Ireland looks at extending ‘smoky’ coal ban

The Irish environment ministry is seeking to improve air quality and public health by extending restrictions on the use of bituminous coal to all urban areas. A ban on the marketing, sale and distribution of bituminous coal now covers 20 Irish towns and cities, where coarse particulate concentrations have halved as a result.

Residential emissions are the country’s second largest source of particulate matter (PM) and have shown little improvement for years. The new plan should – if adopted – aid compliance with the 2008 EU air quality directive, which requires a reduction in PM2.5 exposure by 2020. New emission limits for PM2.5 may also be introduced under the forthcoming revision of the 2001 National Emission Ceilings (NEC) directive.

Source: ENDS Europe DAILY, 16 April 2012

Ireland

In this issue

Editorial: Still a long way to go

In early May, after five years of negotiation, countries in Europe and North America agreed to take on new emission reduction commitments for the major air pollutants, by adopting a revised Gothenburg Protocol to the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution ..

Health effects of black carbon

Reducing people’s exposure to PM_2.5 containing black carbon should lead to a reduction in the health effects associated with PM.

Air pollution from traffic kills 5000 a year in UK

Premature deaths due to PM_2.5 are estimated to cost the UK between €7.5-77 billion every year, corresponding to 0.4-3.5 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.

Ozone levels still much too high

In the summer of 2011, the threshold for protecting human health from ozone was exceeded on more than 25 days in a significant part of Europe.

Europe’s most polluting power plants

Eight of the twelve largest single sources of carbon dioxide in Europe are found in Germany.

The arrival of a new EU sulphur law

The sulphur content of ship fuels will be cut to 0.1% from 2015 in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, and to 0.5% from 2020 in other EU waters. As a result, emissions of sulphur dioxide from shipping in Europe will come down by more than 80 per cent.

Welcome to the golden age of fracking

Fracking, exploitation of gas from shale, is growing fast. This is game-changing both for energy policy and climate policy. There is now more, and dirtier fossil gas around. The resistance is also growing, and fracking is banned in some countries.

Biggest environmental cause of mortality

A new OECD report says that by 2050 air pollution will become the biggest cause of premature death, killing an estimated 3.6 million people a year.

New Danish energy agreement

A massive expansion of wind power, reforms to promote biomass and an expansion of mandatory energy savings are the main features of the Danish energy agreement. The measures combined are estimated to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 34 per cent by 2020.

Improvements from the revison

Emission cuts under the new Gothenburg Protocol are expected to reduce health damage in Europe from PM_2.5 and ozone by 27 and 11 per cent, respectively, between 2000 and 2020.

New Gothenburg Protocol adopted

Between 2005 and 2020 the EU member states must jointly cut their emissions of sulphur dioxide by 59%, nitrogen oxides by 42%, ammonia by 6%, volatile organic compounds by 28% and particles by 22%.

Main menu

Ireland looks at extending ‘smoky’ coal ban

In this issue

Editorial: Still a long way to go

Health effects of black carbon

Air pollution from traffic kills 5000 a year in UK

Ozone levels still much too high

Europe’s most polluting power plants

The arrival of a new EU sulphur law

Welcome to the golden age of fracking

Biggest environmental cause of mortality

New Danish energy agreement

Improvements from the revison

New Gothenburg Protocol adopted

Publications

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The 100 largest industry emitters in EU-27

Road to Nowhere

Bioenergy CCS – too little, too expensive, and not net negative

Direct air carbon capture and storage - A waste of time and energy

Carbon emissions from the cement industry can be reduced without CCS

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