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Source Emissions in Multipollutant Air Quality Management
Citation:
MILLER, C. A. Source Emissions in Multipollutant Air Quality Management. Chapter 8, G.M. Hidy, J.R.Brook, K.L. Demerjian, L.T. Molina, W.T. Pennell, and R.D. Scheffe (ed.), Technical Challenges of Multipollutant Air Quality Management, ISBN:9789400703032. Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, Netherlands, , pp.261-298, (2011).
Impact/Purpose:
Book Chapter
Description:
Human activities and natural processes that emit pollutants into the ambient atmosphere are the underlying cause of all air quality problems. In a technical sense, we refer to these activities and processes as pollutant sources. Although air quality management is usually concerned with the amount of pollutants in the atmosphere, the strategies developed and implemented to achieve the desired quality of ambient air deal entirely with pollutant sources. These strategies involve either reducing the level of the underlying activities that result in pollutant emissions or removing pollutants from the processes through the use of control technologies, process design changes, or changes in fuels and other process inputs. Other risk management approaches are used to reduce exposure to the resulting pollutants by separation of emissions from populations or other receptors; exposure reduction approaches are usually tied to predictions of air quality during specific meteorological and emission conditions. In general, North American air quality management strategies have focused on achieving ambient air quality goals through emission reductions and have reserved exposure reduction approaches to situations in which emission reduction strategies have not been successful in reaching target air quality levels.
