tailieunhanh - FOSSIL FUELS: ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS

Smog is another secondary pollutant. This term was developed to describe a substance that is a hybrid of smoke and fog. The SOx aerosols are one source of smog formation. As discussed earlier, sulfuric acid droplets, or sulfuric acid absorbed on the surface of soot and fly ash particles, can attract moisture from the air to form what is often referred to as conventional or ‘classical’ smog. Such smog, whose principal components are NOx, SOx and particulates, was prevalent in the heyday of the coal-fueled Industrial Revolution, before the transportation revolution of the 20th century | Chapter 11 FOSSIL FUELS ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS In air quality the National Energy Strategy seeks to reduce energy-related emissions to achieve and maintain the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for carbon monoxide and ozone and to develop cost-effective flexible control strategies to reduce energy-related emissions of sulfur dioxide SO2 and nitrogen oxides NOx . . The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments . will limit the major air pollutants from powerplants vehicles and industry. In many cases pollutants will be reduced from current levels - despite economic growth and increased use of energy. National Energy Strategy Executive Summary 1991 1992 Energy production and use pose significant environmental challenges. Policy approaches must align energy and environmental issues to ensure that economic growth and environmental protection are achieved together. The Administration is reinventing environmental protection creating regulatory systems that are more flexible and accountable emphasizing pollution prevention over end-of-pipe clean-up and fostering the development of new energy-efficient technologies to meet both economic and environmental goals. Sustainable Energy Strategy 1995 192 CHAPTER 11 It is fashionable and easy to say that we are environmentalists . The now famous 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro has produced the environmentalist manifesto. Newsweek magazine s cover page on June 1 1992 said the following No More Hot Air It s Time to Talk Sense About the Environment. Indeed we all are environmentalists until it comes to making some tough economic and political choices like proposing or voting for a hefty tax on gasoline. This ambivalence about the environment is clear from the careful political statements quoted on the previous page. You may remember how much time Congress spent debating the ambitious BTU tax in 1993 see Chapter 21 . When the dust settled this presidential proposal was converted into a cent-per-gallon gasoline tax. Any such tax will .