| Autor: |
Lewis, Alastair C., Allan, James D., Carruthers, David, Carslaw, D.C., Fuller, Gary W, Harrison, Roy M., Heal, Mathew R, Nemitz, Eiko, Reeves, Claire, Williams, Martin, Fowler, David, Marner, Ben B., Williams, Andrew, Moller, Sarah, Maggs, Richard, Murrells, Tim, Quincey, Paul, Willis, Paul |
| Jazyk: |
angličtina |
| Rok vydání: |
2020 |
| Předmět: |
|
| Zdroj: |
Lewis, A C, Allan, J D, Carruthers, D, Carslaw, D C, Fuller, G W, Harrison, R M, Heal, M R, Nemitz, E, Reeves, C, Williams, M, Fowler, D, Marner, B B, Williams, A, Moller, S, Maggs, R, Murrells, T, Quincey, P & Willis, P 2020, Impacts of Net Zero pathways on future air quality in the UK . London . < https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/library/reports.php?report_id=1002 > |
| Popis: |
In this short report, the Defra Air Quality Expert Group (AQEG) has evaluated the Further Ambition scenario developed by The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) in 2019. See: https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/net-zero-the-uks-contribution-to-stopping-global-warming/An initial assessment has been made of the possible impacts on air quality, primarily from the perspective of five pollutants for which either ambient standards or national emissions limits exist (PM, NOx, O3, VOCs, NH3). In this assessment AQEG has attempted to differentiate between uncertainty associated with the underlying science of a particular process or technology, for example ‘does an activity emit a particular type of pollutant, and if so in approximately in what quantities?’, and with the broader uncertainties that relate to the scale of uptake, implementation and mitigation.The assessment by AQEG is essentially identifying hazards rather than risks, and it is understood that for every action area within the Net Zero strategy some form of hazard mitigation is likely to be introduced, or the hazard managed through existing regulatory processes such as the permitting of emissions. In some cases, the technologies that are highlighted as part of a Net Zero pathway do not currently operate in the UK at industrial scale, notably for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), and there is potential for the emergence of unanticipated new hazards as a consequence of the materials used. In uncertain technology areas such as this, it is accepted that existing systems for risk assessment will be applied, and the hazards identified here may not catalyse into significant risk once mitigation is in place.The exact details of the realisation of each action are often critical to whether the air quality effects might be positive or negative. In some areas the selection of a specific technology pathway or implementation strategy could potentially lead to sub-optimal outcomes, and worsened air pollution emissions compared to plausible counterfactuals. AQEG aims to highlight those areas where air quality emissions and outcomes should be a factor that is considered in Net Zero design and specification, and to guide thinking around which realisations of individual Net Zero proposals would bring the greatest beneficial improvements in air quality.Encouragingly, for virtually all of the changes proposed on the CCC Net Zero pathway, positive, improved and better air quality outcomes can be envisaged.The report does not explicitly address the broader issue of societal health benefits arising from Net Zero, although in some cases we do identify where low carbon technologies may have different air quality impacts in different geographic areas. In this report we do not weight changes in different pollutants by their specific health outcomes, but view reductions in ambient concentrations of all major regulated pollutants as equally valuable. Follow-on work jointly with the DHSC Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution (COMEAP) is anticipated to refine further which actions would bring the largest health benefits to the UK. Our approach to identifying possible air quality effects is restricted to those that would be experienced in the UK, but it is important to appreciate the enormous impacts of the manufacture, transportation and disposal of goods (including clean technologies) from outside of the UK. There is clearly significant potential for the export of air pollution emissions, and by extension adverse air quality, to other countries as part of the decarbonisation transition. |
| Databáze: |
OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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