A Century of Vehicular Emissions in Brazil: Unveiling the Impacts of Unique Fuel Mix on Air Quality

Global emission inventories often fail to capture the complexities of vehicular pollution in regions with unique fuel mixes, such as Brazil’s extensive biofuel use, leading to significant uncertainties in atmospheric modeling. This study presents a century-long (1960–2100) bottom-up vehicular emission inventory for Brazil, leveraging locally derived emission factors. Our estimates reveal substantial discrepancies in magnitude, timing, and speciation of non-CO2 pollutants (CO, NMHC, PM2.5) compared to leading global inventories (EDGAR, CEDS, CAMS), highlighting critical inaccuracies in widely used data sets. More critically, future projections under Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) uncover a novel positive feedback mechanism: rising temperatures significantly enhance vehicular evaporative nonmethane hydrocarbon (NMHC) emissions. This temperature-dependent increase and subsequent NMHC oxidation to CO2 suggest an overlooked pathway that could amplify climate warming and air pollution globally, particularly after a breakpoint around 2050 (p < 0.05). While historical emissions peaked in the 1990s–2000s, nonexhaust PM becomes increasingly important. Air quality simulations using our inventory in the MUSICA model show good regional PM2.5 agreement but highlight challenges in resolving local primary pollutant peaks. This comprehensive inventory provides crucial data for Brazil and uncovers globally relevant climate–chemistry interactions, urging a re-evaluation of regional specificities in global emission assessments.