February, 2013:

With dozens of new incinerators poised to appear all over Britain, why is the UK so far behind the United States in concern over possible health risks to the public?

Incinerators emit fine smoke particulates, known as PM2.5, from burning rubbish. These are less than 2.5 microns in diameter and can be absorbed straight into the blood. In 1997, the US passed tough new laws requiring coal-fired power stations and incinerators to measure PM2.5 continually and to keep down emissions.

The new laws followed a series of articles in the New England Journal of Medicine and studies from the Harvard Air Effects Institute which found a strong association with overall mortality, cardiovascular deaths and also lung cancer.

The regulations were challenged by the power companies but upheld by the US supreme court as the evidence of the dangers of PM2.5 was undeniable.

In Britain, by contrast, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) has repeatedly said that “modern incinerators” when “well run” cause “very little public health damage”.

This has suited the government because incinerators, although expensive when built under the private finance initiative (PFI), allow the government to pay less EU landfill tax.

The Commons environmental audit committee did put out a report in 2009-2010 stating that: “The costs and health impact of fine particle,PM2.5, air pollution is almost twice that of obesity and physical inactivity.” Obesity was then costing the health system £ 10.7bn a year, while PM2.5 pollution was estimated to cost up to £ 20.2bn. The report also asked why fine particle pollution received no attention in media and medical circles.

Part of the answer might lie in the high number of government advisers involved in expensive (and so remunerative) incinerator PFI schemes.

In addition, an emissions tester for incinerators has contacted the Eye to add to the picture.

This whistleblower says that to fulfill the Environment Agency permit, PM2.5 is not continuously measured and incinerator companies only have to send measurements from their stacks usually once a year.

Private companies charge between £10,000 and £120,000 a year to carry out the tests. But if an incinerator fails, the companies have no duty to report this to the Environment Agency and another test is done later. The incinerator companies can decide when it is done and will do it months in advance to make sure they get the right result.

Companies can even change the type of waste they burn and the temperature at which they do so for test day.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs admits to having 62 Monitoring stations across the UK for PM2.5, none of them anywhere near an incinerator.

Given that the UK had 103 incinerator sites licensed in 2010, and By 201 I a further 20 applications from the large power companies were on the books at Defra, it is surely time for the UK to start following the stricter monitoring policies of the US.

Smog in Pearl River Delta ‘worse than in Beijing’

Feb 21st, 2013

by Editor.

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Submitted by admin on Feb 21st 2013, 12:00am

News›China

ENVIRONMENT

Lo Wei and Agence France-Presse

Shoe and cosmetic factories the main factors behind higher levels of dangerous organic compounds, says mainland dust expert

Pollutants in the Pearl River Delta are more dangerous than those choking the capital because they contain higher levels of hazardous nitrogenous organic compounds, an expert said yesterday.

Wu Dui, an expert in dust haze and researcher at the China Academy of Meteorological Sciences, said health-threatening PM2.5 particles in the delta region contained more nitrogenous organic compounds than in central and eastern parts of China and the Yangtze River Delta.

The volatile organic compounds were mainly emitted during the manufacture of shoes and cosmetics and were the main components of photochemical smog.

Wu said the problem was identified a decade ago but had been given scant attention.

His claim came as a British study concluded that exposure to higher levels of fine particulates – the airborne pollution that plagues many Asian cities including Beijing and Hong Kong – causes a sharp rise in deaths from heart attacks.

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine established a clear link between exposure to PM2.5 pollutants and early death after following 154,000 patients in England and Wales who had been taken to hospital with heart attacks between 2004 and 2007.

In Hong Kong, we are being disastrously poisoned on a daily basis

About 30 times thinner than a human hair, PM2.5 particles have long been identified as a respiratory problem, as their size enables them to lodge deep in the lungs. The average PM2.5 level in Hong Kong is around 30 to 35 microgrammes per cubic metre. The World Health Organisation has set guidelines of a maximum of 10 microgrammes of PM2.5 per cubic metre as an annual average exposure.

“We found that for every 10 microgrammes per cubic metre in PM2.5, there was a 20 per cent increase in the death rate,” said Cathryn Tonne, who led the research.

They followed the patients for more than three years after their release from hospital. Nearly 40,000 died in that period. If PM2.5 levels had been reduced to their natural background rate, they calculated the number of deaths would have fallen by 4,873, or 12 per cent.

In Beijing last month, PM2.5 levels reached 993 microgrammes per cubic metre, almost 40 times the WHO’s recommended safe limit of 25 microgrammes over a 24-hour period, triggering a public outcry.

Anthony Hedley, honorary clinical professor of community medicine at the University of Hong Kong, said the association between air pollution and heart disease had long been established, but the new study quantified the relationship and strengthened knowledge in the area.

In the region where the study was conducted, pollution levels were a quarter to a third of that in Hong Kong, yet they were proven to be causing deaths from heart diseases. “In Hong Kong, we are being disastrously poisoned on a daily basis,” Hedley said.

Topics:

Pearl River Delta

Beijing air pollution

Smog

Airborne pollution causing surge in heart attack deaths

Feb 20th, 2013

by Editor.

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Submitted by robert.cairns on Feb 20th 2013, 4:31pm

News›World

HEALTH

Agence France-Presse in Paris, France

Exposure to higher levels of fine particulates causes a sharp rise in deaths from heart attacks

Exposure to higher levels of fine particulates – the airborne pollution that is an emerging problem in many Asian cities – causes a sharp rise in deaths from heart attacks, a study published on Wednesday said.

Research published in the European Heart Journal pointed the finger at so-called PM2.5 pollution, which comprises tiny particles measuring 2.5 micrometres across or less.

They are mainly generated by burning coal and oil for power stations, and petrol and diesel for transport.

Around 30 times smaller than a human hair, PM2.5 particles have long been identified as a respiratory problem, as their size enables them to lodge deep in the lungs. Less understood, though, is their impact on cardiac health.

Cathryn Tonne at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine led a study into 154,000 patients in England and Wales who had been hospitalised for a heart attack between 2004 and 2007.

In Milan, we are concerned when the concentration of PM2.5 is around 100 and in China it reaches values of 1,000, you can understand the magnitude of the difference in risk and effects

They followed the patients for more than three years after their release from hospital. During this period, nearly 40,000 of them died.

After stripping out factors that could skew the picture such as socio-economic status and smoking, the researchers found a clear link between exposure to PM2.5 and early death.

It far surpassed the risk from exposure to bigger particles called PM10, which are 10 micrometres across.

“We found that for every 10 microgrammes per M3 in PM2.5, there was a 20-per cent increase in the death rate,” said Tonne.

If PM2.5 levels had been reduced to their natural background rate, the total number of deaths would have fallen by 4,873, or 12 per cent.

The average exposure to PM2.5 in England was 11.0 microgrammes per m3, with the highest in London, which was 14.1 microgrammes per m3. The lowest was in northeast England, which had 8.4 particles per m3.

By comparison, the World Health Organisation (Who) sets down guidelines of a maximum of 10 microgrammes of PM2.5 per cubic metre as an annual average exposure, and a maximum of 25 microgrammes per m3 over a 24-hour period.

Particulate smog is becoming a major problem in Asian cities that have built up over the past decade.

In Beijing last month, PM2.5 levels reached 993 microgrammes per m3, almost 40 times the WHO’s recommended safe limit, triggering an outcry.

“The pollution in Beijing is a huge cause for concern,” said Pier Manucci, a professor at the University of Milan and a leading European authority on thrombosis, when asked to comment on the study.

“When you think that here in Italy, in Milan, we are concerned when the concentration of PM2.5 is around 100 and in China it reaches values of 1,000, you can understand the magnitude of the difference in risk and effects.”

He said that almost all of the research into the link between cardiac risk and pollution was conducted in rich countries, where PM2.5 levels were far lower.

“We know the degree of pollution in these countries, thanks to satellite data about aerosol concentrations,” Manucci said. “But they pay little attention, except as you notice during the [2008 Olympic] Games, when they decreased the traffic in Beijing.”

Topics:

Smog

heart deaths

Source URL (retrieved on Feb 21st 2013, 5:28am): http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1154660/smog-causes-surge-heart-deaths-study-finds

Hydrogen Vehicle

Feb 15th, 2013

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http://www.airproducts.com/company/news-center/2013/01/0130-uk-first-integrated-hydrogen-transport-system-to-be-built-in-london-and-south-east.aspx

UK’s First Integrated Hydrogen Transport System to be Built in London and South East

Led by Air Products, a consortium of companies with expertise in hydrogen transport infrastructure announced they will begin work on the three year LHNE (London Hydrogen Network Expansion) project, a government-backed initiative co-funded by the Technology Strategy Board to create the UK’s first hydrogen powered transport system across London and the South East.

The consortium will deliver a publicly accessible, state-of-the-art SmartFuel hydrogen fuelling station fast-fill 700 bar renewable hydrogen fuelling station network. LHNE will also deploy new hydrogen vehicles in London; including a number of Hyundai hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and Revolve hydrogen powered vans.

Creating this network is particularly important because the major car manufacturers have confirmed that the hydrogen vehicles available for purchase in the UK from 2014/15 require 700 bar fuelling systems. The LHNE project will upgrade Air Products’ existing fuelling station located near Heathrow Airport to 700 bar and deliver a brand new fuelling station with this specification in London. In addition, the project will increase accessibility to Air Products’ dual pressure fuelling station at Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire, and the Transport for London station in Stratford. These developments will create the first network of 700 bar fuelling stations in the UK, ready to meet an increasing demand for hydrogen fuel. The functionality of this network will then be proved by a fleet of hydrogen vans which will be operated by Commercial Group as part of their delivery network.

Diana Raine, Air Products, European business manager Hydrogen Energy Solutions said: “The LHNE project will bring together all the components necessary to make hydrogen transport possible across London and the South East as we prepare for the arrival in the UK of commercially available hydrogen vehicles. We hope that this project will act as an exciting demonstration model to be replicated across the UK and Europe in years to come.”

“Air Products is delighted to be leading this project which represents a significant milestone in the development of the UK’s hydrogen fuelling infrastructure for hydrogen transport.”

The LHNE consortium comprises of Air Products, Cenex, Commercial Group, Element Energy, Heathrow Airport Ltd and Revolve Technologies Ltd and the project is co-funded by a grant from the UK’s innovation agency, the Technology Strategy Board. It is one of five research and development projects selected by the Technology Strategy Board in 2012 to help accelerate the adoption of energy systems using hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, bringing them into everyday use. The Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority will play a supporting role in the project.

Air Products employees in California will use the Equinox FCEV in promotional efforts for our Hydrogen Energy business, which will be commissioning nine new hydrogen fueling stations in the next year.

Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) Headed to California

For almost three years, employees and visitors to our Trexlertown, Pennsylvania, U.S. campus had the unique opportunity to drive a Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell Vehicle based out of our corporate headquarters. The car became a familiar site throughout the Lehigh Valley, as more than 400 employees were trained as Hydrogen Ambassadors and participated in a wide variety of community outreach activities. These trained Air Products employees drove the hydrogen-powered cars over 30,000 miles while showing customers, prospects, investors, community stakeholders and Valley residents the future of clean transportation.

The Equinox FCEV is one of only 100 deployed by GM in 2009 as part of Project Driveway, the world’s largest-ever market test of fuel cell vehicles. According to GM, Project Driveway was about “real customers” giving “real-life feedback” on the vehicle as well as the ease of fueling it. And that’s something Air Products knows quite a bit about. Not only are we the world’s largest supplier of hydrogen to refineries for cleaner burning fuels, but we have been involved in more than 150 hydrogen fueling station projects throughout the United States and 19 countries worldwide. The Equinox vehicle refueled at Air Products’ own hydrogen fueling station, located at our corporate headquarters in Trexlertown (pictured below).

General Motors is moving all of their hydrogen fuel cell cars to California and Hawaii — focal points for early commercialization of these vehicles in the United States. Air Products employees will have the opportunity to drive the vehicle in California and use the car in promotional efforts for our Hydrogen Energy Business, which will be commissioning nine new hydrogen fueling stations in the next year. In addition, we plan to continue the Hydrogen Ambassador Program in Southern California and promote the innovative culture of Air Products to our customers and communities.

SCMP letters

Feb 14th, 2013

by Editor.

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Clear the Air says: we do not want any form of mass-burn incinerator – period !

Hong Kong MSW is typically wet and full of waste food

It is a known fact that with wet MSW the mass-burn temperature has to increase or dioxins/furans will issue.

In addition bag houses etc are poor technology and the highly toxic fly ash pollutants will become part of the clinker and subsequent cement product.

Compared to plasma gasification’s next to zero emissions, the emissions of MSW derived fuels in cement kilns and resultant products are something Hong Kong cannot handle.

http://www.aseanenvironment.info/Abstract/41015788.pdf

‘In modern conventional MSW incinerators a temperature of 850 °C can be sustained from moderately dry MSW alone; if the combustion exit temperature falls below 850 °C then

supplementary fuel must be used. To elevate the combustor temperature above 850 °C will always require supplementary fuel, and this makes stand-alone incineration of MSW above

850 °C uneconomical.’ – and this report was funded by Green Island ……………………………..

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17410797

http://www.no-burn.org/section.php?id=87

http://eaei.lbl.gov/sites/all/files/Co-processing_1.pdf

http://www.epa.gov/sectors/pdf/cement-sector-report.pdf

http://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/17850/1/Solid%20Recovered%20Fuel%20(SRF)%20EMISSIONS_EST.pdf

SCMP Comment› Letters

Firm has cheaper waste option

Thursday, 14 February, 2013, 12:00am

Green Island Cement site in Tap Shek Kok. Photo: David Wong I refer to Jake van der Kamp’s column (“Time to put an end to the squandering”, February 5) where he talks about government bureaucrats spending our budget surpluses on big infrastructure projects that are not worthwhile. I could not agree more.

I would add to the list of overpriced infrastructure projects the Shek Kwu Chau super-incinerator that the last government tried to push through, despite the public’s objections to the location and the technology it was to use. According to the media, at an estimated cost of HK$15 billion, it would have been one of the world’s most expensive incinerators.

Green Island Cement has over the last decade repeatedly proposed to the government its Eco-Co-Combustion System, a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly waste management solution for treating municipal solid waste. The waste would be used as a refuse-derived fuel at our existing cement plant. Because of the synergies, the Eco-Co-Combustion System boasts a number of benefits. More waste can be processed than the government’s incinerator, as it could treat around 4,800 tonnes of municipal solid waste per day, that is, about 50 per cent of Hong Kong’s municipal solid waste per day, as opposed to the government’s proposal of around 3,000 tonnes per day. It will create minimal disturbance to the community and the environment, as the system will be constructed at our existing site at Tap Shek Kok and no additional land has to be reclaimed nor set aside for a waste-treatment facility.

Net emission will also be negligible as, according to our pilot plant study, there is no discernible impact on the nearest residences. Furthermore, there will be no residue ash (requiring land filling) as it will be used as clinker in cement manufacturing. Most importantly, the system presents a significant upfront cost saving of more than HK$9 billion compared to the conventional incinerator proposed by the government. The Eco-Co-Combustion System represents a good example of how the private sector can participate in Hong Kong’s environmental development. Instead, notwithstanding the significant economic and environmental benefits of our proposal, the government has yet to grant us an opportunity to be part of its plans for a waste-management solution. We hope the administration will consider a public-private partnership model to solve Hong Kong’s waste problem, and not just strictly adhere to the conventional government-owned, government-funded, design-build-operate model.

Don Johnston, executive director, Green Island Cement (Holdings) Limited

SCMP Laisee 14 Feb 2013

Greens burn up over ‘dinosaur technology’

Howard Winn

The environmental group Clear The Air is maintaining the pressure on the government to abandon plans to build an incinerator on Shek Kwu Chau. The group’s chairman, James Middleton, has sent a letter to the Legislative Council’s environmental affairs panel urging it not to approve funding for what he terms “outdated dinosaur technology”.

Plans for a traditional mass-burn incinerator were shelved last year to allow the new administration to rethink its strategy for waste management.

Clear The Air’s letter makes the case for plasma gasification technology, which converts waste to syngas that can be used to generate electricity or converted into other fuels such as jet fuel. British Airways’ Green Skies Project is one of 10 such projects being commissioned to convert municipal solid waste into jet fuel.

“It is time for the Hong Kong government to realise that technology has advanced since the decision to use MBT [mass-burn technology] was taken in the absence of legislating mandatory recycling measures, bite the bullet handed to them by the previous non-performing Tsang administration and ENB minister and move on with the gasification technology; this will also make redundant the current medical waste/carcass incinerator at Stonecutters for alternative development as an additional benefit.”

The letter also highlights the dangers associated with incineration that have been noted in other countries.

“There is already enough clinical evidence of deaths and cancers caused to populations downwind of incinerators with more reports in the pipeline,” the letter says. The government has said privately that it will look at the various technologies available for disposing of Hong Kong’s waste.