Illustration: Lars-Erik Håkansson
No. 2, June 2011
Call for new approach to nitrogen management
Europe should take an integrated approach to nitrogen management. This is the main message of the European Nitrogen Assessment, a new report launched during the "Nitrogen and Global Change" conference, in Edinburgh (UK) from 11–14 April, 2011.
Ship pollution causes 50,000 deaths per year
The number of premature deaths in Europe caused by air pollutant emissions from international shipping is estimated to amount to approximately 49,500 in the year 2000, and rise to 53,200 in 2020.
IPCC: Huge potential for renewable energy
There are sufficient resources to provide the world with renewable energy. The main constraint on development is public policy, that is the main message in a new IPCC report.
EU voting on new climate target for 2020
On 23 June 2011 the European Parliament will vote on proposals to strengthen the EU target for emission reductions of greenhouse gases in the European Union until 2020. Later during the year the European Council will also decide on the new target.
Air quality measures with climate benefits
A handful of measures targeting black carbon and tropospheric ozone can reduce future global warming by 0.5°C, according to a UNEP and WMO report.
The dirtiest plants in Europe
Germany's lignite power plants still dominate the CO2 list. Serbia is registering emissions for the first time and enters both the NOx list and the SO2 list.
Cut mercury from coal combustion
Mercury emissions from coal-fired plants can be cut by well over 90 per cent, but this fact has so far been neglected in ongoing talks for a revised Heavy Metals Protocol.
Potential for cuts in the non road sector
As no revision of the European Air Quality legislation is planned until at least 2013, the EU has said it will focus on source-oriented legislation in the meantime. Often neglected in comparison to regulations concerning road vehicles, the so-called "non-road" sector, which includes locomotive ..
Sustainable transport is more than emissions
"Curbing mobility is not an option," says the European Commission in a new roadmap for the transport sector, expressing a view that immediately sparked criticism.
Overhaul of EU air quality policy announced
Prompt action is required to further reduce particulate matter, ground-level ozone, and nitrogen dioxide – an EU clean air strategy should be adopted in 2013.
Negotiating new air pollutant ceilings
Significant environmental improvements can be achieved while additional costs still stay well below 0.1 per cent of GDP. Moreover, health benefits alone outweigh the costs by ten times or more.
Lower the ceilings
"many countries still claim they are unable to commit"
Half of all Americans breathe polluted air
The United States has made progress in cleaning up air pollution, but 154.5 million people, about half the population, live where the air is so polluted with smog ..
Multiple benefits from stricter global vehicle emission controls
Non-CO2 air pollutants from motor vehicles have traditionally been controlled to protect air quality and health, but they also affect climate. In a new study ..
WHO: Traffic noise major threat to health
Traffic noise is the second biggest environmental problem affecting health after air pollution, says a report published by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Spanish motorway speed limits cut fuel use
A cut in motorway speed limits introduced by Spain appears to have reduced seasonally-adjusted fuel consumption by 8.4 per cent in its first month in ..
Proposal for new minimum tax on fuels
The European Commission proposes a minimum tax rate for CO2 on transport and heating fuels from 2013 and minimum rates for energy based on the energy ..
Pressure on London to act on PM pollution
Under a decision to grant a "temporary, conditional time extension" for meeting limits for the concentration of dangerous airborne particles (PM10), the UK ..
Standards for new boilers underway
The European Commission circulated in early April a draft of ecodesign and energy labelling standards for new boilers. It hopes to agree the ecodesign standard ..
Sweden condemned
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has condemned Sweden for having exceeded EU air quality limits on PM10 in three areas including Stockholm and Gothenburg.
Belgium to court
Belgium has so far failed to effectively tackle excess emissions of health-damaging particles (PM10) in eight zones across the country, and is therefore ..
Romania warned
In Romania, 17 areas have been found to exceed PM10 limits. Romania applied for an exemption in 2010 for 11 of these 17 areas, but the Commission turned down ..
France to court
The European Commission is taking France to court for failing to comply with EU air quality limit values for airborne particles (PM10). Since 2005, the PM10 limit values ..
Compliance with emission ceilings "not required to build new plants"
Compliance with national air emission caps under the NEC directive is not a condition for authorising the construction of new industrial installations, the European ..
EU green light for lorry pollution charges
On 23 May an agreement was reached between the European Commission, Council and Parliament on revised road charging rules for lorries ..
Ten countries to exceed their NOx emission ceilings
EU member states must meet legally binding limits for four air pollutants set by the 2001 National Emission Ceilings Directive (NECD), but according to the ..
Britain unveils plan to halve emissions by 2027
The UK government has adopted a 50 per cent greenhouse gas reduction target relative to 1990 levels for its carbon budget for the period 2023–27. But it ..
Final 2010 ETS show rise in emission
Updated figures for the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS) show that emissions from sites covered by the scheme were 3.2% higher last year than in 2009 ..
Ship scrubber system selection guide
The Ship Operations Cooperative Program (SOCP), which is a US industry-government partnership, has announced the release of a study on exhaust gas cleaning systems ..
Sweden to boost on-shore power
Sweden is planning to give energy tax breaks to ships that use on-shore power while berthed in ports. On-shore electricity is quieter and less polluting than ..
Slow steaming cuts pollution
The port of Long Beach on the US West Coast has honoured thirteen shipping companies for practising slow steaming when travelling close to the port. The ..
EU study to assess additional ECAs
A new study is planned that may identify candidates for new emission control areas (ECAs) in waters around the European Union. The new study for the European ..
Ship fuel sulphur rules widely ignored
Stricter rules on the sulphur content of marine fuels are not being widely observed, according to reports from the shipping insurers' publication Lloyds List.
The Energy Efficiency Plan is "an empty shell"
On 8 March 2011 the European Commission published its Energy Efficiency Plan. Environmental NGOs hoped that this plan would become an important ..