Photo: BMLFUW/UBA/Gröger
Air quality
Healthy air for breathing, also in urban agglomerations, is the objective of the environmental policy. Clean air is essential for humans, animals, soils and water, also with a view to sustainability.
In the course of combustion and fermentation processes, industrial production and other human activities air pollutants are emitted to the outside air (outdoor), but also to the inside air (indoor). Above certain limit values, they may be harmful both to health and the environment.In Austria, comprehensive investments have been made to keep our air clean.
What successes have been achieved?
· In the case of sulphur dioxide emissions, a reduction by 55 percent was achieved from 1990 to 2003. · Mercury and cadmium were reduced by 50 percent, respectively one third, and dioxins by 73
percent.
· However, only minor reductions were achieved for nitrogen oxide emissions.
· The NOx reduction achieved through the introduction of obligatory car-catalysts was compensated
by the enormous increase in truck traffic.
· As for carbon monoxide emissions, a further decrease could be observed.
Emissions of other ozone precursors (volatile organic compounds) have likewise decreased considerably in the course of the past few years.
Air quality has further improved thanks to sulphur-free fuels, which have been available everywhere in Austria since 1 January 2004.
Another important concern is the obligatory installation of soot particulate filters or similar technical measures in diesel-powered vehicles.
All in all, an increase in greenhouse gases was observed from 1990 with 79.1 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent to 93.3 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2005. Greenhouse gases comprise carbon dioxide (CO2 ), methane (CH4 ), laughing gas (N2 O), and fluorinated gases. Of these gases, CO2 experienced an increase, whereas all other greenhouse gases declined. Consequently, carbon dioxide accounted for 85 percent of the total greenhouse gas in 2005.
Taking the carbon dioxide emissions, 79.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent were produced in 2005, compared to 61.9 million tonnes in the reference year 1990.
In which sectors did CO2 emissions increase so significantly? The strongest increase, by 94.3 percent, was observed in traffic: from 12.4 mio. tonnes of CO2 in 1990 to 24.1 mio. tonnes of CO2 in 2005. Also energy supply and industry experienced rising CO2 emissions in the reference period 1990 – 2005; only with small consumers, a slight rise was observed.
Also the exceeding of the air-pollution limits for particulates (fine dust) constitutes a problem. The areas most severely affected are Vienna, Graz and Linz as well as some areas close to traffic routes and industrial plants.
In order to ensure the quality of indoor air, a guideline has been set up to subject specific indoor pollutants to uniform benchmarks that guarantee a high protection level for health.
The Air Pollution Control Act ("Immissionsschutzgesetz Luft", IG-L), which is based on limit values for air pollutants adopted on European level, ensures that the trend of improved air quality will continue over the long term.
More than 100 air-quality monitoring sites contribute to controlling the current air quality. They are to provide the basis for the planning of air-quality control measures and to inform citizens on the pollution load of the ambient air.
25.08.2008, Lebensministerium Öffentlichkeitsarbeit