‘Very high’ levels of air pollution recorded in Northern Ireland

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

Very high levels of air pollution have been recorded overnight in Newry – with other areas across Northern Ireland also suffering from increased levels.

The numbers have been blamed on weather conditions causing a build up of pollutants from cars and home heating.

According to the Department of the Environment the “pollution levels are the result of the still, misty and cold overnight weather conditions we are currently experiencing, which can lead to the build up of localised pollutants caused by emissions from vehicles and home heating”.

“Similar pollution levels may again occur later this evening (December 29), lasting until early tomorrow morning December, 30 2014 in urban areas of Northern Ireland.

“The prevailing weather conditions are expected to then change leading to a forecast of low pollution levels for Northern Ireland.”

The department said ‘very high’ levels were recorded in Newry between 2.30pm on December 28 and 5am on December 29.

‘High’ levels also occurred in Londonderry, with ‘moderate’ levels reported in Lisburn and Armagh.

via ‘Very high’ levels of air pollution recorded in Northern Ireland – BelfastTelegraph.co.uk.

Posted in Air Quality, Europe, UK | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Governor’s budget includes $20M to fight air pollution

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

Gov. Gary Herbert said he wants the state to continue on its path of “significant action” in the fight against air pollution, once again recommending that $20 million be spent to eliminate dirty, diesel-burning school buses.

Among his budget recommendations unveiled earlier this month: new funding for targeted air quality programs that include the school bus replacement program, more money for local-specific pollution research, and extra dollars for monitoring and compliance.

“We are pretty excited. I think the governor has shown his commitment to air quality through one of the most powerful tools that he has, which is his budget,” said Amanda Smith, executive director of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality. “We worked very closely with his staff and the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget to develop proposals for what we think are pretty strategic ways to help with the problem.”

A seven-county area — the Wasatch Front and Cache Valley — is out of compliance with federal clean air standards on fine particulate pollution, or PM2.5, because of 24-hour spikes driven by temperature inversions in the cold of winter.

The Utah Air Quality Board has passed a slew of new regulations clamping down on emissions from industry, small businesses and even changing what products can be purchased in the state, and Utah leaders are pushing an accelerated adoption of cleaner fuel and car standards.

In the 2014 session, lawmakers ponied up more than $3 million in new money to address air quality, and upped tax incentives for cleaner cars to address what has become one of the state’s most nagging public health problems.

It is a major category of air emissions when you have these older, diesel buses that we know are running in our nonattainment areas. We can get significant emission reductions if they convert to natural gas.–Amanda Smith, executive director of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality
Herbert’s budget last year included the $20 million to take care of the school buses — which was not funded — so he is reiterating the request for the 2016 fiscal-year budget.

Smith said the buses pollute the air and pose unacceptable health risks to children.

“It is a major category of air emissions when you have these older, diesel buses that we know are running in our nonattainment areas. We can get significant emission reductions if they convert to natural gas,” she said, adding that the conversion ends up being a fiscal boost for schools as well, given that natural gas is so much cheaper than diesel fuel.

“But probably the most critical thing is that our kids are sitting on the buses and breathing that air,” Smith said.

Another key funding request is the $1.5 million Herbert wants directed to the Clean Air Replacement, Retrofit and Off-Road Technology program, which uses grants to replace old, polluting equipment.

Smith said she believes this is pivotal in the air pollution fight because grant recipients must demonstrate specific pollution reductions if old equipment is replaced.

“It is very targeted funding,” she said, adding that the agency will look at helping businesses that use lawnmowers, snowblowers or other equipment in need of replacing.

The governor also wants $1.3 million to continue the free transit pass program for state employees. Smith said the program was rolled out last year as pilot between state agencies and the Utah Transit Authority, and the goal is to continue the program for 18,000 employees.

“It makes it really plausible to state agencies to ask employees to ride public transportation,” she said.

Herbert’s budget also directs extra money for legal services in the Division of Air Quality — to review permits — and offers another $400,000 for monitoring and compliance.

Tim Wagner, executive director of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, said the clean air advocacy organization is encouraged by many aspects of Herbert’s clean air funding initiatives.

“I think all of these funding requests sound pretty reasonable, and the (Clean Air Replacement, Retrofit and Off-Road Technology program) money will be effective,” he said.

Wagner added, however, that the group does not feel $400,000 is enough to boost compliance.

“The state needs to have a good enforcement arm, and they can only do that with a proper budget,” he said.

via Governor’s budget includes $20M to fight air pollution | KSL.com.

Posted in Air Quality, USA & Canada | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Average US Car Now Older, Resulting In More Air Pollution

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

Researchers at the University of Denver found that the US on-road freeway fleet age increased due to the global recession from 2008–2010. To put it simply, because consumers had less money available to purchase new vehicles, they hung on to the ones they owned, thus increasing the average age of vehicles being driven today.

There is an expected vehicle turnover for non-recession years that results in new vehicles entering the national fleet and older ones exiting. Older cars tend to emit more air pollution, so when consumers hang on to them and continue driving, more air pollution is generated.

The researchers captured vehicle data in Los Angeles, Tulsa, and Denver. Data for over 68,000 vehicles was studied.

They were able to quantify higher air pollution levels. “Using fleet fractions from previous data sets, we estimated age-adjusted mean emissions increases for the 2013 fleet to be 17–29% higher for carbon monoxide, 9–14% higher for hydrocarbons, 27–30% higher for nitric oxide, and 7–16% higher for ammonia emissions than if historical fleet turnover rates had prevailed.”

The Recession of 2008 and Its Impact on Light-Duty Vehicle Emissions in Three Western United States Cities, Gary A. Bishop and Donald H. Stedman, is the full study.

The researchers determined that the mean age of the 2013 fleet was nine years. Another factor related to the recession was that many drivers drove less to reduce their fuel consumption and save money. So, even though the fleet increased in age, overall air pollution from vehicles might not have increased.

Interestingly, sales of Chevy Volts and LEAFs have done well even though they have faced challenging economic times. They still represent a tiny portion of the fleet, however. The LEAF produces no tailpipe emissions, of course, and Chevy Volts are in the same bolt most of the time, largely running on electricity.

As the economy continues its very gradual recovery, will consumers return to buying new cars with better emissions controls? Will sales of Volts, LEAFs, and Teslas grow?

Hopefully, most of the fleet will some day soon-ish be made up of low-emission, super-low-emission, ultra-low-emission, and zero-emission vehicles.

via Average US Car Now Older, Resulting In More Air Pollution | CleanTechnica.

Posted in Air Quality, USA & Canada | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Alaska officials aim to submit air quality regulations by end of year

Posted on December 28, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

Public testimony wrapped up on the state’s proposed air quality regulations last week, and state officials believe they can have the regulations ready by the end of the year.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation received about 90 comments on the proposed regulations that deal with such items as opacity limits for wood stoves and what can and can’t be burned in a solid fuel stove.
The state is developing air quality regulations to tackle the chronic wintertime air pollution in some areas of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, mainly centered around the cities of Fairbanks and North Pole. Both areas, known together as the non-attainment area, are in violation of federal clean air standards enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA requires the state, by the end of 2014, to submit documents showing the state has a plan to clean up the air.

Division of Air Quality Director Alice Edwards said the testimony is being used to fine tune the regulations before they’re adopted and submitted to the EPA before the end of the year.

“A team of staff from the Division of Air Quality are reviewing all the comments received and working with the commissioner and Department of Law staff to refine our thinking and put the final package together,” she said.

The package of regulations along with the expected arrival of clean burning natural gas in the coming years is expected to clean up the air by 2019, a date that many clean air advocates say is too distant.

The public response to the state regulations was much more muted compared with when an earlier draft of the regulations was shown off last year. That initial draft, which had fewer specifics and more time for public testimony, drew much more interest and particularly strong opposition.

DEC spokesman Ty Keltner said about 330 people submitted comments on the last set of regulations.

Keltner said the comment sessions have produced ideas that won’t be able to make it into the plan submitted to the EPA in the coming days. But he said those ideas could find a place in amendments and updates to the plan.

“There were a lot of ideas that came up during this last round of public comment,” he said. “DEC will continue to consider these other suggestions and will continue to work with the Borough Assembly and the rest of the community to develop ideas to improve air in the Fairbanks North Star Borough non-attainment area.”

The Borough Assembly is considering its own set of air pollution regulations and, unlike the DEC, has the power to enforce its air pollution regulations through fines or citations.

Many assembly members were critical of the state’s regulations, saying they didn’t do enough to clean up the air. But they grudgingly supported the regulations.

via Alaska officials aim to submit air quality regulations by end of year – Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Local News.

Posted in Air Quality, USA & Canada | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

China Is Finally Updating Its Air Pollution Laws

Posted on December 24, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

China plans tougher pollution limits and heavier penalties in a revision of its air pollution law, state-run news agency Xinhua said, as the government battles to reduce smog that takes hundreds of thousands of lives each year.

The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress is this week considering a draft that would impose fines of up to 1 million yuan ($160,000) or even shut down factories that exceed emission limits, Xinhua reported late Monday.

China’s current law came into force in 1987, and despite a 2000 revision has not been updated to address the nation’s recent rapid economic growth, which has left major urban centers choked by smog.

Last month, a study by green group Natural Resources Defense Council said that pollution from the coal industry alone killed 670,000 people in China in 2012.

“Air pollution problems in certain regions have become prominent and smoggy days are often seen, all of which demonstrate that the existing law cannot fit in the current situation,” Environment Minister Zhou Shengxian said, according to Xinhua.

A first draft of the new law was released by the State Council, China’s cabinet, in September.

The revised law will set stricter standards for China’s 264 million vehicles as well as for the coal industry and heavy-polluting manufacturing.

It will also include an early-warning system and contingency procedures for when pollution spikes in particularly affected areas, such as in the Beijing-Hebei-Tianjin region, which in the third quarter of 2014 suffered from pollution 45 percent of the time, Xinhua said.

Some of the measures outlined in the draft have already been put into place, although environmental policies are difficult to implement in China, partly because local agencies often lack the authority to penalize powerful state-owned companies.

A new environmental protection law will enter into force on Jan. 1, giving more power to environmental authorities to enforce pollution laws.

via China Is Finally Updating Its Air Pollution Laws – Business Insider.

Posted in Air Quality, Asia, China | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Mexico’s new world-class heavy-duty vehicle emission standards show vision and leadership

Posted on December 23, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

The achievement by Mexico’s Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) in proposing new heavy-duty vehicle emissions standards, aligned with standards in place in the rest of North America and in the European Union, places Mexico at the forefront of clean vehicle policy in Latin America and other rapidly growing vehicle markets worldwide. Formal publication of the proposal on December 17, 2014, opened a 60-day public comment period. Final adoption of the standard will virtually eliminate fine particle and black carbon emissions from new diesel trucks. With it, Mexico joins a very short list of countries (U.S., Canada, Japan, European Union, and South Korea) with best-in-class, filter-based standards for heavy-duty vehicles.

These world-class standards will bring significant air quality, health, and climate benefits, and multiple co-benefits for industry and consumers. The cost-benefit analysis for the proposal, done in part using the ICCT Roadmap Model Health Module, found that in the year 2037 the new standards will prevent 6,800 premature deaths from exposure to PM2.5 emissions in urban areas. Avoided emissions in that year will total 24,000 tons of PM2.5, 17,000 tons of black carbon, and 410,000 tons of NOX. The climate benefits of these emissions reductions will amount to the equivalent of 54 million tons of CO2 (using a 20-year global warming potential). Net cumulative economic benefits to Mexico of the standard over the period 2018 to 2037 add up to US$123 billion. And these figures, impressive as they are, do not take into account the savings in fuel consumption expected from new and more efficient engines. The new standards will also confer significant additional but as yet unquantified health benefits, including reductions in asthma, bronchitis, stroke, heart attack and other cardio and pulmonary disorders.

“This proposal is the culmination of years of hard work,” said Kate Blumberg, senior fellow and Mexico country program lead at the ICCT, “and the dedicated staff at SEMARNAT that made this happen are to be commended. The heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers also played a very positive and collaborative role in the process. It is a tremendous victory for public health, especially in cities. And the climate benefits of the reductions in black carbon emissions are also a great step forward.”

Not only will the standards have very important direct climate and health benefits (99% reduction in black carbon emissions from new vehicles, 98% reduction in PM emissions, and a 95% reduction in NOx), they will also enable development of additional policy measures to reduce conventional pollutants and GHG emissions from new and in-use heavy-duty trucks.

This proposal has been a priority for local NGOs concerned with air quality and health. Gustavo Alanis-Ortega, director general of the Mexican Environmental Law Center (CEMDA), recognized the effort of local NGOs that participated in its development. “Strong campaigns by local NGOs have raised awareness in Mexico of the impacts of particulate matter and black carbon, helping to move this regulation forward. Our community will work to ensure adoption and proper implementation, and is already seeking opportunities to accelerate fleet renovation and adoption of the cleanest technologies.”

Drew Kodjak, executive director of the ICCT, noted that Mexico is one of the founders of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (CCAC). “Heavy-duty diesel engines are one of the most important sources of black carbon and other harmful emissions, and one that we have proven, well-understood strategies for cleaning up,” said Kodjak. “We need other growing markets to put these kinds of world-class emissions standards in place.”

via [Press release] Mexico’s new world-class heavy-duty vehicle emission standards show vision and leadership | International Council on Clean Transportation.

Posted in Air Quality, Latin America, Mexico | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Liverpool air pollution is cutting lives short: Shocking new figures reveal impact of toxic emissions

Posted on December 23, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

More than 200 people died in Liverpool from illnesses related to air pollution in 2010, sparking a successful push for funds to improve city’s air quality

A project to improve Liverpool’s air quality has been backed with a £10k grant after shocking figures revealed the impact toxic emissions could be having on people living in the city.

Official Public Health England statistics estimate 239 people died as a result of illnesses associated with air pollution in Liverpool in 2010 – their lives believed to have been cut short by as much as a combined 2,440 years.

In a bid to improve the city’s air quality, the Liverpool Air Project has now received funding and is calling for local artists, designers, and scientists to get involved.

Despite being a coastal city with a low level of car ownership, it is claimed Liverpool has consistently broken European limits on nitrogen dioxide emissions.

Matt Fox, air pollution project manager for Engage Liverpool, said the bulk of nitrogen dioxide emissions in Liverpool come from transport, specifically diesel-reliant methods of transport like taxis, private vehicles and local buses.

Toxic to humans and animal life, nitrogen dioxide causes acid rain and is linked to acute respiratory illnesses.

“People think they’re doing the right thing by buying a diesel-run vehicle to save on carbon dioxide emissions (but) overwhelmingly, the best thing to do is walk or cycle,” Mr Fox said.

The city has been declared an “Air Quality Management Area” in order to try to tackle the high levels of nitrogen dioxide emissions and the Liverpool Air Project fought off hundreds of schemes to win financial support from the European Cultural Foundation’s Idea Camp.

Run by Engage Liverpool, a social enterprise founded in 2007, the project will bring artists and scientists together to think about air quality and how to engage with the public to improve the quality of the city’s air, possibly through live art events and urban designs.

One solution emerging through research is that green spaces can help clean air, capturing pollutants and providing urban spaces which are far away from busy roads.

Green Walls – vertical walls covered in plants – can also help clean air.

The project will run throughout 2015 and will include an open call for local artists, designers, and scientists to get involved.

Engage Liverpool’s researcher Matthew Fox said: “We need to think deeply about how our behaviour – especially when we drive through the city centre – impacts on those with breathing problems like asthma, and about how air pollution in the city can harm the lungs of young children, who are especially vulnerable.

via Liverpool air pollution is cutting lives short: Shocking new figures reveal impact of toxic emissions – Liverpool Echo.

Posted in Air Quality, Europe, UK | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

China’s largest coal power plant violating air pollution levels every week

Posted on December 22, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

Waigaoqiao plant in Shanghai releasing dangerous nitrogen oxides in excess of national emission standards, study finds

China’s largest coal-fired power plant has been violating national emission standards for chemicals that cause dangerous fine particulate matter pollution, official figures show.

The Waigaoqiao coal-fired power plant located in Shanghai has been violating China’s national standards for nitrogen oxides every week since new standards came into force in July, according to analysis of publicly available government data by researchers at Greenpeace East Asia.

The data shows that phase two of the Waigaoqiao plant, which has a capacity of 1,800MW, has been emitting nitrogen oxides in excess of emission standards used by the local environmental protection bureau 18% of the time.

Research by Greenpeace also shows that the local regulator is not yet using the national standards on nitrogen oxides. If the new standards were being used, the group said the plant would be in violation almost all of the time.

Waigaoqiao is often praised as the cleanest coal-powered plant in China and is seen as a showcase for other plants in the country. However such a large violation of emissions standards at this plant shows that China is still struggling with enforcing its environmental protection laws and regulations.

“The gap in enforcement is still there,” said Ma Jun, the director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs in Beijing, which also monitors pollution levels throughout China. The case shows that even in the well-developed coastal regions of China “there is still an enforcement gap, but the gap is bigger in the mid and western parts of China,” he said.

Lauri Myllyvirta, a senior global coal campaigner with Greenpeace, said: “the systematic violations, in a mega power plant in the middle of China’s most important economic centre and the failure by the regulator to effectively intervene illustrate the challenge that China faces in controlling emissions from its massive coal industry”.

Greenpeace also looked at figures for the neighbouring province of Jiangsu and found that in July, half of the coal-fired plants were violating the regulations on nitrogen oxides. “This is not a single case but maybe in the whole country the power plants have the same problem,” said Fang Lifeng, a coal expert with Greenpeace, based in Beijing.

Advertisement

Nitrogen oxides are one of the main contributors to fine particulate pollution known as PM2.5 which is considered dangerous because it penetrates deep into the lungs. PM2.5 pollution was linked to 670,000 premature deaths in 2012, according to a study released in November.

While China has made progress in dealing with other components of air pollution including sulphur dioxide, it has only recently started to deal with the issue of nitrogen oxides.

China is still facing many issues in terms of enforcement of its environmental regulations but there has been a lot of progress made on transparency of data and it is now publishing real-time data from a huge number of power and industrial plants.

“With this I think China has made some remarkable progress and we need to recognise that. The real-time disclosure of the online monitoring data on such a massive scale, China is probably the first country to do that,” said Ma Jun.

“It demonstrates that in China there has been some real political will to try to deal with the problems.”

via China’s largest coal power plant violating air pollution levels every week | Environment | The Guardian.

Posted in Air Quality, Asia, China | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment