Speaker: Jeremy Rochussen

Jeremy Rochussen is a research engineer working in UBC’s Mechanical Engineering Department and the program manager for UBC’s Urban Freight System Emissions program. His current research focus is on improving the fidelity and utility of real-world measurement methods and datasets collected from in-use heavy-duty transport systems (on-road, rail, maritime). He has over 10 years of experience conducting laboratory and field experimental studies on the combustion and emissions of alternative fuels.

Topic: Emissions Reduction: Utilizing & Collecting Data

Urban freight systems operate in dense population centers, where their activities contribute to both greenhouse-gas emissions and local air-quality impacts. However, the real-world behaviour of trucks, trains, and marine vessels often differs markedly from standardized duty cycles. This renders conventional laboratory or steady-state emission factors unreliable and motivates the development of new approaches to emissions characterization. UBC’s Urban Freight Emissions Program addresses this gap by developing measurement techniques and generating actionable datasets that capture how freight systems actually operate in urban environments.

This presentation examines GHG and air-pollutant emissions using real on-board data collected from biofuel (B50, B100) and LNG-powered vessels operating in the Salish Sea. It will also highlight the development of measurement methods and performance metrics for collecting, interpreting, and comparing in-use emissions. Results show how off-cycle vessel behaviour and fuel properties shape NOx, black carbon, and GHG emissions, and why credible assessments require continuous, real-world datasets rather than single emission factors.