Minimizing external indirect health costs due to aerosol population exposure: a case study from Northern Italy

Environmental Agencies require Decision Support Systems, in order to plan Air Quality Policies considering the cost of emission reduction measures and the human health effects (with related social costs). The use of Decision Support Systems is also useful to spread information to general public, explaining the effectiveness of proposed air quality plans. In this paper, a multi-objective approach to control PM10 concentration at a regional level is presented. The problem considers both the internal costs (due to the implementation of emission reduction measures) and the external costs (due to population exposure to high PM10 concentrations). To model PM10 concentrations, a single surrogate model is used for the entire domain, allowing the implementation of a very efficient optimization procedure. The surrogate model is derived through a set of 10 simulations, performed using a Chemistry Transport Model fed with different emission reduction scenarios. The methodology is applied to Northern Italy, a region affected by very high PM10 concentrations that exceed the limit values specified by the EU legislation.     

Control strategies for vehicular NOx emissions in Guangzhou, China

Guangzhou is a city in southern China that has experienced very rapid economic development in recent years. The city's air has very high concentrations of various pollutants, including sulphur dioxide (SO₂), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), ozone (O₃) and particulate. This paper reviews the changes in air quality in the city over the past 15 years, and notes that a serious vehicular-related emissions problem has been superimposed on the traditional coal-burning problem evident in most Chinese cities. As NOx concentrations have increased, oxidants and photochemical smog now interact with the traditional SO₂ and particulate pollutants, leading to increased health risks and other environmental concerns.
Any responsible NOx control strategy for the city must include vehicle emission control measures. This paper reviews control strategies designed to abate vehicle emissions to fulfill the city's air quality improvement target in 2010. A cost-effectiveness analysis suggests that, while NOx emission control is expensive, vehicular emission standards could achieve a relatively sizable emissions reduction at reasonable cost. To achieve the 2010 air quality target of NOx, advanced implementation of EURO3 standards is recommended, substituting for the EURO2 currently envisioned in the national regulations. Related technical options, including fuel quality improvements and inspection/maintenance (I/M) upgrades (ASM or IM240), are assessed as well.     

美日臭氧污染问题及治理经验借鉴研究

以臭氧(O_3)为主要成分的"光化学氧化剂"是光化学烟雾的真身。臭氧污染受臭氧前体物排放及其复杂的相互转化关系控制,导致臭氧污染问题在治理过程中具有高度的复杂性和反复性,甚至成为全球性环境难题。我国城市群臭氧污染问题继PM2.5污染后日趋突出,本文探讨和总结了美国洛杉矶、日本东京等大都市在污染治理方面的经验,以期为我国构建更加全面、科学、系统的治理体系推进臭氧污染防治工作提供借鉴。     

What is driving the EU burden-sharing agreement: Efficiency or equity?

Under the Kyoto Protocol the European Union agreed to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 8 percent. The Burden-Sharing Agreement (BSA) redistributes the reduction target among the member states. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the BSA. To determine if cost efficiency was considered, marginal abatement costs (MACs) are first calculated based on an estimation of the directional output distance function using country production data for 1990-2000. MACs, together with equity indicators, are then regressed on the emission change targets. The main conclusion is that both efficiency and equity were important aspects considered in the settlement.     

A project-based system for including farmers in the EU ETS

Farmers in the EU do not trade greenhouse gases under the Kyoto agreement. This is an empirical puzzle because agriculture is a significant contributor of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the EU and may harvest private net gains from trade. Furthermore, the US has strongly advocated land-use practices as 'the missing link' in past climate negotiations. We argue that farmers have relatively low marginal reduction costs and that consequences in terms of the effect on permit price and technology are overall positive in the EU Emission Trading System (ETS). Thus, we propose a project-based system for including the farming practices in the EU ETS that reduces the uncertainty from measuring emission reduction in this sector. The system encourages GHG reduction either by introducing a new and less polluting practice or by reducing the polluting activity. When doing so, farmers will receive GHG permits corresponding to the amount of reduction which can be stored for later use or sold in the EU ETS.     

以电代煤的经济与环境效益分析

我国《能源发展战略行动计划(2014—2020年)》指出,加快构建清洁、高效、安全、可持续的现代能源体系,重点实施"绿色低碳"等四种能源发展战略,因此"以电代煤"将成为我国未来能源战略中的一项重要选择。本文运用技术经济分析法和排放系数法,计算了八大主要用能部门以电代煤的经济成本和环境价值。计算结果表明:各部门用电设备的初始投资和电力消费等经济成本是燃煤设备的初始投资及燃煤消费等经济成本的1.8~2.8倍,但是,以用电设备替代燃煤设备的环境价值非常可观。在考虑了环境外部性成本后,居民生活行业,商业,非金属矿物制品业,石油加工、炼焦和核燃料加工业,化学原料和化学制品制造业,以及非高耗能工业六个部门进行"以电代煤"在目前的情况下具有经济可行性,而有色金属冶炼和压延工业,以及黑色金属冶炼和压延工业"以电代煤"暂时不具有经济可行性。最后,提出了相关政策建议。     

A comprehensive waste collection cost model applied to post-consumer plastic packaging waste

Post-consumer plastic packaging waste (PPW) can be collected for recycling via source separation or post-separation. In source separation, households separate plastics from other waste before collection, whereas in post-separation waste is separated at a treatment centre after collection. There are also two collection schemes, either curb side or via drop-off locations. These different schemes have impact on total costs of collection at the municipal level. It can also influence the facility choices and network design. Therefore, a method which can compare costs of various collection schemes is needed.A comprehensive cost model was developed to compare costs of municipal collection schemes of PPW. The ‘municipal waste collection cost model’ is based on variables including fixed and variable costs per vehicle, personnel cost, container or bag costs as well as on emission costs (using imaginary carbon taxes). The model can be used for decision support when strategic changes to the collection scheme of municipalities are considered. The model takes into account the characteristics of municipalities, including urbanization degree and taxation schemes for household waste management.The model was applied to the Dutch case of post-consumer plastic packaging waste. Results showed that that in general post-separation collection has the lowest costs and curb side collection in urban municipalities without residual waste collection taxing schemes the highest. These results were supported by the conducted sensitivity analysis, which showed that higher source separation responses are negatively related to curb side collection costs. Greenhouse gas emission costs are a significant part of the total costs when collecting post-consumer plastic packaging waste due to the low density to weight ratio of the materials collect. These costs can amount to 15% of the total collection costs.     

经济集聚、收入差距对水污染影响的时空分析——基于中介效应和动态空间门槛效应检验

本研究将经济集聚、收入差距和化学需氧量（COD）排放强度纳入统一框架下，构建时空双向固定效应的动态空间杜宾模型（DSDM）和门槛空间动态面板模型（SDPTM），通过中国2011-2020年省级面板数据实证检验，考察经济集聚和收入差距对COD排放强度的影响机制。研究发现：①经济集聚呈“先促排、后减排”的倒“U”形特征，具有本地空间减排效应和空间溢出减排效应；②收入差距呈非线性的倒“N”形特征，具有本地空间减排效应，经济集聚在收入差距对COD排放的影响中存在门槛效应，当经济集聚超过门槛值1.1164时，收入差距的促排和减排效应均明显增强；③收入差距呈倒“N”形特征，具有空间溢出减排效应，且收入差距的长期空间溢出减排效应明显减弱；④收入差距在经济集聚时对COD排放强度的影响中起部分中介效应；⑤COD排放强度具有显著的时间和空间路径依赖性，经济集聚对COD排放的空间依赖特征的影响具有显著的区域异质性。     

Application of a Multi-Objective Optimization Method to Provide Least Cost Alternatives for NPS Pollution Control

Nonpoint source (NPS) pollutants such as phosphorus, nitrogen, sediment, and pesticides are the foremost sources of water contamination in many of the water bodies in the Midwestern agricultural watersheds. This problem is expected to increase in the future with the increasing demand to provide corn as grain or stover for biofuel production. Best management practices (BMPs) have been proven to effectively reduce the NPS pollutant loads from agricultural areas. However, in a watershed with multiple farms and multiple BMPs feasible for implementation, it becomes a daunting task to choose a right combination of BMPs that provide maximum pollution reduction for least implementation costs. Multi-objective algorithms capable of searching from a large number of solutions are required to meet the given watershed management objectives. Genetic algorithms have been the most popular optimization algorithms for the BMP selection and placement. However, previous BMP optimization models did not study pesticide which is very commonly used in corn areas. Also, with corn stover being projected as a viable alternative for biofuel production there might be unintended consequences of the reduced residue in the corn fields on water quality. Therefore, there is a need to study the impact of different levels of residue management in combination with other BMPs at a watershed scale. In this research the following BMPs were selected for placement in the watershed: (a) residue management, (b) filter strips, (c) parallel terraces, (d) contour farming, and (e) tillage. We present a novel method of combing different NPS pollutants into a single objective function, which, along with the net costs, were used as the two objective functions during optimization. In this study we used BMP tool, a database that contains the pollution reduction and cost information of different BMPs under consideration which provides pollutant loads during optimization. The BMP optimization was performed using a NSGA-II based search method. The model was tested for the selection and placement of BMPs in Wildcat Creek Watershed, a corn dominated watershed located in northcentral Indiana, to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment, and pesticide losses from the watershed. The Pareto optimal fronts (plotted as spider plots) generated between the optimized objective functions can be used to make management decisions to achieve desired water quality goals with minimum BMP implementation and maintenance cost for the watershed. Also these solutions were geographically mapped to show the locations where various BMPs should be implemented. The solutions with larger pollution reduction consisted of buffer filter strips that lead to larger pollution reduction with greater costs compared to other alternatives.     

Optimized acid rain abatement strategies using ecological goals

This article addresses the use of critical loads in optimized emission abatement strategies. Critical loads represent the maximum tolerable deposition possible without adverse impacts, a limit that is highly spatially variable. As deposition targets, critical loads cannot be satisfied at all receptors in Europe. Consequently, there is a need for alternative criteria that still relate to ecological indicators, yet that are feasible, consistent, and equitable. Two criteria are suggested: the relative critical load coverage and the relative deposition reduction. Deposition goals based on these criteria will guarantee that a specified fraction of ecosystems will attain target loads and thus will be protected from adverse environmental impacts. In areas that cannot achieve target loads with the best available control measures, deposition can be reduced to a specified fraction of the unabated level. Examples are presented that demonstrate their derivation and application of the two criteria. The criteria have been implemented in the European-scale Regional Acidification Information and Simulation (RAINS) model. Results obtained indicate that optimized emission strategies based on critical loads may be similar to emission strategies based on deposition reductions at certain levels of the two criteria. This suggests that it may not be necessary to utilize critical loads to formulate deposition targets. A second example shows the effect of excluding countries from European cost minimization. A country's participation can save costs with moderate deposition targets; however, significant costs can be imposed with low (stringent) deposition targets. These preliminary results have significant implications for multilateral negotiations.     

Process design for the environment: A multi-objective framework under uncertainty

Designing chemical processes for the environment requires consideration of several indexes of environmental impact including ozone depletion, global warming potentials, human and aquatic toxicity, photochemical oxidation, and acid rain potentials. Current methodologies, such as the generalized waste reduction algorithm (WAR), provide a first step towards evaluating these impacts. However, to address the issues of accuracy and the relative weights of these impact indexes, one must consider the problem of uncertainties. Environmental impacts must also be weighted and balanced against other concerns, such as their cost and long-term sustainability. These multiple, often conflicting, goals pose a challenging and complex optimization problem, requiring multi-objective optimization under uncertainty. This paper will address the problem of quantifying and analyzing the various objectives involved in process design for the environment. Towards this goal, we proposed a novel multi-objective optimization framework under uncertainty. This framework is based on new and efficient algorithms for multi-objective optimization and for uncertainty analysis. This approach finds a set of potentially optimal designs where trade-offs can be explicitly identified, unlike cost-benefit analysis, which deals with multiple objectives by identifying a single fundamental objective and then converting all the other objectives into this single currency. A benchmark process for hydrodealkylation (HDA) of toluene to produce benzene modeled in the ASPEN simulator is used to illustrate the usefulness of the approach in finding environmentally friendly and cost-effective designs under uncertainty.     

Strategies for Emission Reduction of Air Pollutants Produced from a Chemical Plant

Various air pollution control (APC) techniques were employed in order to reduce emissions of air pollutants produced from chemical plants, which have many different chemical production facilities. For an emission reduction of acid gases, this study employed a method to improve solubility of pollutants by decreasing the operating temperature of the scrubbers, increasing the surface area for effective contact of gas and liquid, and modifying processes in the acid scrubbers. To reduce emission of both amines and acid gases, pollutant gas components were first separated, then condensation and/or acid scrubbing, depending on the chemical and physical properties of pollutant components, were used. To reduce emission of solvents, condensation and activated carbon adsorption were employed. To reduce emission of a mixture gases containing acid gases and solvents, the mixed gases were passed into the first condenser, the acid scrubber, the second condenser, and the activated carbon adsorption tower in sequence. As a strategy to reduce emission of pollutants at the source, this study also employed the simple pollution prevention concept of modification of the previously operating APC control device. Finally, air emissions of pollutants produced from the chemical plants were much more reduced by applying proper APC methods, depending upon the types (physical or chemical properties) and the specific emission situations of pollutants.     

Reduction of ammonia emission by shallow slurry injection: injection efficiency and additional energy demand

Ammonia (NH3) emission from livestock production causes undesirable environmental effects and a loss of plant-available nitrogen. Much atmospheric NH3 is lost from livestock manure applied in the field. The NH3 emission may be reduced by slurry injection, but slurry injection in general, and especially on grassland, increases the energy demand and places heavy demands on the slurry injection techniques used. The reduction in NH3 emission, injection efficiency, and energy demand of six different shallow slurry-injection techniques was examined. The NH3 emission from cattle slurry applied to grassland was reduced by all the injectors tested in the study, but there were major differences in the NH3 reduction potential of the different types of injectors. Compared with the trailing hose spreading technique, the NH3 loss was reduced by 75% when cattle slurry was injected using the most efficient slurry injection technique, and by 20% when incorporated by the least efficient injection technique. The reduction in NH3 emission was correlated with injection depth and the volume of the slot created. The additional energy demand for reducing ammonia emissions by slurry injection was approximately 13 000 kJ ha(-1) for a 20% reduction and 34 000 kJ ha(-1) for a 75% reduction. The additional energy demand corresponds to additional emissions of, respectively, 5.6 and 14.5 kg CO2 per ha injected.     

Assessing Health Benefits of Controlling Air Pollution from Power Generation: The Case of a Lignite-Fired Power Plant in Thailand

The impact pathway approach (IPA) is used to estimate quantitatively the level of health effects caused by particulate matter (PM₁₀) and sulfur dioxide (SO₂) emission from a lignite-fired power plant located in the Mae Moh area in northern region of Thailand. Health benefits are then assessed by comparing the levels of estimated health impacts without and with the installation of the flue gas desulfurization (FGD) equipment. The US EPA industrial source complex model is used to model air pollution dispersion at the local scale, and the sector average limited mixing meso-scale model is used to model air pollution transport at the regional scale. The quantification of the health end points in physical terms is carried out using the dose–response functions established recently for the population in Bangkok, Thailand. Monetarization of these effects is based on the benefit transfer method with appropriate adjustment. Finally, it has been found that the installation of the FGD to control SO₂ emission at Mae Moh significantly reduces adverse health effects not only on the population living near the power plant but also all over the country. A FGD unit installed at the 300-MW power unit can result, on average, in 16 fewer cases of acute mortality, 12 fewer cases of respiratory and cardiac hospital admissions, and almost 354,000 fewer days with acute respiratory symptoms annually. In monetary terms this benefit is equivalent to US $18.2 million (1995 prices) per annum. This benefit is much higher than the annualized investment and operation costs of FGD (US $7.4 million/yr).     

Mining economics and the environment

A mining operation can affect the environment adversely and create costs to others that are external to the mining firm, if no constraints are imposed. To deal with this problem of externalities, various regulatory steps can be taken, eg effluent taxation, subsidies, regulation of emissions by command, and use of emission permits that are tradeable. Bargaining between the polluter and the damaged party over the level of production and compensation remains a more theoretical option. Regardless of what regulatory approach is adopted to transform external costs into internal costs, the resulting higher costs will have an impact on the decisions of a mining firm. Information processes, traditionally focused on finding deposits, have now been broadened to include an environmental dimension. Operating practices can be modified to reflect the need for stable long-term solutions of waste disposal problems. On the industry level, environmental regulation may lead to sterilization of resources, to higher prices for some commodities and to distortions of competitiveness among commodity producing countries.     

工业治污运营的新模式——系统化合同减排模式

分析了目前国内工业废水治理的现状及传统工业治污模式的弊端,对工业治污专业运营的新方式—系统化合同减排模式进行了探讨,指出该系统化合同减排模式是工业治污切实可行的途径,积极推行之,必将有力促进政府、金融机构、排污企业和治污企业形成合力,各施其职、各负其责,可进一步推进工业治污的技术创新,降低治污成本,使工业污染治理取得事半功倍的效果。     

中央空调节能减排技术改造——实例探析

通过实施中央空调系统全方位节能减排技术，优化电网安全用电，节省电费开支，减少建设成本。不仅可收到可观的经济效益，而且能取得良好的社会效益，是我国建设资源节约型、环境友好型社会的必然要求。节能减排，减少污染，应立足本职．把节能减排工作抓紧抓好，推而广之。     

Economics and GHG emission reduction of a PLA bio-refinery system—Combining bottom-up analysis with price elasticity effects

This paper analyses energy savings, GHG emission reductions and costs of bio-refinery systems for polylactic acid (PLA) production. The systems comprise ‘multi-functional’ uses of biomass resources, i.e. use of agricultural residues for energy consumption, use of by-products, and recycling and waste-to-energy recovery of materials. We evaluate the performance of these systems per kg of bio-based polymer produced and per ha of biomass production. The evaluation is done using data of Poland assuming that biomass and PLA production is embedded in a European energy and material market. First, the performance of different bio-refinery systems is investigated by means of a bottom-up chain analysis. Second, an analysis is applied that derives market prices of products and land depending on the own-price elasticity of demand. Thus, the costs of bio-refinery systems depending on the demand of land and material are determined. It is found that all PLA bio-refinery systems considered lead to net savings of non-renewable energy consumption of 70–220 GJ/(ha yr) and net GHG emission reductions of 3–17 Mg CO_2eq/(ha yr). Most of these PLA bio-refinery systems lead to net costs for the overall system of up to 4600 €/(ha yr). PLA production from short rotation wood leads to net benefits of about 1100 €/(ha yr) if a high amount of a high value product, i.e. fibres, is produced. Multi-functionality is necessary to ensure the viability of PLA bio-refinery systems from biomass with regard to energy savings and GHG emission reduction. However, the multi-functional use of biomass does not contribute much to overall incomes. Multifunctional biomass use – especially the use of biomass residues for energy consumption – contributes significantly to savings of non-renewable energy sources. Own-price elasticity of the demand for materials influences the overall costs of the bio-refinery system strongly. The own-price elasticity of land demand markets could become important if bio-refineries are introduced on a large scale.     

Electrochemical NOx reduction and oxidation of HC and PM emissions from biodiesel fuelled diesel engines using electrochemically activated cell

NOx emission is produced during combustion of fuels at high temperature. Excessive release of NOx causes several effects on living organisms and environment. In this work, the efforts to reduce NOx emission by developing electrochemically activated cells (EACs) for a diesel engine fuelled with diesel and biodiesel fuel are discussed. EAC technique is vital after treatment technology attempted in this work to simultaneous control of NOx, HC, and PM emissions. In this method, two types of EACs were developed. The CuO–YSZ electrolyte and CuO–YSZ electrolyte with BaO coating were developed and tested with diesel and biodiesel exhaust. Compared with diesel fuel, use of biodiesel fuel increased NOx emission by 11% and PM emission was slightly reduced with biodiesel, which was due to the presence of fuel bond oxygen content in biodiesel. The investigation has demonstrated low-temperature activation of the EACs at 250–350°C which was due to the addition of CuO to YSZ. In this work, maximum NOx reduction was achieved for CuO–YSZ cells with BaO NOx storage and the simultaneous control of HC and PM emission also was observed in this technique. NOx reduction by EAC is a vital technique and can be retrofitted with any diesel engine for emission reduction.     

Industrial-scale demonstration of a new sorbent reactivation technology for fluidized bed combustors

To minimize the disposal of highly reactive spent sorbent from a fluidized bed combustor, a new method for reactivation has been developed. The method consists of grinding the spent ash in a rotary mill, hydrating the ash with an excess of water, and mixing the wet ground ash with dry solids to absorb the excess water. The mixing process eliminates the formation of a concrete-like product that normally results as wet fluidized bed combustor ash ages. Pilot-scale combustion trials proved to be successful, and the process was scaled up using a 35MWt utility boiler at Purdue University. The test lasted for 3 days and resulted in net reduction of limestone sorbent use of 18%. The results generated in this work have been used to develop an economic evaluation for a 165MWe circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler, which projects significant savings due to reduction of limestone supply and ash disposal costs. The evaluation also suggests that the process is cost competitive with other processes, albeit that those processes have not been demonstrated at industrial scale. Furthermore, it also has the potential to make a small net reduction in CO(2) emissions, due to reduced limestone usage.