Air contamination affects our entire world. We know about global warming and the ozone layer. We blame the government. We blame industry. We blame mankind in general. And there may be some truth to that.
What about solutions? I think we may look to government, industry and mankind in general for those too. There are people who specialize in finding solutions. They work to find ways to reduce air pollution to begin with, or at least to reduce the impacts of air pollution even if the total amount of pollution remains unchanged.
For more possible solutions for global warming, specifically, please see this webpage: http://www.stuffintheair.com/solutions for global warming.html
Some of these people work in environmental consulting companies. Scientific and engineering firms that help industrial companies make it work.
The work carried out by these firms addresses industrial waste, but what about consumer waste? The biggest problem here is their cars. Air pollutants from vehicles contain nitrogen, sulphur and carbon based gases as well as visible smoke and dust particles. Fuel combustion can even release radioactive substances into the air. Did you know that?
What about air pollution not caused by humans? Of course air quality is affected by natural sources such as fires and volcanoes. But we want to try to control the things that we can control.
What is the most talked about consequence of emissions? Global Warming. The more we know about it, as a society, the scarier global warming seems to become. The same could have been said for ozone at one time, but that seems to have faded from public view.
So what can mankind do about this pollution?
Before we make any large impactful decisions as a society, the knowledge used needs to be real. Don’t forget that. Majority or even unanimous opinion does not make it so when it comes to scientific issues. It is the science that counts.
Anyway, if emissions are to blame for global warming, an even if not, industries find themselves needing to tally emissions and report the totals to the government, in many countries. A good environmental consulting firm has the software and know how to do that correctly and efficiently.
Air quality consultants also conduct emissions management services. It seems that manufacturing firms always need to be reporting emissions to the government. They require intensive data processing and a technical skill set not normally found amongst operational or administrative personnel on staff. As a consequence, these functions are normally outsourced.
What kind of emissions reporting? The governments of some countries, like Canada for instance, keep a nationwide inventory of industrial air emissions, and require emitters to contribute accurate and timely information to the master data base. Government databases track many specific types of emissions, including greenhouse gases. These days, it is not only governments collecting data but industry watchdog organizations as well.
That is for planned emissions, but there are accidental ones as well. Leak detection and repair programs are coming into vogue. Big job, inspecting and servicing all pipes, joints and fittings to keep uncontrolled emissions in check. Big savings can be made too, if expensive feedstocks are lost through emissions.
Government initiatives in the area of air quality regulations will make it even more necessary for firms to hire full time staff or environmental consultants handle these problems. A consulting company might be able to combine fulfillments for several of these reporting initiatives with a single effort and trim associated expenses by a great deal. That is, if they are any good.
Why is it a good idea to collect and store this information anyway? Emissions inventories allow an operating company to keep a finger on their own pulse. That way they can make intelligent business planning decisions and have the right resources on hand should an investigation of their operation take place for any reason.
One more thing. What is a continuous emissions monitoring system? A device to monitor flue gas and to supply data to control systems in plants. The quality of the data needs to be audited, controlled and kept in check.
This large group of tasks may include quality control in the form of cylinder gas audits and relative accuracy test audits and each of these require routine auditing. All of this testing uses skills not normally found in house within production firms. That is why we have consulting companies.
Barry Lough has more than 12 years experience dispersion meteorology, modelling, environmental permitting and consulting. http://www.stuffintheair.com - Homepage for Barry http://www.stuffintheair.com/AirPolution.html - more about the problem of air pollution and what can be done about it.
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