Also discussed here: Clearing up Europe’s air pollution hotspots (News, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Feb 19, 2015)
Today we review modeling sources of ambient air pollution across Europe down to the street canyon scale (using the GAINS, model developed by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis) as measured by 1850 monitoring stations (including 300 traffic stations) and then applying various policy scenarios. Results indicate the while most areas show improvement over the next two decades, some continue to remain below EU air quality limits, specifically, southern Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, northern Italy, and Bulgaria. Adherence to these limits require more than vehicle emission controls such as introduction of low emission zones, improved road materials and road dust removal and eliminating studded tires and controlling emissions from home heating fuels such as wood burning.
Key Quotes:
“Europe cannot achieve the WHO air quality guidelines without strictly controlling emissions from coal and wood burning for home heating, road traffic, and other sources such as industrial-scale factory farming, according to new IIASA research.”
“Under current legislation, air pollution hotspots will remain in Eastern Europe, Southern Poland and major European cities such as Warsaw, Paris, and Milan”
“Exposure to particulate matter was linked to as many as 400,000 premature deaths in 2011 in Europe…an estimated 80% of Europe’s population is still exposed to PM levels above WHO air quality guidelines, and a significant proportion of the region still exceeds the air quality limit values set by EU law”
“We are now able to explicitly identify the different sources contributing to ambient pollution levels. Some cities clearly have a local problem that may be tackled by local measures”
“Approaching the WHO guideline value will require emission reductions from various sources, two of which were often overlooked in the past. Especially in Eastern Europe, emissions from solid fuels used for home heating are dominating”
“a substantial proportion of the European population would still be exposed to PM10 concentrations exceeding EU standards in 2030, in particular in southern Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, northern Italy, and Bulgaria”
“Strict control of vehicle emissions alone will not be sufficient to achieve the limit values..Additional local measures targeting road traffic may be required… which may include the reduction of traffic volumes through local traffic management such as low emission zones or incentives for public transport use, the reduction of road dust abrasion through restrictions on studded tyre use in Scandinavian countries…, use of enhanced road surface material or advanced road cleaning/dust binding practices”
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