Controlling urban air pollution caused by households: uncertainty, prices, and income

We examine the control of air pollution caused by households burning wood for heating and cooking in the developing world. Since the problem is one of controlling emissions from nonpoint sources, regulations are likely to be directed at household choices of wood consumption and combustion technologies. Moreover, these choices are subtractions from, or contributions to, the pure public good of air quality. Consequently, the efficient policy design is not independent of the distribution of household income. Since it is unrealistic to assume that environmental authorities can make lump sum income transfers part of control policies, efficient control of air pollution caused by wood consumption entails a higher tax on wood consumption and a higher subsidy for more efficient combustion technologies for higher income households. Among other difficulties, implementing a policy to promote the adoption of cleaner combustion technologies must overcome the seemingly paradoxical result that efficient control calls for higher technology subsidies for higher income households.     

Coercive versus cooperative pollution control: Comparative study of state programs to reduce erosion and sedimentation pollution in urban areas

This article examines coercive and cooperative approaches to implementing state urban erosion and sedimentation pollution control programs. State administrators report serious shortfalls in their ability to control sources of pollution, but comparison of more and less successful programs provides evidence of what states can do to make programs more effective. Key ingredients for a successful state effort include the use of coercion with both the private sector and local government, adequate staffing, application of severe sanctions when violations of state standards are detected, and provision of technical assistance. Many state programs lack one or more of those elements, which explains their inability to adequately control urban erosion and sedimentation pollution.     

Urban air pollution and atmospheric diffusion research in China

Air pollution has become a serious problem in China as a result of that country's efforts in the last 30 years to become a great industrial power. The burning of coal, which currently provides over 70% of all China's energy needs, is a major source of air pollution. Because Chinese coal is high in sulfur and ash content and because most combustion devices in China have low efficiencies, SO₂ and particulate emissions are a serious problem and are comparable to or exceed those found in many countries that are much more industrialized. Although most coal is burned in North China, acid precipitation is most severe in South China because of the lack of buffering loess dust found in the former region.The Chinese government has already taken major steps to mitigate air pollution, such as relocating polluting industries, supplying coal with lower sulfur content, using gas instead of coal for residential heating, and levying fines on industries that exceed pollution standards. Atmospheric environmental impact assessment (AEIA) is also required for all major new projects. This article describes three types of mathematical diffusion models and field and wind-tunnel experiments that are used in such assessments.The Chinese authorities believe that a range of technological, managerial, locational, and behavioral changes must be effected before the air of Chinese cities can be significantly improved.     

Impacts of pollution controls on air quality in Beijing during the 2008 Olympic Games

Air pollution has become one of the main environmental concerns in China since the 1980s due to China's rapid economic growth and resultant pollution. However, it is difficult to directly evaluate the anthropogenic contribution to air pollution in China. The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing provided a unique opportunity for testing the contribution of anthropogenic pollution because of the clean-up controls on air quality in Beijing enforced over the period of the Games. In this case study, we monitored the concentrations of major air pollutants before, during, and after the Olympics at a suburban site in Beijing. Atmospheric concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, NH3, NO2, SO2, and the particulate ions NH4+, NO3-, SO4(2-) Ca2+, Mg2+, and K+ all decreased during the Olympic period because of strict emission controls, compared with the same period from 2005 to 2007. For example, the average PM10 concentration (61 microg m(-3)) during the Olympics was only 37% of that (166 microg m(-3)) in the same month (August) from 2005 to 2007. However, just 1 mo and 1 yr after the Games had ended, mean concentrations of these pollutants had increased significantly again. This rapid "recovery' of air pollutant concentrations after the Olympics suggests that China needs to implement long-lasting decreases in its air pollution in Beijing and other major cities.     

Application of modeling and simulation tools in costs and pollution monitoring

This paper presents the development and application of process modeling and simulation tools to aid in the monitoring and measuring of pollution from industry, and investigate a plant's overall performance. A case study of a generic reduction plant is investigated, taking into account the underlying principles that determine the amount of fluoride emissions released from the plant's processes. The simulation study includes the investigation of the gas cleaning system within the plant, such as the system's operating relationships between the scrubbing efficiency, wear of the scrubber filter bags, maintenance costs and its response to the change of scrubbing circulation. Two sets of simulation runs are performed to seek a balance for the plant's overall system performance, taking into account environmental issues (fluoride emissions) and cost. The final simulation result demonstrates that cost savings can be achieved when the plant operates in a cleaner manner.     

The cost of crop damage caused by ozone air pollution from motor vehicles

The effects of ozone air pollution on the agricultural sector are an important environmental challenge facing policy makers. Most studies of the economic impact of air pollution on agriculture have found that a 25% reduction in ambient ozone would provide benefits of at least $1–2 billion annually in the United States. This paper extends existing research by estimating the benefits of a reduction in emissions from a major source of ozone formation: motor-vehicle emissions. An agricultural production model is combined with an analysis of motor-vehicle emissions and air quality to estimate the impacts of emissions from six different motor-vehicle classes, at both the regional and national level. The benefits to the agricultural sector from completely eliminating ozone precursor emissions from motor vehicles ranges between $3·5 and $6·1 billion annually.     

Using a choice experiment to measure the environmental costs of air pollution impacts in Seoul

Air pollution, a by-product of economic growth, has been incurring extensive environmental costs in Seoul, Korea. Unfortunately, air pollution impacts are not treated as a commercial item, and thus it is difficult to measure the environmental costs arising from air pollution. There is an imminent need to find a way to measure air pollution impacts so that appropriate actions can be taken to control air pollution. Therefore, this study attempts to apply a choice experiment to quantifying the environmental costs of four air pollution impacts (mortality, morbidity, soiling damage, and poor visibility), using a specific case study of Seoul. We consider the trade-offs between price and attributes of air pollution impacts for selecting a preferred alternative and derive the marginal willingness to pay (WTP) estimate for each attribute. According to the results, the households' monthly WTP for a 10% reduction in the concentrations of major pollutants in Seoul was found to be approximately 5494 Korean won (USD 4.6) and the total annual WTP for the entire population of Seoul was about 203.4 billion Korean won (USD 169.5 million). This study is expected to provide policy-makers with useful information for evaluating and planning environmental policies relating specifically to air pollution.     

Coefficients of pollution: Interindustry linkage and pollution in Belgium

The paper briefly develops an approach toward using pollution coefficients from one country as an expedience for applying an environmental economic analysis to a separate, but similar country for which hard data may not be available.The Coefficients are defined based upon information available from the Netherlands and the United States in combination with input-output data available for Belgium. A combination of the various data results in a crude estimate of the direct and indirect pollution generation per unit activity in different sectors on a country-wide basis.     

兰州市治理大气污染的探索与实践

兰州市在推进大气污染治理的实践中进行的有益的探索,为全国大气污染治理提供了宝贵的借鉴和经验。治污成就主要体现在环境质量改善、优良天数增多、减排效果明显、发展环境优化、民心得到凝聚。兰州市突破性地摘掉大气污染的“黑帽子”,主要作法包括多管齐下、对症下药、源头管控、网格管理、疏堵结合、分类施策等。兰州治理大气污染的实践经验兰州市大力治污的经验,也为建设美丽中国提供了有力借鉴。     

Comparative analysis of air pollution emissions by electric utilities: Public policy implications

One of the objectives of US environmental regulations was to reduce industrial air pollution emissions, especially from the electric utility industry, the major industrial air polluter. In this study, a comparative analysis of air pollution emissions from fossil-fuel-burning electric utility plants is conducted. The analysis focuses on a 12-yr period from 1975 to 1987 for three air pollutants: particulates, surfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. The results indicate that particulate emissions have been significantly reduced but that sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are still major problems for a number of plants. Furthermore, the disparity in the performance by plants indicates that by using current technology, the industry as a whole could greatly reduce these emissions. These results have policy implication for future environmental legislation.     

Toxic waste in our midst: towards an interdisciplinary analysis

Intractable industrial legacies present new challenges to governance. Amongst the persistent organic pollutants, now managed internationally under the Stockholm Convention, hexachlorobenzene (HCB) stands out in all three classes of chemicals (pesticides, industrial chemicals and unintended by-products). This paper introduces twelve interdisciplinary papers contributing to our understanding of decision-making processes using a case study of HCB and industry-community relations in Sydney's industrial heartland. In this collection, authors align new political theory and emerging management theory, and they analyse the case study from several disciplines. Disputes such as that over HCB destablilise the political/administrative/technoscientific regime that is the modern state. Citizens engage in 'sub-political' processes which require recognition of what Ulrich Beck and others have termed 'individualisation'. This sees decision-forming and decision-making functions push outwards into community-driven structures. There we find new styles of public participation, resolution of asymmetries between knowledge and expertise, and new corporate behaviour.     

Land use planning,pollution control and environmental assessment in the E.C. environment policy

The Environmental Council of the European Communities is giving consideration to a procedure to provide a common basis for the assessment and control of potentially polluting development. This discusses the rationale and theory underlying the use of land use planning procedures to control potentially polluting development, and the need for harmonisation of procedures within the European Communities in order to avoid the emergence of pollution havens. It goes on to discuss the proposed Directive on environmental assessment, and the implications of its adoption and incorporation into the planning procedures of the U.K. and other member states.     

An analysis of urban development and its environmental impact on the Tampa Bay watershed

Urbanization has transformed natural landscapes into anthropogenic impervious surfaces. Urban land use has become a major driving force for land cover and land use change in the Tampa Bay watershed of west-central Florida. This study investigates urban land use change and its impact on the watershed. The spatial and temporal changes, as well as the development density of urban land use are determined by analyzing the impervious surface distribution using Landsat satellite imagery. Population distribution and density are extracted from the 2000 census data. Non-point source pollution parameters used for measuring water quality are analyzed for the sub-drainage basins of Hillsborough County. The relationships between 2002 urban land use, population distribution and their environmental influences are explored using regression analysis against various non-point source pollutant loadings in these sub-drainage basins. The results suggest that strong associations existed between most pollutant loadings and the extent of impervious surface within each sub-drainage basin in 2002. Population density also exhibits apparent correlations with loading rates of several pollutants. Spatial variations of selected non-point source pollutant loadings are also assessed.     

Evaluating the PM damage cost due to urban air pollution and vehicle emissions in Seoul, Korea

This study evaluated the prospective damage costs of PM(2.5) inhalation. We performed a health risk assessment based on an exposure-response function to estimate the annual population risk in the Seoul metropolitan city, Korea. Also, we estimated a willingness-to-pay (WTP) amount for reducing the mortality rate in order to evaluate a statistical life value. We combined the annual population risk and the value-of-statistical-life to calculate the damage cost estimate. In the health risk assessment, we applied the PM(2.5) relative risk to evaluate the annual population risk. We targeted an exposure population of 5,401,369 persons who were over the age of 30. Using a Monte-Carlo simulation for uncertainty analysis, we estimated that the population risk of PM(2.5) inhalation during a year in Seoul is 2181 premature deaths for acute exposure and 18,510 premature deaths for chronic exposure. The monthly average WTP for 5/1000 mortality reduction over ten years is $20.20 USD (95% C.I: $16.60-24.50) and the implied value-of-statistical-life (VSL) is $485,000 USD (95% C.I: $398,000-588,000). The damage cost estimate due to risk from PM(2.5) inhalation in Seoul is about $1057 million USD per year for acute exposure, and $8972 million USD per year for chronic exposure. It is important to note that this cost estimate does not reflect all health damage cost estimates in this urban area. This recommendation is a model for evaluating a mortality risk reduction and as such we must re-evaluate an integrated application of morbidity risk.     

Biomass combustion and indoor air pollution: the bright and dark sides of small is beautiful

About half the world's households cook and/or heat daily with biomass fuels. At small scale, biomass combustion releases significant amounts of particulates, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons, the latter with significant concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Preliminary measurements in kitchens of developing-country villages have established airborne concentrations of these healthdamaging pollutants that are orders of magnitude above urban levels or relevant standards. Particle size measurements and dose calculations lead to significant concerns about potential health hazards. The few epidemiological studies are consistent with such effects although more work is clearly needed. These findings may have significant implications for the planning of rural energy development in a number of countries. In particular, they may relate directly to the question of the optimum balance between centralized and decentralized systems.     

探析我国环境税收制度的构建

环境税收制度是未来中国环境政策改革的突破口，相对于其它的环境政策如排污收费与排污权交易等，环境税收其经济效益与环境效益明显，开征环境税收有重要的意义，但在短期内，我国实施环境税收制度的条件尚不成熟，环境政策体系应该采取税费并存并逐步过渡到以环境税为主的方式。     

The impact of economic activity in Asturias on greenhouse gas emissions: consequences for environmental policy within the Kyoto Protocol framework

Climate change is one of the major worldwide environmental concerns. It is especially the case in many developed countries, where the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for this change are mainly concentrated. For the first time, the Kyoto Protocol includes an international agreement for the reduction of the net emissions of these gases. To fulfil this agreement measures designed to reduce or limit current emissions have to be brought into force. Consequently, fears have arisen about possible consequences on competitiveness and future development of manufacturing activities and the need for support mechanisms for the affected sectors is obvious. In this paper, we carry out a study of the emissions of gases responsible for climate change in Asturias (Spain), a region with an important economic presence of sectors with intensive emissions of CO(2), the chief greenhouse gas. To be precise, in the first place, the volumes of direct emissions of the said gases in 1995 were calculated, showing that the sectors most affected by the Kyoto Protocol in Asturias are iron and steel and electricity production. Secondly, input-output analysis was applied to determine the direct and indirect emissions and the direct, indirect and induced emissions of the different production sectors, respectively. The results derived from the direct and indirect emissions analysis and their comparison with the results of the former allow us to reach some conclusions and environmental policy implications.     

A management strategy to reduce bacterial pollution in shellfish areas: A case study

The problem of bacterial pollution in shellfishing areas is not uncommon in the coastal regions of the United States. Bacterial contamination from man's activities can effectively reduce our natural shellfish resource areas by forcing their closure because of high potential risk of diseases being spread by shellfish harvested in these areas. Tillamook Bay, a relatively small, enclosed drainage basin of nonurban character, presents an excellent study area for observing this problem. The high population density of animals, raised on a relatively small floodplain area, represents one of the major sources of pollution in the bay. This paper summarizes the history of the agencies involved with the problem and presents the current approach to alleviate bacterial pollution in the bay without unduly penalizing other industries in the Tillamook basin. The paper also presents some of the legal aspects of reducing water pollution in shellfish harvesting areas and the jurisdiction of federal agencies in these matters. Finally, recommendations are given to reduce bacterial output by the major source categories in the basin, and criteria for bay closure to shellfish harvest are developed to protect the public from bacterially contaminated shellfish.     

Assessing Land-Use Impacts on Natural Resources

/ Much information is available on changes that occur in natural resources from both spatially-explicit data on environmental conditions and models of the interactions of these conditions and resources with human activities. The strategy for assessing land-use impacts on natural resources developed in this paper provides a framework for using relevant data and models to address questions of how management practices can promote both use and protection of resources. This assessment strategy integrates spatially explicit environmental data using geographic information systems (GIS) with computer models that simulate changes in land cover in response to land-use impacts. The computer models also simulate susceptibility of species to changes in habitat suitability and landscape patterns. The approach is applied to management of limestone barrens on the Oak Ridge Reservation in East Tennessee. Potential limestone barrens habitats are identified by overlaying appropriate soils, geology, slope, and land-use/land-cover conditions. Their validity is tested against known sites containing rare species that occur in these habitats. The location of habitats at risk in the aftermath of human activities is determined by using an available area model that identifies the size and proximity of sites that particular types of species can no longer use as habitat. The resulting risk map can be used in land management planning. The approach uses readily available in situ and remotely sensed data and is applicable to a wide range of locations and land-use scenarios. This approach can be refined based on needs identified by land managers and on the sensitivity of the results to the resolution of available resource information.KEY WORDS: Land management; Assessment; Habitat characterization; Limestone barrens; Ecological modeling; Geographic information systems