Stationary-Source Local and Regional Air Pollution (Chapter 15)

Pollution is a harmful (for ecosystem) change in the natural environment caused by human activities

Types of Pollution

Pollution sources are defined as two types

Point source pollution - the pollution has an identifiable source o Examples - Smoke stacks to factories and electric power plants

Non-point source pollution - pollution is emitted from many sources and it is extremely difficult to identify and monitor.

o Example Soil erosion - farmers till the soil. The soil is loose, so rain may erode it. Fertilizer and other chemical runoffs - farmers use fertilizers and chemicals like

pesticides. Rain dissolves the chemicals and they build up in lakes and rivers

Pollution emissions like 2CO from automobiles Pollution is defined as two types

Flow pollutant - pollutant that the environment can absorb. o Only the amount that occurs at a specific point in time matters, like waste flowing into the

river.

o The environmental damage may not change over time. Stock pollutant - A pollutant that the environment cannot absorb. The level of the pollutant in the

environment grows over time as the pollutant is accumulated.

o Example: 2CO emissions (take 200 years to decay). o The damage to the environment grows over time.

Regional vs. Global Pollution: o Some pollutants are regional (tend to stay within the region emitted) e.g. Solid waste,

particulate matter, etc.

o Some pollutants are global (once emitted tend to have global impacts) e.g. CFCs (deplete the ozone)

Trans-boundary problem - pollution emissions in one country or several countries affect other countries

without pollution problems. Examples, acid rain, global warming, polluted oceans and seas

Acid rain - point source emissions Electric power plants burn coal to generate electricity Coal contains trace amounts of sulfur Burning sulfur creates xSO emissions Sunlight converts the xSO into sulfuric acid Rain pours down taking the acid with it The acid dissolves and leeches minerals from the soil, killing the trees

The Ph decreases in lakes and ponds, killing the fish and other life forms. Global warming non point source emissions

Burning fossil fuels release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, allowing the earth to trap more heat.

It makes no difference where the carbon dioxide was emitted. Main problem: domestic policies do not work very well A supra national agency required. Theoretical literature on trans-boundary pollution uses: game theoretical models that allow for

strategic interaction between different players.

First question: are there gains from co-operation? If yes, how to share them? Common types of pollutants

Major air pollutants:

xNO Nitrogen Oxides are created from fossil fuel combustion and contribute to smog & respiratory illness.

xSO Sulphur Oxides are created from fossil fuel combustion and contribute to acid rain & respiratory illness.

Acid rain - caused by sulfur dioxide ( 2SO ) and nitrogen oxides ( xNO ). o Comes from burning of fossil fuels

Coal contains sulfur Car and truck exhaust contains xNO

Ground level ozone: When Ozone is near the ground, it is bad. When it is high up on the atmosphere, then it is good.

o Ground-level ozone has significant impact on respiratory health, crops, vegetation, soil, water, materials, animals, and visibility.

Health concerns for people with impaired respiratory systems o Ozone is highly reactive

Ozone will oxidize metals, except gold, platinum, and iridium o Ozone is not formed directly from car and truck exhaust

Ozone forms as sunlight hits air containing hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides PM -Particulate Matter is created from smoke, soot, dirt, and dust and contributes to respiratory and

immune system illnesses.

CO -Carbon Monoxide is created from fossil fuel combustion and can limit the delivery of oxygen to the body, resulting in complications ranging from headaches to death.

VOC Volatile Organic Compounds are created from propane and benzene gases used in refineries, gas stations, etc. and contribute to smog.

2CO Carbon Dioxide is created from fossil fuel combustion and contribute to global warming.

Lead emissions Indoor air pollution: One-third of energy in developing countries comes from burning wood, crop

residues, and animal wastes in stoves.

Ambient air-quality standards

For each of the conventional pollutants, the typical first step is to establish ambient air-quality standard

In the United States, two ambient standards have been defined. The primary standard is designed to protect human health. It was the first standard to be determined, and had the earliest deadlines for

compliance.

The secondary standard is designed to protect other aspects of human welfare from those pollutants having separate effects. Currently, only one separate secondary standard has been set, for sulfur

oxides.

The secondary standards are designed to protect aesthetics (particularly visibility), physical objects (houses, monuments, and so on), and vegetation.

The Efficiency of the Command-and-Control Approach

Efficiency presumes that the allowable concentration levels authorized by the ambient standards are set

where the marginal benefit equals the marginal cost. To ascertain whether or not the current standards are

efficient, it is necessary to inquire into five aspects of the standard-setting process:

1. The threshold concept on which the standards are based

a. Balancing of costs and benefits

b. Technical threshold

2. The level of the standard

a. The standard in order to maximize the net benefit, which includes a consideration of

costs as well as benefits

3. The choice of uniform standards over standards more tailored to the regions involved

a. The number of people exposed

b. The sensitivity of the local ecology

c. The costs of compliance in various areas

4. The timing of emissions flows

a. Stringent control would be exercised when meteorological conditions were relatively

stagnant, and less control would be applied under normal circumstances.

5. The failure to incorporate the degree of human exposure in the standard-setting process

a. Air pollutants in each of the places in which people spend time as well as the amount

of time spent in each place

b. Indoor vs outdoor

Discussion on development of air quality in the US

Acid Rain

Acid rain is the popular term for atmospheric deposition of acidic substances, is actually a misnomer. Acidic

substances are not only deposited by rain and other forms of moist air, they are also deposited as dry

particles.

Precipitation is normally mildly acidic, with a global background pH of 5.0 (pH is the common

measurement for acidity; the lower the number, the more acidic the substance, with 7.0 being the border

between acidity and alkalinity). Industrialized areas commonly receive precipitation well in excess of the

global background level. Rainfall in eastern North America, for example, has a typical pH of 4.4. Wheeling,

West Virginia, once experienced a rainstorm with a pH of 1.5.

Studies have documented that Sweden has some 4,000 highly acidified lakes; in southern Norway, lakes with

a total surface area of 13,000 square kilometers support no fish at all; similar reports have been received from

Germany and Scotland.

Acid rain has also been implicated in the slower growth, injury, or death both European and american

forests, particularly German

According to this research, acid rain rarely kills trees directly. Instead, it is more likely to weaken trees by

damaging their leaves, limiting the available nutrients, or exposing the trees to toxic substances slowly

released from the soil by the acidic deposition.

Economic aspects in Pollution

Positive economics - the scientific study of economic relationships o Could environmental resources provide us with benefits? o Could government change the incentives for environmental protection?

Normative economics: Economists are people with biases, many people take a moral approach to the environment

o Polluting is the result of unethical behavior o Thus, all pollution is evil and should stop

Pollution causes asymmetric information Polluters have more information than government about their pollution Therefore, polluters can take advantage of asymmetry of knowledge and pollute more

Precautionary Principle

Precautionary Principle - there is much uncertainty about how much pollution is needed to damage the

environmental resources and to what degree

Thus, we do not know how our current choices impact the future - we should take a stance now to reduce the pollution

If we wait and see, then the environmental damage may not be correctable in the future. o Examples

Global Warming - buildup of greenhouse gases in atmosphere Ozone depletion - certain chemicals destroy the ozone layer

Have a hole in the ozone layer above the South Pole Ozone prevents cosmic radiation from entering earth

Precautionary Principle relates to Safe Minimum Standard o Safe Minimum Standard - society is unsure of future costs of current environmental

degradation.

Problems - both Precautionary Principle and Safe Minimum Standard o Has no cost-benefit analysis. o Intergenerational fairness is a social goal

How to weigh fairness with future generations? How much say does the future get.

Uncertainty - impossible to describe the current state or predict future outcomes

Uncertainty presents a huge problem for the Precautionary Principle. Uncertainty - means is it immeasurable Risk is different from uncertainty

o Risk - values can be assigned to risk, usually probabilities o Example - government requires firms in an industry to invest in a specific technology

Firm has two choices Firm complies and invests in equipment Firm does not comply and has a problem of getting caught

o Firm's marginal abatement costs become Marginal abatement costs1 = penalty for cheating * probability of being caught +

MC of compliance

o Government can force compliance by Increasing probability of getting caught Increasing the penalty if caught

Uncertainty for environmental problems is highly non-linear o Damages may be barely noticeable for low levels, but become severe above some uncertain

threshold, or tipping point.

o Man should not go beyond the tipping point. o Our world is too complex; we do not know where the tipping points are.

Irreversibility - a process or choice that is not reversible

Goes with the Precautionary Principal Some environmental damage is reversible

A country cuts down its forests This country could replant its forests Note - Global warming

Theoretically - it is possible to remove greenhouse gases out of atmosphere Plant more trees, use biofuels, etc.

Some environmental damages are irreversible A species goes extinct. Pollution kills all living organism in a lake

Sunk Costs - historical costs that are not recoverable Usually firm invests in capital like machines and equipment Government forces firms to install equipment to abatement pollution Economists - usually do not include sunk costs in cost-benefits analysis

Choice is already made and not recoverable, so why include it.

1 A Marginal abatement cost curve is a set of options available to an economy to reduce pollution.

Long time horizons

Economists use the discount rate. o Incorporate time value of money

Arbitrary to choose discount rate for environmental damage o Environmental damage can persist for centuries

Example o Country buries nuclear waste o Causes $50 million in damage exactly in 200 years o If a discount rate of 10% is chosen,

Value of damage today is $0.26 o If a discount rate of 1% is chosen,

Value of damage today is $6.83 million Environmentalists and alarmist choose low discount rates

o Future generations probably would choose a low discount rate too, but their decisions are not known

Carbon Sequestration

One of the main sources of environmental problem is carbon. It forms carbon dioxide, which is a relatively

stable compound and stays in atmosphere and traps heat close to the earth surface and a cause of increase of

surface temperature

Carbon sequestration - a process to remove carbon out of the air and store it

Process can be biological, chemical, or physical process, large variety of technologies Mitigates the accumulation of greenhouse gases in atmosphere on a large scale, it could lower

greenhouse gases

Some methods of carbon sequestration

Re-Forestation - plant more trees

Have to ensure trees thrive and grow, if a tree rots or is burned, then the carbon is released back into the atmosphere

If trees are harvested, then carbon is still stored in roots and lumber Fertilization of the oceans

Controversial method - unsure of the impact on ocean life Dump iron and fertilizers into the ocean Encourages plankton growth

o Plankton - simple plant life that float in the water Could potentially remove large amounts of carbon dioxide out of the ocean and surrounding air

Pyrolysis of wastes - Burn wastes slowly without oxygen

Could use special ovens to breaks down wastes into carbon which can be mixed into soils o Could be done on a large scale with wastes that are heading to a landfill

Terra Preta - created by humans between 450 BC and AD 950 in the Amazon

o Terra Preta - means black earth o Contains high amounts of carbon o Carbon encourages microbial activity

Capture the carbon dioxide

Emissions from a coal power plant is pumped into an old mine shaft, salt dome, deep water in a bay, etc.

Deep water formations - contain calcium and magnesium deposits o Carbon dioxide reacts with salt and minerals in the water to form carbonates o Carbonates are stable o Limestone is calcium carbonate

Carbon dioxide is also injected into petroleum wells to increase output