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No. 4, December 2003
Cover illustration © Lars-Erik Håkansson (Lehån)
Main articles in brief
Ending coal use
The simplest and cheapest way to bring down European emissions of carbon dioxide as well as several other air pollutants would be to phase out the use of coal.
Clean Air for Europe
An integrated long-term policy for air quality, with special attention given to particles and ground-level ozone, will be presented in 2005.
Emission ceilings
Only a minority of the EU countries has prepared programs for reducing emissions and reported them in accordance with the NEC directive.
Very high levels
In large parts of Europe this summer the concentrations of ground-level ozone were the worst for a decade.
Much from shipping
Local emissions from shipping contribute significantly to high levels of nitrogen dioxide in Copenhagen.
Forest damage
While the percentage of defoliated trees in Europe remains fairly constant, depositions of nitrogen, acidity and heavy metals still exceed critical loads in many places.
Diesel standards
The federal German environment agency wants the limits for the emissions of particles and NOx from diesel vehicles substantially lowered.
Performance reviewed
The OECD has evaluted the environmental performance of four member countries: Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and the UK. Mixed results.
Downward trend
European emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ammonia and VOCs continue to decrease – but progress differs between countries.
EDITORIAL
Need for a shake-up
In September the Implementation Committee of the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) met to continue its scrutiny of the way various protocols under the convention are being complied with. It had appeared from last year's scan that several countries had failed to fulfill their legally binding commitments, either to bring down emissions or to report on their national situation in this respect. See AN 4/02.
Despite the sharp reprimands from the Executive Body of the convention (on which all the member countries are represented) that were issued in December 2002, several countries have still not reduced their emissions as required by the protocol. Among them are Norway, Italy, Greece, Ireland and Spain. And despite repeated reminders from the convention's secretariat, some of these - notably Greece, Ireland and Spain - have not even taken the trouble to assemble and report the basic information needed by the committee for carrying out its controlling function.
As reported in this issue of Acid News, too, the EU is experiencing similar problems concerning the member countries' obligation to report under the NEC directive. Almost all have been inexcusably late in reporting, and most of the reports that have come in seem to be defective. The worst offenders in this case seem to be precisely those that have been neglectful in respect of the LRTAP convention.
The inadequate reporting is especially serious, because the information that is being asked is essential not only for tracking compliance with agreed commitments, but also for providing material for the coming reviews and possible revisions both of the NEC directive and the Gothenburg Protocol.
The usual way of "reminding" negligent countries is to send a polite letter. But since that has evidently not sufficed, they have resorted, both within the EU and the LRTAP convention, to rather more drastic methods, such as "name and shame," to openly and publicly expose the offenders. For the EU there is moreover the possibility of imposing fines. But that would be a long-drawn-out process, often taking several years.
The above examples of countries' failure to comply are in any case a clear indication of the inadequacy of present ways of dealing with the problem. Both the EU and the LRTAP convention have every reason to revise their methods. Both the carrot and the whip are needed - measures to encourage countries to participate actively in the procedures, as well as to get them to act more quickly, and possibly to punish offenders.
Christer Ågren
Note. The sixth report of the CLRTAP Implementation Committee (EB.AIR/2002/1 and Add.1) can be downloaded from: www.unece.org/env/eb/welcome.html
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COAL
Doing away with it
The simplest and cheapest way to bring down European emissions of carbon dioxide as well as several other air pollutants would be to phase out the use of coal.
Coal gives rise to much greater emissions of carbon dioxide, per unit of energy generated, than either oil or gas. That alone would be sufficient reason for cutting down its use, but there are several others.
A greater part of the sulphur dioxide let out over Europe also comes from burning coal. It causes corrosion, acidification of soil and water, and is damaging to health. Other air pollutants due to a large extent to the burning of coal are nitrogen oxides and the poisonous heavy metal mercury.
The mining of coal gives rise to emissions of considerable quantities of methane, a greenhouse gas. And in the case of open-cast operations, coal mining means enormous damage to the landscape.
Globally, about half of the carbon dioxide that is emitted comes from the generation of power with coal as the fuel. Two third of all the coal mined is so used. The United States alone accounts for 25 per cent of all coal consumption, followed by China with 23 per cent. The European countries answer for 15 per cent. (These figures are for 2001.)
The differences in the use of coal from place to place within Europe can be largely explained by history. It is usually the local availability that is back of most of this. Consumption is usually high in just those countries with their own deposits (see table below).
Of late great changes have nevertheless taken place. During the nine-ties coal output fell by half in western Europe, and by almost as much in the eastern and central European countries. The UK, one of the leading users of coal ever since the start of the industrial revolution, cut its output by two thirds between 1990 and 2000. In the whole of Europe consumption dropped by 28 per cent during the same period. And these reductions have taken place at the same time as generation in nuclear plants was falling off.Easily replaced
What will make it relatively easy and inexpensive to markedly bring down consumption is the fact that coal is mostly used in a limited number of large plants for the generation of electricity. There are alternative sources of energy available, and the use of electricity could also be made more efficient, thus eliminating much of the need for coal-generated power.
The Swedish energy analyst Fredrik Lundberg has just claimed in a report1 that if environmental aims are to be taken seriously, there can be no sustainable argument to support the continued use of coal in Europe.
Employment. Ceasing to mine coal would certainly have serious social consequences, both locally and regionally. But the trend towards fewer workers per unit of output can in any case hardly be checked. The loss of jobs at the pits could be compensated by suitable policies such as training and setting up other industries in the affected areas.
Nuclear power. Despite all the propagandistic efforts of the industry, not a single nuclear plant has been ordered in Europe since 1993, and the march of deregulation makes it unlikely that any more will be. One reason is the high investment cost.
Clean coal. A lot of the air pollutants arising from the burning of coal can indeed be captured, although not at any reasonable cost. A special problem is carbon dioxide, which must be stored in a way that will prevent its re-entry into the atmosphere for thousands of years. It would be better, both in the environmental and economic phpects, to invest in gas-fired plants rather than in clean coal. For comparison, see Lippendorf vs Baglan Bay.
Economy. It is usually inexpensive to mine coal. But burning it in an environmentally acceptable manner costs about the same per produced kilowatt as windpower. And it would be cheaper to invest in a more efficient energy use. See New power plants or new light bulbs, box p.4.More efficient use
Lundberg cites several reasons for the tendency to increase the availability of energy rather than to promote a more efficient use:
- Throughout the post-war period, using ever more energy has been regarded both as the way to increased prosperity and as evidence of it.
- Increasing its availability has often needed no more than a single decision, with clearly visible result. Improving efficiency may on the other hand call for millions of decisions and need the aid of psychologists and sociologists for its attainment.
As regards ways of bringing about a change, Lundberg proposes, besides doing away with all subsidies, making each form of energy pay its actual costs - including those to society for climate change and damage to health and the environment. Such accounting would not only put coal at disadvantage compared with other forms of energy, but would also lead to greater interest in bringing about a more efficient use of energy, since it would then become slightly more expensive.
A changeover from present policy would in turn call for the creation of a more active public opinion to counterbalance the enormous sums the coal industry is paying out for lobbying to preserve the status quo - such as by opposing meaningful decisions under the UN climate convention. As Lundberg points out, the coal industry has every reason to oppose any limitation of greenhouse-gas emissions, since it would be the first victim of any such move.
Many decisions with far-reaching effect will have to be made during the next few years in Europe, since many old coal-fired plants will either have to be modernized or replaced by something else. A renewal rate of 7 per cent a year is usually not considered exceptional in business circles - and that is all that would be needed to halve the use of coal in Europe over a ten-year period.
Per Elvingson
1 To phase out coal. The structure of the coal industry, its environmental effects, and the possibilities of phasing out the use of coal. By Fredrik Lundberg. Published by Air Pollution & Climate Secretariat, October 2003. Single copies can be ordered from the publisher, free of charge. Also available in pdf format here.
Carbon emissions from coal combustion. Tons per capita 2000.
| |
Em. per capita |
Comment |
|
Czech Republic |
1.73 |
big coal producer |
|
Poland |
1.54 |
big coal producer |
|
Bulgaria |
1.09 |
big coal producer |
|
Russia |
1.01 |
big coal producer |
|
Germany |
1.00 |
big coal producer, subsidized, large share brown coal |
|
Ukraine |
0.98 |
big coal producer |
|
Greece |
0.93 |
big coal producer |
|
Macedonia, FYR |
0.90 |
big coal producer |
|
Slovakia |
0.87 |
big coal producer |
|
Belgium |
0.84 |
was a big producer, ceased 1992 |
|
Netherlands |
0.84 |
no coal production for decades |
|
Slovenia |
0.76 |
small coal production |
|
Denmark |
0.75 |
no coal production |
|
Yugoslavia |
0.75 |
coal producer |
|
Finland |
0.70 |
no coal production (but peat) |
|
United Kingdom |
0.63 |
rapidly shrinking coal production |
|
Malta |
0.52 |
no coal production |
|
Spain |
0.47 |
big coal producer |
|
Ireland |
0.46 |
no coal, but peat* |
|
Austria |
0.43 |
small production |
|
Portugal |
0.40 |
no coal production |
|
Iceland |
0.39 |
no coal production |
|
Hungary |
0.38 |
coal production |
|
Turkey |
0.37 |
increasing coal production |
|
Romania |
0.36 |
coal production |
|
Luxembourg |
0.28 |
no coal production |
|
Estonia |
0.26 |
no coal production, but oil shale* |
|
France |
0.25 |
insignificant coal production, being phased out |
|
Sweden |
0.25 |
no coal, but some peat |
|
Norway |
0.24 |
insignificant coal production |
|
Italy |
0.23 |
no coal production |
|
Croatia |
0.14 |
no coal production |
|
Bosnia and Herzeg. |
0.09 |
insignificant coal production |
|
Belarus |
0.05 |
no coal production |
|
Lithuania |
0.03 |
no coal production |
|
Latvia |
0.03 |
no coal production |
|
Switzerland |
0.03 |
no coal production |
|
Moldova |
0.02 |
no coal production |
|
Cyprus |
0.02 |
no coal production |
|
Albania |
0.00 |
no coal production |
Lippendorf vs Baglan Bay
One of the most modern coal-fired power plants is that at Lippendorf near Leipzig in Germany. This 2x933 MWe lignite-fired plant has a fuel-to-electricity efficiency of 42 per cent, total efficiency going up to 46 per cent if some of the capacity is used for heating - which is quite good for a coal-fired plant but poor in comparison with a contemporary gas-fired one such as that at Baglan Bay in Wales, with 60 per cent efficiency and less than half the specific CO2 emissions. The investment cost at Lippendorf is equal to about $1300 per kilowatt, as against $500 for the natural gas combined-cycle plant.
New power plants or new lighting?
Building a new 1000 MWe coal-fired plant would cost at least 1 billion euros - or sufficient to buy at least 500 million 11-watt CFL lamps as replacement for 60-watt incandescent ones. In other words there would be no need to build it. But the former, at 2 euros apiece, would be a good investment for the consumer, so the government or utility would not have to invest a cent. All that would be needed is an information campaign, plus some inducement to design holders more suited to CFL lamps. |
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PEAT BURNING
Could spread unless checked
The use of peat is very destructive to the landscape, and when burnt it emits great amounts of carbon dioxide, which are often also accompanied by large releases of sulphur dioxide and heavy metals as well as volatile organic compounds.
Although there are huge deposits everywhere, little is used outside Europe. Unless checked however, this use could spread from the present main consuming countries - Finland, Ireland and Sweden - to other parts of the world.
Peat is exempt from CO2 tax in Sweden, which is the main reason for its continued use. It is also being increasingly imported from the Baltic states. While it is no longer subsidized in Finland, it is still not subject to the full CO2 tax there.
It has been claimed with some success by the peat lobby in the EU that peat is an almost renewable fuel, with more being formed every year in the world than is being consumed (in some places).
Although it is of small consequence in regard to total EU emissions of CO2, peat is having an effect on national emission targets in Finland, Ireland and Sweden. In Finland peat-based emissions amounted to 13.5 million tons of CO2 equivalents, or almost a fifth of all the country's greenhouse-gas emissions in 1999. In 1995, 11 per cent of its energy had derived from peat.
In their national communications to the Climate Convention, both Estonia and Latvia announced increases in peat production and use. In this they may have been influenced by the example of Sweden and Finland. Their attitude may also help the peat lobby when those countries have become members of the EU.
Source: To phase out coal. The structure of the coal industry, its environmental effects, and the possibilities of phasing out the use of coal. By Fredrik Lundberg. Published by Air Pollution & Climate Secretariat, October 2003.
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CAFE PROGRAMME
First particles and ozone
An integrated long-term policy for air quality is to be presented to the EU in 2005.
Work on the EU's Clean Air For Europe Program (CAFE) is starting to gain momentum. At the last meeting of the Steering Group in September, the Commission not only presented an updated work schedule but also a preliminary outline of a so-called thematic strategy (see box).
According to the schedule, that strategy is to be ready for the Commission to present to the Council and the European parliament at the latest by July 22, 2005 - in other words, three years to the day after the EU had officially adopted the Sixth Environmental Action Programme. That will be somewhat later than was intended when the Commission put forward the original proposal in May 2001, which would have seen the strategy ready in 2004.
It is still unclear how inclusive the text will be when presented in 2005 - whether it will simply be a sketch indicating the aims and direction of the Clean Air project, or whether it will set forth definite proposals for new legislation and revision of the existing.
The CAFE program concentrates primarily on those air pollutants that are already covered by EU air-quality standards, of which the Commission has mentioned two as needing especial attention: particles and ground-level ozone. Four kinds of pollutant - sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and ammonia - come under the directive on national emission ceilings (NECs). One intention of the CAFE program is to assemble data for a revision of this directive, and add particles to the list of the pollutants it covers.
Just now much of the work is concentrated on assembling the necessary data for the program, and on developing computer models for its analysis. A main item is integrated assessment modelling, which is done with the aid of the RAINS model - in other words, essentially the same as that used a few years ago in putting together the NEC directive.
That model will also be used in forming scenarios for likely trends in emissions - for the target years 2010, 2015 and 2020 from the base year 2000.
There is still a great deal of uncertainty as to the extent to which the EU members will fulfill commitments under the Kyoto protocol to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Their actions will greatly affect the extent to which fossil fuels will be used, and thus the emissions of air pollutants covered by the CAFE program. To be on the safe side, various so-called baseline scenarios will therefore be used.
The first results of the computer modelling are expected to come early in 2004, when the emission figures and environmental effects revealed in the baseline scenarios are scheduled for presentation. Following that, a number of policy options for the abatement of emissions will be studied, for example in respect of cost effectiveness. Some will also be subjected to more detailed analyses for costs and benefits.
Projections of economic activity in the member countries up to 2020 will be needed if the emission scenarios are to be credible. These will have to include the expected levels of energy use (broken down into types of energy), transportation volume (also by type), industrial and farm production, etc. Although the need for such information has long been known to the member countries, many have still to report the necessary data. This may not only delay the analyzing, but also result in the outcome being less credible among the member countries than it would otherwise have been.
Christer Ågren
More information on the CAFE program can be found on the environment directorate's website: http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/air/cafe/index.htm
Clean Air for Europe - the CAFE program
Launched in May 2001, CAFE is a program for technical analysis and policy development leading to the adoption of a thematic strategy for air pollution under the EU's Sixth Environmental Action Programme. The aim is to develop a long-term, strategic, integrated policy to protect against negative effects of air pollution on health and the environment. The Commission is to present its proposal for a thematic strategy before July 22, 2005, in which it will outline the environmental objectives for air quality and the measures it deems necessary to achieve the above aims.
The activities of the program include:
1. Developing, collecting and validating scientific information relating to the effects of outdoor air pollution, making inventories and projections of emissions and air quality, assessing air quality, doing studies of cost effectiveness and carrying out integrated assessment modelling - all leading to new and/or revised objectives in respect of air quality and pollutant depositions, and identifying the measures required for reducing emissions.
2. Supporting the implementation of existing legislation and reviewing its effectiveness, in view especially of the daughter directives on air quality and the directive on national emission ceilings, and to develop new proposals for measures to abate emissions.
3. Ensuring that the measures are taken that will be needed to achieve the objectives for air quality and depositions cost effectively.
4. Determining at regular intervals an integrated strategy to define appropriate air-quality objectives for the future and cost-effective measures for meeting those objectives.
5. Disseminating the technical and policy information emerging from implementation of the program.
The program aims, through its organizational structure, at ensuring its policy will be science-based and involve stakeholders at all levels of policy making. It is being developed under the leadership of a permanent secretariat housed within the Environment Directorate of the Commission. In order to ensure full coordination of the Commission's policy, the secretariat has the assistance of an inter-service group composed of representatives of all the relevant Commission departments.
A steering group comprising representatives of the member states, the European parliament, stakeholders and relevant international organizations meets two or three times a year to advise the Commission on the strategic direction of the program. |
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NATIONAL EMISSION CEILINGS
Nations show laxity in fulfilling commitments
Only a minority has prepared programs for reducing emissions and reported them according to the directive.
Four EU countries - Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg and Spain - have still not told the Commission how they propose to reduce their emissions of air pollutants so as to fulfill their commitments under the directive on national emission ceilings (2001/81, the NEC directive). It seems, too, that many of those that have reported have failed to do as the directive requires.
Article 6 says that the member states shall, at the latest by October 1, 2002, have drawn up programs for the progressive reduction of the four pollutants covered by the directive: SO2, NOx, VOCs and ammonia. These programs should be so formed as to make it possible to get down to their allotted ceilings at the latest by 2010. It should be said what policies and measures have been adopted or envisaged, and give quantified estimates of the effect they will have had on emissions in 2010. Article 8 says that the member states shall have informed the Commission of their programs at the latest by December 31, 2002.
Article 6 also says that the member countries must make their programs available to appropriate organizations such as those dealing with environmental matters, as well as to the public. The information shall be "clear, comprehensible and easily accessible."
Since it had soon become evident that only a minority had prepared programs for reducing emissions and reported them in accordance with the directive, the Commission sent out letters to all those that had not. Subsequently more and more members started sending in reports, but in October 2003 - one year after the deadline - the four above-mentioned had still not done so.
These national programs are highly important not only for the implementation of the directive, but also for its eventual revision. They provide the material for the report that the Commission has to produce, in accordance with Article 9 of the directive, in 2004, and deliver to the European parliament and the Council of Ministers. In it the Commission must tell what progress has been made towards nearing the national ceilings, and report on the extent to which the interim environmental objectives of the directive are likely to have been met by 2010.
The Commission has also to produce a review of the directive by 2004, which may for instance lead to proposals for modifying the ceilings and for measures to ensure that they will be adhered to.
EEA, the European Environment Agency, has recently started to make an assessment of the national programs. A report is expected in December. It is however already evident that most of them fail in essentials - and especially in giving assessments in figures of the effects of measures to curb emissions.
It appears from the reports that have come in that several of the member countries foresee difficulties in meeting their ceilings. The main problem appears to be nitrogen oxides. It is naturally difficult however to determine how great these difficulties are, since most of the national programs lack the information needed for an analysis - namely, quantitative estimates of the effect of the measures proposed or undertaken.
Christer Ågren
The reports on national programs received by the Commission can be found on the environment directorate's website.
Read more about the NEC directive on this website.
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PAINTS, NON-ROAD DIESELS
Nearer to two directives
At the meeting of the EU environment ministers on October 27, a "political agreement" was reached concerning two proposals for directives to reduce emissions of air pollutants.
VOCs in paints. Last year the Commission had put forward a proposal for a new directive to reduce releases of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the solvents in paints, varnishes and vehicle refinishing products (see AN 3/03). The aim was in part to make for better air quality - VOCs are one of the main contributors to the formation of ground-level ozone - and in part to ensure better working conditions for those using these products.
At a first reading in parliament in September, various demands for more stringent requirements than those in the Commission's proposal were voted down.
The exact wording of that proposal (COM(2002)750) can be found on the internet: http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/pdf/2002/com2002_0750en01.pdf
Non-road diesel engines. Here the proposal is aimed at reducing the emissions of air pollutants - especially NOx and particles - from diesel engines used in various types of machinery (such as excavators and other construction equipment), locomotives, railcars and inland waterway vessels. See AN 1/03.
The meeting of the Council of Ministers to discuss the matter had been preceded by negotiations with the parliament, finally leading to a compromise which will mean that a new directive probably can come into force this year, with a first stage in 2006. A second stage, setting standards that will, on an average, be ten times more stringent than the present ones, will start to take effect from 2010 and finish by 2014, in line with similar requirements in the United States.
Christer Ågren
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GROUND-LEVEL OZONE
Very high levels in summer of 2003
Unless the emissions of precursors are greatly reduced, the situation will be repeated in coming warm summers, warns the EEA.
In large parts of Europe this summer the concentrations of ground-level ozone were the worst for almost a decade. This was particularly so during the long August heatwave. A preliminary assessment by the European Environment Agency1 shows the situation to have been worst in southwestern Germany, Switzerland, northern and northeastern France, Belgium, northern and central Italy and Central Spain.
For its formation at ground level, ozone needs to have nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds and sunlight. High concentrations can build up during periods of high pressure in summer, when the air tends to move sluggishly. This was precisely what happened over large areas of Europe last August.
"The situation is likely to repeat itself in any future summers with above-average temperatures until measures taken under current legislation result in a much larger cut in emissions of the precursor pollutants," says the EEA in a preliminary analysis intended for the environment ministers of the EU countries.
According to the EEA's statistics, the emissions of the main ozone precursors - nitrogen oxides and non-methane VOCs - declined by about 30 per cent between 1990 and 2000 in the fifteen EU member countries. If the national ceilings for these and some other pollutants should have been met by 2010, as envisaged, emissions will come down by another 30 per cent.
Of thirty-one countries reporting monitoring results to the EEA this year, twenty-three had suffered pollution from ground-level ozone at concentrations well above the information threshold of 180 micrograms per cubic metre of air (µg/m3), averaged over one hour on one or more days between April and August.
Beyond this threshold, exposure for a short period can have limited, temporary effects on the health of children as well as of adults who are particularly sensitive to ozone. Governments are required by EU law to inform the public whenever the 180 µg/m3 threshold is overstepped.
That happened on 137 of the 153 days monitored between April and August in at least one of the twenty-three countries. Concentrations stayed above the threshold on an average for 3.5 hours, the longest period since 1995. During the episodes they averaged 202 µg/m3 in the twenty-three affected countries. In Romania it was as much as 246 µg/m3. Only in Scandinavia, Finland, the Baltic States and Ireland did they stay below the threshold.
The number of hours during spring and summer when concentrations stayed above the threshold averaged 31 this year for the EU. That was the highest ever. In France it was one-third higher than in the previous record, set nine years ago.
The threshold was overstepped most often in southwestern Germany, Switzerland, northern and southeastern France, Belgium, northern and central Italy and central Spain.
Revised EU legislation that took effect in September sets the level at which even brief exposure to ozone is considered to pose a health risk at 240 µg/m3 averaged over one hour, instead of 360 µg/m3. Governments are now required to warn the public when this threshold is overcrossed.
The previous 360 µg/m3 threshold, when it still applied, was overstepped four times this summer. The highest recorded concentration was then 417 µg/m3 reached at Sausset les Pins, France, in August.
The new 240 µg/m3 threshold would have been crossed over in fifteen countries.
Per Elvingson
1 Air pollution by ozone in Europe in summer 2003: Overview of exceedances of EC ozone threshold values during the summer season April-August 2003 and comparisons with previous years. Available at http://reports.eea.eu.int/topic_report_2003_3/en
Factfile: Ground-level ozone
Exposure to elevated concentrations of ozone can give rise to adverse effects on the breathing system and decreases in lung function. Symptoms observed during smog events have been coughing, chest pain, difficulty in breathing, headache and eye irritation. Recent research suggests that there may be no threshold for the adverse effects on health. It seems that even low concentrations can cause damage.
Exposure of ecosystems and agricultural crops to ozone results in visible injury to foliage and reductions in crop yield and seed production. Adverse effects on vegetation can be noted at relatively low ozone concentrations which occur frequently in Europe.
EU legislation on ozone pollution was established in 1992 by directive 92/72/EEC. This was replaced on September 9, 2003 by directive 2002/3/ EC on ozone in ambient air. For information see: http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/air/ambient.htm#2
Besides the fifteen EU member states, the countries reporting on ozone levels this year were Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia FYR Macedonia, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Switzerland.
Altogether 1805 monitoring stations in 31 countries are assumed to have been operational this year during spring and summer. |
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EUROPEAN HEAT WAVE
The toll last August
The August heat wave is estimated to have caused at least 35,000 deaths in Europe. In France alone, where the temperature rose to 40oC and remained there for two weeks, 14,802 people are said to have died from heat. That is almost twenty times more that those that had died in the whole world as a result of the SARS epidemic.
Deaths in Germany are numbered at 7000. Both in Spain and Italy some 4200 were associated with the heat wave, which took at least 1300 lives in Portugal and 1400 in the Netherlands.
In London, where temperatures rose above 100oF (37oC) for the first time ever, the death toll was put at 900, and for the whole of the UK at 2045. In Belgium temperatures higher than any recorded in the Royal Meteorological Society's register dating back to 1833 brought 150 deaths.
August 2003 was the warmest on record in the northern hemisphere, but according to the projections of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, even more extreme weather events lie ahead. By the end of the century the average world temperature is projected to increase by l.4-5.8oC. As the mercury climbs, more frequent and more severe heat waves await us. The World Meteorological Organization estimates that the number of heat-related fatalities could double in less than twenty years.
"Though heat waves are rarely given adequate attention, they claim more lives each year that floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes combined. Heat waves are a silent killer, mostly affecting the elderly, the very young, or the chronically ill," writes Janet Larsen at the Earth Policy Institute, who has compiled the above figures.
For more information see www.earthpolicy.org/Updates/Update29.htm
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DIESEL VEHICLES
Stricter standards proposed
The federal German environment agency wants to see the limit for the emissions of particles from diesel vehicles lowered to one tenth of the coming EU level, and those of nitrogen oxides to a fourth.
It is well established that particles are extremely damaging to health, the smallest having the worst effect. Diesel vehicles are among the worst offenders in this respect, letting out vast amounts in places where people mostly are.
Another disadvantage of diesel vehicles is that they emit relatively large amounts of nitrogen oxides, the emissions of which most EU countries will have to struggle to reduce if they are to fulfill commitments under the directive on national emission ceilings (NEC).
In view of all this, and the increasing proportion of diesels in new car sales, the federal German environment agency, Umweltbundesamt, is proposing a gradual tightening of emission standards for diesel-driven vehicles in the EU up to 2010.1 It would have the passenger-car limit for particles reduced by 90 per cent from the figure of the already adopted Euro 4 standards (coming into force in 2005). See Table 1.
As justification for such a sharp drop, the agency argues that the proposed limit will be easily attainable by the use of particle filters which are now generally available. Wanting to have the emission standards made technically neutral, too, the Umweltbundesamt is proposing a reduction of nitrogen-oxide emissions from diesels by a factor of three, to bring them down to the levels now applicable for petrol-driven cars. It would abolish the present limit for overall emissions of NOx and hydrocarbons from diesels, and replace it with a single limit 0.05 g/km for hydrocarbons, applying to all types of engines.
A lowering of the emission limit for particles by 90 per cent is also proposed for heavy-duty vehicles (Table 2). Such a big step is justified by pointing out that the limit value in Euro IV (2005) can be attained without any need to use a particle filter, and by using one, emissions can easily be reduced by 90 per cent or more. The new limit would apply from 2008.
In the indicative standards for heavy-duty vehicles, due to come into force in 2008, which were adopted by the EU in 1999, 2 the limit for nitrogen oxides was to be lowered from 3.5 g/kWh in 2005 to 2.0 g/kWh in 2008. But that would not be enough, in the UBA's view. It would like to see the limit set at 1.0 g/kWh for 2008, and further reduced to 0.5 g/kWh in 2010. Tightening the requirement for NOx emissions from heavy-duty vehicles would, according to the Umweltbundesamt, be a cost-effective means of reducing at least Germany's emissions of nitrogen oxides.
In its report, the Umweltbundesamt discuss whether emissions of particles should also be counted by the number, or whether it would suffice merely to give the weight. It concludes that confining the limit to weight could lead to the engine makers concentrating primarily on eliminating the largest and heaviest particles, which have relatively little effect on health. It would therefore like to supplement the current weight-based standards with limits to the maximum number of particles within the size range that is inimical to health. Towards the end of the year an international group of experts will be proposing the way in which such measurements are to be made.
The extra cost of the UBA Euro 5 proposals for a diesel-driven car, compared with Euro 4, is estimated to run to 200-400 euros. It would be practically nothing, on the other hand, for a heavy-duty vehicle, since it would suffice in that case to improve the cleaning equipment that would in any case be needed to fulfill already agreed requirements.
The agency does not think it necessary to further tighten the requirements for petrol-driven cars beyond those of Euro 4 (2005). It would make an exception however for cars with direct injection, since their emissions of particles can, in certain circumstances, approach those from uncleaned diesel vehicles. It therefore proposes that there should be the same particle limits for petrol-driven cars as for diesels (at present there are no requirements in this respect for the former).
Per Elvingson
1 Future Diesel. Umweltbundesamt, July 2003. Can be downloaded in pdf format from www.umweltdaten.de/uba-info-presse/hintergrund/FutureDiesel_e.pdf
2 Directive 1999/96/EC.
Table 1. Already decided EU emission standards for diesel-driven passenger cars (2005) and UBA proposal (2008).
|
Passenger Cars (g/km) |
PM |
NOx |
| Current Euro 4 (2005) |
0.025 |
0.25 |
| Proposed Euro 5 (2008) |
0.0025 |
0.08 |
Table 2. Indicative EU emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles (2008) and UBA proposals (2008 and 2010).
Heavy Duty (g/kWh)
|
Particles |
NOx |
| ESC Test |
ETC Test |
Both Tests |
| Current Euro V (2008) |
0.02 |
0.03 |
2.0 |
| Proposed Euro V (2008) |
0.002 |
0.003 |
1.0 |
| Proposed Euro VI (2010) |
0.002 |
0.003 |
0.5 |
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PORT AREAS
Much pollution from shipping
In Copenhagen the quality of the air is greatly affected by ships lying at berth.
Relatively little is known about the extent to which shipping adds to the concentrations of harmful air pollutants in ports and their surroundings. Modelling carried out in Denmark has however indicated a strong connection, especially as regards nitrogen oxides.
Using emission factors for various types of vessel, together with harbour statistics and a dispersion model for air pollutants, the Danish Environment Assessment Institute (IMV) has worked out the local concentrations of various pollutants deriving from shipping.1 Since they are based largely on assumptions, the figures should however be regarded more as an estimate of the risks than a definite conclusion.
Nevertheless they suggest that it would be worthwhile to make a deeper study, especially of the emissions of nitrogen oxides in the port of Copenhagen - where shipping emissions account for at least 25 per cent of what will be the allowable one-hour average EU limit value for nitrogen dioxide in the air. In some more closely defined areas, ships' emissions alone will be enough to breach the EU limit.
Although shipping appears to contribute relatively little to the local concentrations of sulphur dioxide, its share may have been underestimated - since the estimates are based on the assumption that Annex VI of the MARPOL convention will be coming into force and thereby limit the sulphur content of marine oils used in the Baltic and North Seas to 1.5 per cent. That content is now twice as high.
As for the background concentrations of particles (PM10) in urban air, the local effects of shipping are accounted small when considering the situation as a whole. But they still equal one third of the local emissions from road traffic.
In Copenhagen, a very great part of the emissions of nitrogen oxides from ships (about three quarters) stems from the time when they are berthed. The possibilities of taking power from land should therefore, says IMV, be studied. The great emitters in this case are ferries, tankers and cruise ships, which account for 25, 23 and 18 per cent of the emissions of nitrogen oxides in the port area.
The IMV has also examined the situation further up the coast in Helsingør, where shipping also accounts for a lot of the nitrogen dioxide in the air. Here emissions come mainly from vessels moving in and out, since a large part of the traffic consists of ferries plying between Denmark and Sweden (Helsingborg). This means taking power from land will be no solution. Instead, measures will need to be taken aboard ship.
Per Elvingson
1 Luftforurening fra skibe i danske havne. (In Danish only.) By Henrik Saxe and Thommy Larsen, Danish Environmental Assessment Institute. Article published in Stads- og havneingeniören, No.9, 2003.
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EUROPEAN EMISSIONS
Downward trend continues
It is evident, from the latest of the yearly reports1 sent in by each country to the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, that the emissions of those pollutants that can damage both health and the environment are continuing on the way down in Europe.
The greatest change has been for sulphur dioxide, SO2. Between 1980 and 2001 the emissions of this pollutant from land-based sources fell away by 72 per cent. See factfile and table. Those of nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and ammonia (NH3) had also gone down, although to a less extent. While the two first had dropped by about a third, for ammonia it was only a quarter. But it should be added that there was no noticeable drop in the emissions of these last three pollutants until sometime in the nineties, whereas measures to curb SO2 had started a decade earlier.
Of late emissions have also begun to go down in North America - although much more slowly in all four cases than in Europe. While those of NOx for instance fell away by almost a third totally in the fifteen EU countries, the figures for the US and Canada were 12 and 7 per cent respectively.
In the table the emissions from shipping in European waters derive from estimates made by Lloyd's Register during the nineties. Independent estimates made in the last year or so indicate however that ships' emissions had increased considerably since 1990, and are likely to go on doing so (see AN 3/02).
The Convention's EMEP program is not confined to keeping track on emissions. Its main task is to model the ways in which emissions from one country are affecting the environment in others. In the eighties and nineties the calculations were based en 150x150 km grid squares, but now a model has been developed for 50x50 km squares. An overview of calculations for source-receptor relationships, covering acidifying, eutrophying and photo-oxidant pollution, based on the new model with a higher degree of resolution, has been presented in another recent report.2
Christer Ågren
1 The data reported by individual countries to the Convention is assembled by the EMEP, the cooperative program for monitoring and evaluation of the long-range transmissions of air pollutants in Europe, and published both in printed form and on the EMEP's website. Figures for other pollutants, such as particles and POPs (persistent organic pollutants), are also given. The title of this year's report is Review and revision: Emission data reported to CLRTAP. MSC-W Report 2003. By V. Vestreng. Available at the EMEP website: www.emep.int
2 Transboundary acidification, eutrophication and ground-level ozone in Europe. EMEP Status Report 1/2003 - Part III. By L. Tarrason et al. Also available at the EMEP website (see above).
| Emission figures for individual countries, international shipping and Europe are available at www.emep.int. A table in pdf format can be downloaded here. |
Progress to date
Sulphur dioxide. Whereas European emissions totalled 53 million tons in 1980, by 1990 they had come down to 37 million, and to 14.6 million tons in 2001. In other words a percentual reduction of 60 per cent since 1990, and 72 per cent since 1980.
In general, it can be said that the EU member states have done somewhat better at reducing sulphur emissions than non-EU countries. Between 1980 and 2001, EU emissions dropped by 78 per cent, while those of other European countries outside the EU fell away by 67 per cent.
If the emissions from shipping in European sea areas were included (unfortunately they are assumed to have remained constant in the EMEP tables) the total figure would have to be 2.8 million tons higher for each year, and the percentual drop somewhat lower.
Nitrogen oxides. By 1990 the emissions from land sources had only come down by 0.5 million tons or 3 per cent, from the 1980 figure of 23.3 million tons. Subsequently they fell away however to 15.7 million tons in 2001, a drop of 31 per cent.
In this case the non-EU countries have been more effective than the EU ones in cutting down emissions - having achieved a 40-per-cent reduction between 1980 and 2001, as against 27 per cent for the EU.
With emissions from shipping included, some 4 million tons would have to be added each year, again making the final percentual reduction somewhat lower.
Volatile organic compounds. European emissions show a similar trend to those for NOx, remaining fairly stable at about 24.3 million tons throughout the eighties. But by 2001 they had fallen away to 15.5 million tons - a drop of 36 per cent. The reductions were again somewhat greater in the non-EU countries (41 per cent from 1980) than in the EU member states (32 per cent down).
Ammonia. Emissions remained fairly stable at 7.7 million tons (1980) throughout a greater part of the eighties, after which a slow decline set in - from 7.5 million tons in 1990 to 5.6 million tons in 2001, a reduction of 25 per cent. While emissions had only come down by 10 per cent from 1980 in the fifteen EU member countries, they had dropped by 43 per cent in the others.
|
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EUROPEANFORESTS
Damage hardly changed but still high fallout
While the percentage of defoliated trees in Europe remains fairly constant, depositions of nitrogen, acidity and heavy metals still exceed critical loads in many places.
The latest monitoring of forest condition in Europe shows little change from 2001. In 2002 the proportion of damaged trees - those that had lost more than 25 per cent of their needles or leaves - was 21.3 per cent as against 22.4 per cent the year before.
Showing the results of studies of some 7000 observation plots in altogether 36 European countries, this last survey was the seventeenth in a continuous series. Many countries also conducted their own surveys, the outcome of which can be seen from the table.
Besides noting leaf and needle loss, which is considered to be a good measure of the trees general state of health, the project includes some more detailed studies, which have made it possible to draw the following conclusions:
- The main causes of crown thinning are extreme weather conditions, attacks from insects and fungi and air pollution. A statistical connection has been established between sulphur depositions and defoliation of the main species.
- Greatly reduced emissions of sulphur dioxide have led to a strong lowering of the concentrations of sulphate in the soil solution.
- Depositions of nitrogen, acidity and heavy metals still exceed critical loads on a large proportion of the intensive monitoring plots, indicating enhanced risks for forest ecosystems.
- One of the main pollutants affecting forests directly via leaves and needles is tropospheric ozone. The measurements that have now been carried out for the first time in the monitoring program support the existing knowledge of high ozone concentrations in southern Europe especially. The assessment of visible ozone injury will now be further developed, as the only monitoring on a European scale of the effects of ozone on forests.
- The net increase in the forest carbon pool in Europe is around 0.1 Gigatons per year. The uptake of carbon is 5-7 times greater in trees than in the soil. The monitoring program has now shown it to be no more than a tenth in soil of what appeared from previous surveys.
- By stimulating forest growth over the whole of Europe during the last forty years, the deposition of atmospheric nitrogen was calculated to account for 5 per cent of the increase in carbon uptake.
Information collected at the intensive monitoring plots has also made it possible to construct so-called dynamic models to predict the rate at which the soil chemistry will change as the emissions of air pollutants decline.
This modelling shows that if the countries reduce their emissions as agreed under the so-called Gothenburg protocol, there can be expected to be marked improvements in the average acidity of the soil water and its content of aluminium ions. The nitrate content will also come down if the emissions of nitrogen are reduced as agreed.
It should be noted however that this only applies to the chemical reactions of the soil water. Reactions of the soil solid phase are always much slower, taking decades or even centuries.
The monitoring of forest condition in Europe is carried out jointly by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the European Union.
Per Elvingson
Results from national forest-damage surveys, 1998-2002. Percentage of trees with defoliation >25 per cent.
| |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
| Albania |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
13 |
| Austria |
7 |
7 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
| Belarus |
30 |
26 |
24 |
21 |
10 |
| Belgium |
17 |
18 |
19 |
18 |
18 |
| Bulgaria |
60 |
44 |
46 |
34 |
37 |
| Croatia |
26 |
23 |
23 |
25 |
21 |
| Cyprus |
- |
- |
- |
9 |
3 |
| Czech Rep. |
49 |
50 |
52 |
52 |
53 |
| Denmark |
22 |
13 |
11 |
7 |
9 |
| Estonia |
9 |
9 |
7 |
8 |
8 |
| Finland |
12 |
11 |
12 |
11 |
12 |
| France |
23 |
20 |
18 |
20 |
22 |
| Germany |
21 |
22 |
23 |
22 |
21 |
| Greece1 |
22 |
17 |
18 |
22 |
21 |
| Hungary |
19 |
18 |
21 |
21 |
21 |
| Ireland |
16 |
13 |
15 |
17 |
21 |
| Italy |
36 |
35 |
34 |
38 |
37 |
| Latvia |
17 |
19 |
21 |
16 |
14 |
| Lithuania |
16 |
12 |
14 |
12 |
13 |
| Luxembourg |
25 |
- |
23 |
- |
- |
| Moldova |
- |
- |
29 |
37 |
42 |
| Netherlands |
31 |
- |
22 |
20 |
22 |
| Norway |
31 |
29 |
24 |
27 |
26 |
| Poland |
35 |
31 |
32 |
31 |
33 |
| Portugal |
10 |
11 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
| Romania |
12 |
13 |
14 |
13 |
14 |
| Russian Fed.2 |
- |
- |
- |
10 |
11 |
| Serbia & Mont. |
8 |
11 |
8 |
14 |
43 |
| Slovak Rep. |
32 |
28 |
24 |
32 |
25 |
| Slovenia |
28 |
29 |
25 |
29 |
28 |
| Spain |
14 |
13 |
14 |
13 |
16 |
| Sweden |
14 |
13 |
14 |
18 |
16 |
| Switzerland |
19 |
19 |
29 |
18 |
19 |
| Ukraine |
52 |
56 |
61 |
40 |
28 |
| UK |
21 |
21 |
22 |
21 |
27 |
1 Excluding maquis. 2 Only regional surveys in northwestern and Central European parts of the Russian Federation. 3 Montenegro only.
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HEAVY METALS
Evidence of a decline in Europe
While there are great variations in the atmospheric fallout of heavy metals over Europe, a general trend seems to be that depositions at least of arsenic and cadmium are declining.
Several human activities lie back of the spread of heavy metals to the atmosphere. A simple and reliable method of measuring the extent of depositions is to collect and analyse their content in common moss species. This is now being done on a European scale as part of the environmental surveillance for the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution.
The results of sampling in 2000-01 indicate increases for most kinds of heavy metals as one moves from west to east in Europe. Coal burning is pinpointed as the reason for the fallout being higher in central and eastern Europe than in the western part of the continent. It is also a large source of the spreading to the atmosphere of arsenic as well as other heavy metals such as chromium, copper, mercury, nickel and zinc.
It also appears from analyses that long-distance transports are taking place in the air. In Scandinavia, for instance, where local emissions are small, concentrations in mosses decline as the distance from emission sources on the continent increases. The analyses also give evidence of where sizable local emissions from smelters and similar plants are located.
It is only possible, from today's data, to make a preliminary comparison of the situation in 2000-01 with that five years earlier. Such comparison, using identical sites and moss species, indicates however a general decline in the concentrations of some heavy metals, such as arsenic and cadmium, throughout Europe.
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ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
Fresh initiative puts new slant on the matter
Study material called Green Pack, produced by the Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe, has been reaching some 200,000 pupils aged 13-16 at Polish schools over the last two years. The response is said to have been highly positive, and by the end of 2004 the pack will have been sent to altogether 6000 schools.
"Poland has been our pilot country, and in 2002 similar packs were made for Hungary and Bulgaria, and for the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 2003," relates Kliment Mindjov, project leader at REC.
The centre intends to start projects also for Albania, Russia, Macedonia and Turkey in the course of 2004-05, and to investigate the possibilities for Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro, Romania and Estonia. There are expected to be 1000 packs for each country. An English version was presented in connection with the Fifth Ministerial Conference "Environment for Europe" last May.
The Green Pack is a multi-media environmental education kit intended in the first place for primary-school teachers and their pupils, although it can also be used at other levels of education.
It focuses on particular phpects of environmental protection and sustainable development and includes a variety of educational materials such as a teacher's handbook with lesson plans and fact sheets for students, a video-cassette with animated clips and educational films, an interactive CD-ROM with extensive information on various environmental topics and a dilemma game.
The emphasis is on the creation of new values for pupils, and setting a new model for behaviour not only at school but also at home and in society, rather than a mere accumulation of knowledge in particular environmental areas.
Recently the REC also started working on a "Citizen Pack," with the family as the main target group. As Kliment Mindjov puts it:
"Almost all of the messages in the Green Pack, as well as some new ones, will be addressed to various members of the family. The material will however be so arranged as to cover the various phpects of daily life - at home, while shopping, in school, at work, when travelling."
Much of the money for the work on Green Pack has so far come from the Toyota Environmental Activities Grant Program.
Per Elvingson
More information:http://greenpack.rec.org
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ITALY
Frequent policy failures
In Italy, as in most European countries, the emissions of sulphur and nitrogen oxides dropped markedly during the nineties. Also a subject of praise in the OECD environmental performance review is the low energy intensity relative to other OECD countries, largely explainable by the high taxes on energy. The government has moreover introduced important legislation, "mainly prompted by EU directives."
In contrast to these positive developments there is however "a daunting list of failures," according to OECD. Common to many of them is the gap between phpirations and practice that arises again and again as a result of the country's fragmented and complex legal framework, the lack of coordination between different administrations, an poor controls in some of the regions.
Environmental taxes and charges are often too low to have any real effect. The OECD notes too the poor air quality in many cities, adding that the air-quality plans called for in a presidential decree of 1998 have still not been presented in most regions. Measures concerning road traffic will, for Italy as for many other countries, be a key question if it is to reach a number of environmental aims, such as reducing emissions of climate gases. Whereas Italy is supposed to reduce those emissions by 6.5 per cent under the Kyoto protocol, during the nineties there was almost a like increase.
OECD Environmental Performance Review: Italy. 248 pp.
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POLAND
Much still to be done
Poland is praised for having made "remarkable environmental progress" during the last decade, in the OECD Environmental Review published in June. Here the accession process has brought a series of new laws concerning the environment, as well as an actual reduction of pollutant emissions.
But in the view of the OECD a lot will have to be done before Poland can come up to the EU level of environmental legislation. Annual investments of 22 to 50 billion euros (1.2-2.7 per cent of GDP) will be needed over ten years if the country is to comply with the terms of accession to the EU.
Although emissions of sulphur and nitrogen oxides have gone down markedly, there is still room for improvement, according to the OECD. Wide use of subsidized coal, together with a doubling of road traffic over the last decade, has meant that the emission intensities of major air pollutants are among the highest in the OECD.
It is recommended that Poland should finalize and implement its national air-management strategy, continue efforts to reduce emissions of SO2, NOx and particulates, and inject environmental concerns into energy policies. The country is also encouraged to remove subsidies and to further implement the polluter-pays and user-pays principles and to strengthen its enforcement of environmental regulations. As regards climate, the introduction and implementation of a "coherent national climate-protection policy" is recommended, to be coordinated with the country's energy and transportation policies.
OECD Environmental Performance Review: Poland. 216 pp.
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THENETHERLANDS
No longer a leader
Commendation on several counts is dealt out to the Netherlands in the OECD environmental performance review issued in April. The success of the country's unique mix of regulation and voluntary agreements is especially noted, besides the rapidity with which it has implemented international commitments regarding the environment. Also largely commended are the quality of the country's environmental information and the high degree of public participation in decision making.
Despite all this, the Netherlands can no longer be said to lead in the environmental field. The integration of environmental concerns in key economic sectors is said, for instance, to be weak.
Moreover, greenhouse-gas emissions have not been decoupled from economic growth. Progress in the transportation sector has been "too little," and nitrous-oxide emissions from agriculture have not been reduced.
In a commentary on the review, the Dutch environment minister Pieter van Geel promised measures to reduce air pollution generally, together with an "ambitious but realistic" target to bring down carbon-dioxide emissions by 30 per cent from their 1990 levels by 2020. The country's environmental priorities for its six-month EU presidency in the second half of 2004 are said to be climate change and sustainable energy, chemicals and major industrial hazards.
OECD Environmental Performance Review. The Netherlands. 248 pp.
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UNITED KINGDOM
Transportation the catch
The UK is complimented in the OECD review for having decoupled economic growth from environmental considerations such as air pollution, carbon-dioxide emissions and water extraction - although with the warning added that "considerable effort and investment will be necessary if the UK is to consolidate and extend implementation of environmental policies."
While the country's GDP rose by 26 per cent in the nineties, the emissions of air pollutants went markedly down. Sulphur dioxide declined by 68 per cent, nitrogen oxides by 42, and carbon dioxide by 33 per cent. The changes were mainly due to more efficient use of energy, a big switch from coal to gas, and better cleaning of the emissions from cars and power plants.
Reduced emissions have brought the UK close to the average for OECD countries. More could however be done, a special problem being the remaining "hot spots" in urban areas, where the concentrations of nitrogen dioxide and particulates frequently exceed national standards. This, notes the OECD, particularly affects the poor.
Decoupling the use of road transport from GDP growth is said to remain "the biggest challenge." The government should do more to explain to the public that fuel and vehicle-related taxes are tools for achieving environmental goals and improving public transport.
OECD Environmental Performance Review: United Kingdom. 276 pp.
How the come and how to order
The OECD environmental performance reviews are issued at intervals in book form. The authors are independent experts commissioned by the OECD to report on the member countries' progress in measures to protect the environment. The aim is to help those countries improve their individual and collective performances in environmental management.
Besides the titles in the article, there are also reports on the Slovak Republic and Japan for 2002, and on Mexico and Austria for 2003.
Several of the reviews can be downloaded free of charge from the OECD online bookshop: www.oecd.org. The volumes cost around 37 euros apiece, plus postage.
Most countries have national distributors for OECD publications, information about which can be had either from sales@oecd.org or from OECD, c/o Turpin Distribution Services Ltd., P.O. Box 22, Blackhorse Road, Letchworth SG6 1YT, United Kingdom. |
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USA
Letting off owners of old power plants
Under the New Source Review program that was added to the US Clean Air Act in 1977, when making modifications to plant built before that act took effect in 1970, which would increase emissions, the owners had to install the best available pollution-control equipment.
That requirement has now been eased up by the Bush administration through a final ruling issued by the Environmental Protection Agency on August 28. Modifications that cost less than a certain percentage of the value of the whole plant are now exempt. The idea is that it should be possible to make old plants more efficient without having to take into account environmental considerations.
Critics, which include state pollution-control officials, state attorneys general, public health groups, Democrats and even some Republicans, say the administration's revision of the program will undermine future progress in reducing harmful air pollution from some of the oldest and dirtiest sources. On October 27, when the new rule was published in the Federal Register, a dozen states filed suit in federal court seeking to block the changes.
At the same time as the administration was preparing this rule, the Department of Justice, state attorneys general, the Natural Resources Defense Council and other organizations had successfully prosecuted or settled out of court some new-source-review lawsuits that the Clinton administration had brought against the twelve owners of the oldest and dirtiest coal-fired power plants.
The new rule will now make such prosecutions impossible. According to a study made by Abt Associates, the failure to install modern pollution controls at the 51 power plants that have been at issue will lead to 5000-9000 premature deaths and 80,000-120,000 more asthma attacks every year in the United States.
Source: Environment News Service August 28, 2003.
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In brief
Less coal being mined and burnt
In 2002 the production of coal went down from 79.3 to 73.1 million tons in the EU, mainly because of declines in the UK and Germany, where output fell by 9.2 and 6.5 per cent respectively. The gross internal consumption of coal in the EU was around 233 million tons in 2002, a drop of nearly 8 per cent compared with 2001.
Source: Europe Environment, October 9, 2003.
Germany will need new power sources
An extensive restructuring looms for the German power sector in the next twenty years, since many coal-fired plants will soon have become obsolete, and a phase-out of nuclear power has already been decided.
This opens the way for a more environmentally friendly energy system, such as outlined in a study published by the Umweltbundesamt, the German environment agency, in August. There it says priority should be given to measures to cut down the demand for energy. But even if that should be successful, there would still remain a shortfall in generating capacity of 40,000 megawatts in 2020 as a result of the shutting down of coal and nuclear plants. At least 10,000 MW of energy will need to be replaced by 2010. It will be impossible to make up for the deficiency solely through windpower, according to the UBA, which proposes geothermal energy as a leading alternative. The agency also favours natural gas-fired, ultra-efficient combined heat-and-power (CHP) plants, to be sited close to centres of demand for heat.
The new study follows longer-term sustainable energy scenario released by the agency last year in which it modelled the requirements for cutting German carbon-dioxide emissions by 80 per cent compared with 1990 levels by 2050.
Source: Environment Daily, August 18, 2003.
German coal and wind subsidies
Under the German renewable energy law government subsidies guarantee a fixed "feed-in" price of roughly 0.09 euro per kilowatt hour for wind power. Overall wind-power subsidies in Germany are now of the same order as those for coal.
Source: Environment Daily, September 3, 2003.
Better air with road pricing
The British Institute for public policy research (ippr) says congestion charging should be introduced to help reduce traffic and air pollution on the roads. According to a study, charging would cut the volume of traffic in England by 7 per cent, and the emissions of carbon dioxide by 8 per cent, provided that fuel taxes were not reduced. Bus travel would at the same time increase by 11 per cent.
The government is said to be thinking of starting road pricing on a national scale, possibly in combination with a reduction of other motoring taxes.
The study can be downloaded from www.ippr.org.uk
Works well
The system of congestion charging that was started in London last February has come up to expectations, according to an appraisal made by Transport for London for its first six months. Traffic delays are reported to have lessened by 30 per cent within the charging zone, traffic flow is better and buses have taken charge of the extra passengers.
Some 60,000 fewer cars are now entering the 22-square-kilometre charging zone. TfL estimates that 25-30 per cent of them are now taking their way around the periphery, 30-60 per cent of the former riders are using public transportation, and the remaining 15-25 per cent are car sharing, cycling, or making the trip in charge-free hours.
Concerns over the possible detrimental effect of charging on economic activity within the zone appear to be misplaced, says TfL. There seem to be other reasons for fewer people travelling into central London, as may be gathered from the drop in passengers on the underground.
Further information: www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/press-releases/2003/october/press-818.shtml
Again postponed
Trouble with computer software has meant that the distance-based charging system for heavy trucks on German motorways has once more had to be shelved, this time indefinitely. First it was going to be introduced in August, and then in November. Toll Collect, the consortium behind the system, may be forced to compensate the government for lost revenue caused by the delay, estimated at around 160 million euros per month.
Source: Environment Daily, October 6, 2003.
Clamping down on coal-fired power plants
The State Environmental Protection Administration in China is now stepping up efforts to curb ever-growing emissions of air pollutants, according to a report in the official China Daily.
New standards for the emissions of sulphur dioxide from coal-fired power plants in the country's 22 largest cities were published in October. While it is not exactly clear what the requirements are, it is said that measures must have been taken at 137 "key plants" by 2005. That has been set as the date by which the country's emissions of sulphur dioxide shall have been brought down by 20 per cent from their 2000 levels. In 2002 emissions amounted 6.6 million tons.
If enforced, the regulations could substantially raise costs for producers in China's booming energy market. Most of China's coal is high in sulphur and emissions require substantial treatment to extract the most dangerous pollutants.
Source: AP, October 9, 2003.
Include aviation in emissions trading
The emissions of greenhouse gases from aircraft should be regulated by a global cap in combination with emissions trading. Until then all flights within the EU should be subject to an "en route" environmental charge based on carbon emissions at a rate of £70 (100 euros) per ton of carbon dioxide. A UK Commission for integrated transport is also proposing auctions for peak-time take-off and landing slots, plus an additional congestion charge. Tradeable noise permits could be introduced, while separate instruments should be devised to cover condensation trails and nitrogen oxides (NOx), once their impact on climate has been properly quantified.
An existing aviation charge in the UK produces £800m a year in revenue, barely half of the £1.4bn in external costs that the commission says the industry causes. A government white paper on aviation is expected later this year.
Further information: UK Commission for Integrated Transport: www.cfit.gov.uk
Lives shortened by global warming
About 160,000 people die every year from side-effects of global warming ranging from malaria to malnutrition and the numbers could almost double by 2020, even taking account of factors such as improvements in health care, according to estimates presented by a group of researchers at the World Health Organization and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine at a climate conference in Moscow at the end of September. Children in developing countries are likely to be most vulnerable. It would be worst in Africa, Latin America and southeast Asia, due to the spread of malnutrition, diarrhoea and malaria in the wake of warmer temperatures, floods and drought.
Source: Planet Ark (Reuters), October 1, 2003.
Under fire for double dealing
At the same time as it is arranging a top-level ministerial meeting on environmental sustainability, the European Investment Bank is continuing to give financial support to fossil fuel projects - a double dealing that has been criticized by a group of non-governmental organisations including Friends of the Earth International and CEE Bankwatch Network.
While the NGOs welcome initiatives to improve financing of the renewable-energy sector, they insist that a clear deadline must be set to the EIB's support of fossil fuel, if its aims for sustainable energy are to be taken seriously. Support for renewables needs to be expressed in clear measurable goals. A 25 per cent share of financing in renewables in the next three years would be a welcome first step, says the NGOs.
While other international financial institutions like the World Bank have made progress in their commitment to good governance and environmental and social safeguards, the EIB remains "stuck in the dark ages," according to the organizations.
Further information: www.foei.org/ifi/eib
Trading and flexible mechanisms
In July the Commission put forward a proposal for a directive to permit the inclusion of trading in emissions from non-EU country in a system that is to come into force in the EU in 2005 (see AN 3/03). That proposal should have come up at the meeting of the environment ministers on October 28, but the idea had to be put off because it had proved impossible, despite a lengthy debate, to agree on a common position for the ninth conference of the parties to the climate convention (COP9) in Italy on December 1-12. The Italian presidency hopes nevertheless that the Council will be able to reach a common position in December.
Increased average life expectancy
Premature deaths due to the exhausts from diesel vehicles appear to run to something between 1 and 2 per cent of all deaths in Germany. A general use of particle traps could reduce the background concentrations of PM2.5 by 3 µg/m3, which would add 1 to 3 months to everyone's life expectancy in Germany.
Source: Future Diesel, Umweltbundesamt, 2003.
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Recent publications
Executive Summary - 2000 Review of Strategies and Policies for Air Pollution Abatement (2003)
Published by the Secretariat for the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, UN ECE, Environment and human settlements division, Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland. Internet: www.unece.org/env/lrtap
Health Risks of Persistent Organic Pollutants from Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (2003)
An experts group review of 13 groups of POPs, their health effects and pathways of human exposure related to long-range transport. Available from WHO Regional Office for Europe, Scherfigsvej 8, 2100 Copenhagen Ö, Denmark. Internet: www.euro.who.int
Modelling and Mapping of Critical Thresholds in Europe: CCE Status Report 2003
The Coordination Centre for Effects under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution reports on the current situation as regards defining of the critical loads for sulphur and nitrogen and the development of dynamic models to make it possible to describe, on a European scale, the time it will take for the environment to recover if the fallout comes down under the critical limit.
132 pp. Published by RIVM, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, the Netherlands. Available at www.rivm.nl/cce
Ultrafine Particles in the Atmosphere (2003)
A state-of-the art overview of the scientific and medical research on ultrafine particles. Specialist reviews of methods, emission sources, damage mechanisms and epidemiological studies.
350 pp. £42.00. Published by Imperial College Press and distributed by World Scientific Publishing Ltd., 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE, UK. Internet: www.worldscientific.com
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