A comparative study of US EPA 1996 and 1999 emission inventories in the west Gulf of Mexico coast region, USA

Emission inventory is one of the required inputs to air quality models. To assist in the urban and regional modeling efforts, United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has compiled a National Emission Inventory (NEI) for criterion pollutants, and the precursors of ozone and particulate matter (PM). In December 2002, EPA released the 1999 NEI estimates (NEI99), which represent the most recent national emission data. However, the data sets are not in model-ready format for air quality simulations. This present work converts the NEI99 Final Version 2 data sets into Inventory Data Analyzer (IDA) format and processes the data using the Sparse Matrix Operator Kernel Emissions (SMOKE) modeling system to generate a gridded emission inventory in a domain covering the west Gulf Coast Region, USA. The spatial and diurnal emission characteristics of the gridded emission inventories are then assessed and compared with those of the National Emission Trend 1996 (NET96). The NEI99 database contains more complete emission records in both area and point sources. It is also found that NEI99 data exhibit greater emissions with respect to point and mobile sources but smaller emissions with respect to area sources when compared to the corresponding gridded NET96 data in the same study domain. The most distinct differences between the NEI99 and NET96 databases are CO emission of mobile sources, SO2 emissions of point sources, and VOC/PM/NH3/NOx emissions of area and non-road sources. The gridded NEI99 data show low VOC/NOx ratios (<2-5) in the urban areas of the study domain.     

“十三五”时期中国环境监管体制改革的形势、目标与若干建议

本文构建了包括监管的立法、组织体系、监管权力配置、监管工具与程序、问责机制、监管能力等要素在内的环境监管体制分析框架,从污染物排放趋势、国家制度建设等角度分析了"十三五"时期中国环境监管体制改革面临的挑战、目标和思路。"十三五"时期是中国生态文明建设的重要时期,完善环境监管制度是推进生态文明制度体系建设的重要内容。面对严重环境污染所带来的挑战,在此期间加快环境监管体制改革、提高环境监管有效性是切实实现治污减排的根本保证。完善环境监管体系、改进监管方式、创新监管手段是建立治污减排长效机制的基础和前提,也是完善环境治理体系的重要内容。按照市场经济条件下政府依法行政的要求,中国环境监管体制改革的目标,就是要按照合法性、独立性、透明性、可问责性、专业性和执法能力、可信性等原则建立和完善现代环境监管体制,为此必须从专门立法、组织结构、权力分配、问责机制、监管程序与工具、监管能力建设等各方面推进改革。本文提出了"十三五"时期环境监管体制改革的思路及若干建议,主要包括:加快修订环保法律法规,提高法律的可操作性,推进环境司法常态化、规范化和专门化,进一步提升环境监管法治化水平;从纵向、横向上优化环境监管组织结构,强化区域层级的监管与督查功能,强化中央层级环境监管机构对环境信息的获取能力;优化环境保护主管部门机构设置以及相关职能,建立并完善内部机构的协调机制;完善环境监管的内外部问责机制,把做实对监管者的监管机制作为优化环境监管体制的抓手;强化对监管工具的顶层设计,做实监管程序中关键环节,建立环境监管影响评估制度;加强环境监管能力建设,推进环境监管制度队伍职业化发展,保障各级环境监管机构具有充分履职的能力。环境监管体制的改革和完善,是国家治理体系和治理能力现代化的重要内容。     

Highway toll and air pollution: Evidence from Chinese cities

Most highways in urban China are tolled to finance their construction. During the eight-day National Day holiday in 2012, highway tolls were waived nationwide for passenger vehicles. We use this to identify the effects of highway tolls on air pollution. Using daily pollution and weather data for 98 Chinese cities in 2011 and 2012 and employing both a regression discontinuity design and differences-in-differences method with the 2011 National Day holiday as a control, we find that eliminating tolls increases pollution by 20% and decreases visibility by one kilometer. We also estimate that the toll elasticity of air pollution is −0.15. These findings complement the scant literature on the environmental impact of road pricing.     

空气污染天气过程与气象要素之间的关联性分析

随着经济和社会的不断发展,地球的环境正在遭受着严重的侵害,关于环境的问题也日益显现出来,比如全球变暖、雾霾等现象。本文分析了空气污染的因素、气象要素对空气质量的影响,并提出了防治空气污染的对策。     

土壤监测质量保证与质量控制

质量保证与质量控制措施是土壤监测工作在具体开展过程中确保其监测结果准确性、代表性、全面性的重要措施,同时也是土壤监测工作在具体开展过程中的核心工作内容。在环境保护与可持续发展战略情况下,采取全面有效的质量保证与质量控制措施可以确保并优化土壤监测结果的真实性、准确性和全面性,对促进土壤监测工作的优化发展具有非常重要的意义。基于此,本文针对土壤监测工作开展过程中应当实施的各项质量保证与质量控制措施进行了分析总结。     

大气污染防治与可持续发展探究

目前,我国积极开展大气污染防治工作,提出了系列防治工作目标,正在全面落实。做好大气污染的防治,并将其作为系统性工程,落实到实践,对推动社会经济可持续发展有着重要意义。本文基于可持续发展目的,针对当前大气污染防治工作做了简单论述,并提出了防治策略,希望能够给相关人员提供参考。     

污染源普查后区域环境管理应用探讨

在第二次全国污染源普查的基础上,利用污染源普查期间配置的软硬件,开发市级区域环境污染源管理平台,进行污染源数据的年度更新,拓展污染源普查软件应用,实现环境管理及环境执法移动终端的应用。拓展二污普一张图的功能,利用移动客户端机动实时及地定位导航等为环境管理执法和环境突发事件应急处置提供技术支持。     

Environmental forensic investigation of the air pollution from a cement manufacturing unit

Abstract

Cement manufacturing is a process that results in the emission of significant quantities of suspended particulate matter (SPM) to the ambient air. An environmental forensic investigation was carried out in the surroundings of a major cement manufacturing unit at a place called Coimbatore in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The investigation was carried out to identify the contribution of the cement manufacturing unit to the SPM concentration of the surrounding air environment. The sampling points’ selection and sample collection were done following the principles outlined in the INTERPOL Manual for Pollution Crime Forensic Investigation. On-site monitoring of the air samples was carried out using Mini Laser Aerosol Spectrometer (GRIMM, Mini-LAS Model 11R). The instrument was capable of measuring particles ranging from 0.25 to 32 µm and classifying them into 31 size channels. The test results at majority of the monitoring locations were well above the limits specified in the National Ambient Air Quality Standards of India. Microscopic studies of the dust samples were carried out for surface texture and particle shape. The spatial distribution of particles was analysed using geographic information system (GIS) for the visual identification of the extent of the pollution by keeping the cement factory as the focal point. The results from the GIS and microscopic analysis established the role of the cement factory in the particulate matter pollution of its surroundings, specifically in the areas North-West of the factory. The successfully adopted procedure can serve as a guideline for the environmental forensic investigation of similar pollution incidences.     

The synergistic effect of air mass on outdoor performance for different PV module in India

The effect of air mass (AM) on the performance of multi-crystalline silicon (m-Si), amorphous silicon (a-Si), and hetero-junction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT)-technology-based photovoltaic (PV) modules are evaluated for representative day of four seasons during the year 2011 for composite climate of India. To find the best performing PV module technology with respect to AM at the site, annual energy yields and performance ratio against different AM bands (AM 1–4.5) are plotted. It is found that HIT modules perform better than m-Si and a-Si at each AM band. Annual energy yields for all three technologies decrease with increasing order of AM bands. The performance ratio for HIT and m-SI modules initially increases and then decreases with increasing order of AM bands. However, for a-Si modules, the performance ratio decreases with increasing order of the AM bands.