Source Emissions in Multipollutant Air Quality Management

Abstract

This chapter discusses emissions inventories and emission control technologies in the context of a risk-based, results-oriented multipollutant air quality management program. As contemporary emission control technologies often achieve reductions in more than one pollutant, the chapter reviews major emissions reduction in North America as examples of multipollutant reduction strategies for both criteria pollutants and air toxics. The chapter then comments on developments in these technologies that will be required in the future. The chapter reaches four principal conclusions regarding the development of emissions inventories for risk- and results-based air quality management: (1) the need to consider the full range of factors influencing source emissions, from fuels to end-of-pipe control technologies; (2) the need for measurements to determine the direct effects of emission reduction programs; (3) the need for better understanding of the emissions important to determining health and ecosystem effects; and (4) the capability to respond to the rapid changes in generation and end-use technologies that could result from actions taken to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The chapter concludes with a series of recommendations for addressing these challenges.