of PM2.5 and for obtaining chemical fingerprints of the aerosol particles produced from burning different solid fuels. This approach allowed source contribution estimates to be made for each fuel type – namely, peat, wood and coal. The outcomes of this research were instrumental in informing the development of the new Solid Fuel Regulations implemented by the Irish government in 2022. Preliminary results from a current project to assess the impact of these regulations on ambient air quality will also be presented.
