UK Focus i TALKING POINT
How is the British government tackling nitrogen oxides in air?
Between 1970 and 2019, the concentration of all pollutants (with the important exception of ammonia) in British air has been drastically reduced. But according to the national government, poor air quality is still the largest environmental health risk to the population of the UK. Offi cial estimates put the annual death-toll somewhere between 28,000 and 36,000; the costs, in terms of healthcare rendered and productivity lost, of PM2.5 and NOx pollution alone are set to exceed £5.3 billion by 2035. So, with the clock ticking and the nation’s health on the line, what is the British government doing to curb air pollution?
Noxious Conduct
Well, recently, the focus has been almost solely on diluting the concentration of nitrogen oxides. For one thing, nitrogen oxides are especially nasty. A menace to the human respiratory system, short-term exposure promotes asthma and long-term exposure risks contracting chronic lung disease.
But there is another reason for the British government’s tunnel-vision. You see, signifi cant swathes of Britain are currently in contravention of both national and international standards for the pollutant. Whilst the nation was under the Union’s jurisdiction, such an abundance of nitrogen oxides constituted an infraction of EU guidelines. And in 2018, a judicial review conducted by the British High Court reiterated for the third time that such exceedances of national air pollution limitsbe redressed “in the shortest possible time.”
In order to remedy these infractions, the Department of Transport and the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Aff airs came together to bring JAQU into the world. The Joint Air Quality Unit, or JAQU, is charged with monitoring and reducing the concentration of nitrogen oxides in ambient air – and they’re leading a revolution.
Model Villages
Up and down the country, in the oddest of places, you’ll be able to fi nd small, squat boxes sporting caged analytical instruments. Since 1998, 274 of these units have been built, from the banks of Loch Vaich in northern Scotland to the public gardens around Plymouth harbour. Together, they constitute the Automatic Urban and Rural Network, which keeps tabs on road-side air pollution across the UK in order to ensure statutory adherence, model long-term trends and assess the impact of policies. It is the lifeblood of the Joint Air Quality Unit.
According to JAQU, around 70% of the nitrogen oxides in ambient air are coming from diesel vehicles on British roads. Reducing the concentration of these pollutant thus requires the sort of comprehensive modelling of road- side emissions provided by the AURN, which the Unit supplements with its own mapping. The resulting compliance reports have unveiled a startling set of facts: of the 43 zones into which the nation is divided for the purpose of reporting NOx emissions, 33 were in exceedance of the statutory limit on nitrogen oxides (40mg/m3) in 2019. And with the aid of the AURN, the Joint Air Quality Unit were able to whittle it down to the exact 6.1% of British roadways responsible for these infractions.
As a result, JAQU has been working closely with Local Authorities to develop tailored solutions for their NOx problem. For the Unit, each area has its own diffi culties, capacities and needs, so there are no one-size-fi ts-all measures. As a rule, though, JAQU’s solutions off er immediate implementation and tend not to exert a punitive strain on budgets, solutions like reduced speed limits to prevent the increased emissions resulting from higher revs or traffi c signal optimisation to reduce idling. Even the pricier options, like retrofi tting local bus fl eets with selective catalytic converters, are fi rmly within the realm of possibility for all but the most cash-strapped Local Authorities.
As has been said, the Joint Air Quality Unit doesn’t traffi c in absolutes. But there is one absolute condition which Local Authorities need to fulfi l in accepting the Unit’s help, and it’s a programme that has been garnering both praise and scorn.
Roadside Picnic?
I think it would be fair to predict that, in the years to come, the Clean Air Zone will become synonymous with the Joint Air Quality Unit. For the moment, though, you will have seen, or passed through, a CAZ even if you’ve never heard about JAQU.
In principle, a Clean Air Zone attempts to reduce the emission of nitrogen oxides by levying charges on polluting vehicles, in the hope that these extra costs will incentivise motorists to switch to a less off ensive mode of transport. For each area, there are diff erent culprits, so if you were charged at the Birmingham CAZ, you might well pass through the Zone in Bath unharmed. As with any of the measures that the Joint Air Quality Unit proposes, the Clean Air Zones are, individually, having only a small eff ect on the local concentration of nitrogen oxides, but they are working.
For a few outspoken locals, though, the positives simply do not outweigh the negatives. Whenever a new Clean Air Zone is proposed, Twitter ignites with furious clashes between supporters and detractors. For the former, a CAZ is a necessary inconvenience that brings inestimable benefi ts to the quality of living in and sustainability for the area. The latter, however, are frustrated by the prospect of yet another tax and an attendant curtailment of their personal choices. For them, the proposed improvement of air quality is just an excuse. Out of the online debate come more direct forms of contest, of course. Petitions and demonstrations have been used to seal the deal in favour of either side. In all cases, though, the Clean Air Zone gets up and running, and opposition to the scheme dwindles to grumbling acceptance, to a miff ed clicking of the button to pay the charge.
TheSTAFocus
Preparations are well under way for the industry’s principle exhibition; Air Quality and Emissions (AQE). The STA are always proud to support the show, having originally been the brainchild of the STA for the UK to hold a dedicated conference with exhibition space. The format included one main conference with technical workshops running alongside it and a small exhibition. Originally called EM-CERTs and then the MCERTS show, before changing to AQE as we all know it now. The fi rst few years, the conference was held at a small intimate venue in Bretby before moving to the Telford conference centre in 2011, the event has grown from strength to strength and still keeps the same original format with the STA still organising the main conference over both days. This October sees the return of the face-to-face conference following the postponements due to COVID and the STA have been working hard in the background organising this year’s conference where we will be discussing: Biogenic Carbon and Carbon Capture on day one and Data Acquisition and Handling Systems on day two.
Day one will be chaired by Stewart Davis from Enfi nium and will cover: The Regulation, Meeting Net Zero: a Strategy for the Recycling and Waste Sector, Reporting accurately the biogenic carbon content and emissions, Carbon Capture and Storage – the requirements for new monitoring methods and standards, Continuous Sampling Equipment and innovation, Operators prospective and the challenges ahead
Day two will be chaired by James Eldridge from Element and will cover: The Overview EN 17255 Stationary source emissions. Data acquisition and handling systems, Specifi cation of requirements for the handling and reporting of data, Specifi cation of requirements on data acquisition and handling system, Specifi cation of requirements for the performance test of data acquisition and handling systems, Draft Specifi cation of requirements for the installation and on- going quality assurance and quality control of data acquisition and handling systems.
The AQE show will be held on the 12th and 13th of October, we look forward to seeing you there.
Focus on training As we have reported in previous STA focus columns the STA now offers our training courses online, and the MCERTS level 2 training course is now a 2 day online course. This course is designed to provide training for the progression from Level 1 to Level 2. The course duration is two days and covers;
• Responsibilities of a Level 2 • Health and safety review • Site specifi c protocol • Risk assessment • Report preparation
• Principles of calculating uncertainty
• Choice of sampling method, technique and equipment • Abatement systems and their effects on monitoring • Types of process operation and process details • The Level 2 interview
Who should attend?
Personnel who have reached MCERTS Level 1 and are in the process of training to become a Level 2 Team Leader.
The STA meetings and task groups are available for all STA members to attend and contribute. If you are an existing STA member and not already involved in the valuable work the STA does or if you are interested in becoming a member please email
info@s-t-a.org and one of the team will contact you.
WWW.ENVIROTECH-ONLINE.COM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92
