Industry and Emissions

Reduced pollution

Smoking chimneys and grey, foamy sewage streams were once symbols of environmental pollution caused by industrial production and energy generation. Legal requirements and a change of mindset among business leaders have led to substantial improvements in so-called stationary emission sources. Of course this also concerns all of us who use heating systems burning oil, gas or other fuels.

...and and the long haul

The quality of the air we breathe has noticeably improved - even in close proximity to industrial production - and since 2002 the "big jump" has called for a Europe wide river bathing day. Nevertheless more remains to be done, both to secure what has been achieved and to complete the remaining tasks:

• Further reducing greenhouse gases

• Reducing fine particulate and smog related emissions

• Identifying currently unrecognized pollutants and limit their entry into air, water and soil

• Utilizing the potential for improvement without shifting pollution from one environmental medium to another

Fruits higher up in the tree are more difficult to harvest, and conflicts of interest are more likely to arise.

IFEU supports business and politics

To tackle the long haul, colleagues at IFEU offer their knowledge to assist affected individuals in fulfilling specific requirements or to chart alternatives and new methods. Among other requirements, facility operators have to comply with regulations imposed by facility permits and produce emissions reports. New approaches relate to the impacts of changes in production, cross-environmental-media evaluation as well as other forms of reporting such as product-related environmental profiles or modern environmental reports.

We also have produced emissions inventories for state contractors, which include suggestions for harmonizing different accounting methods. These emission inventories provide the foundation for uniform reporting and enable changes to be monitored. This helps to detect whether pollutants require regulation and which ones require it. This kind of work necessitates a good overview of existing data and technical interrelations and developments. We have also offered support in assessing the relevance of and reduction possibilities for specific pollutants.

Material stream models are useful tools here. They are used for thorough analyses of specific questions, such as:

• How do emissions from a refinery change when the requirement of diesel production is raised?

• How would the emissions of a power plant be affected if waste were co-incinerated?

These questions require detailed examinations of substances and their movement within the facilities and into the environment. Our material stream modelling software UMBERTO® offers valuable assistance here.

The main focus of our work

Currently you can find more detailed information on the following areas of our work:

Chemical and Petrochemical Industry

Energy Production

Emissions Inventories

Water Emissions

Waste Co-Incineration

BAT and IPPC

List of Projects "Emissions"

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