Sustenaible Energy

Presentation Contents

Introduction

Air and Water Pollution: Policies, approaches and Treatment Methods

BAT and BREFs - The Art of Prevention

Introduction

Air pollution

Air pollution caused by human activities, the rise of industrial and energy production, the burning of fossil fuels and increased transport can lead to serious health problems.

Air pollution damages the health of hundreds of thousands of Europeans every year. A 2004 WHO evaluation found that air pollution contributed to 100 000 premature deaths and 725 000 working days lost annually in Europe.

Particulate matter and ozone are the main threats to public health. In the Russian Federation, an assessment report showed that 15–17 % of total annual mortality (up to 219 000–233 000 premature deaths) might be caused by fine particles.

Emissions: particulates (primary PM10) and particulate precursors (SO2, NOX and NH3), emissions of the precursors of ground‑level ozone (NOX, NMVOC, CO and CH4), and emissions of acidifying (SO2, NOX and NH3) and eutrophying gases (NOX and NH3).

Major air pollutants in Europe clustered according to human health and ecosystem impacts

Contributions by sector

Water pollution

A study conducted for the European Commission estimates that water use efficiency could be improved by nearly 40 % through technological improvements alone and that changes in human behaviour or production patterns could increase such savings further.

In a scenario without changes in practices it is estimated that water consumption by the public, industry and agriculture would increase by 16 % by 2030.

More than 100 million people in the pan‑European region still do not have access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation

Unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene results in 18 000 premature deaths, mostly of children, each year in the pan‑European region

One-third of the pan-European population lives in countries where water resources are under substantial pressure (water stress)