How Reducing, Reusing and Recycling can help to reduce air pollution; A Look in Closed Production System

Having a strong legislation system is definitely fundamental in controlling air pollution through effective monitoring and enforcement of the regulations on industrial activities. However, a multi-pronged approach is still much needed to truly tackle the tricky air pollution issue in a holistic manner. Today, we will look into how industries can develop closed production system to help reduce, reuse and recycle industrial wastes so that lesser industrial wastes will be produced. A reduction in industrial wastes will translate into lesser amount of waste being incinerated and a reduction in the amount toxic air pollutants byproducts produced from the incineration plants.

Singapore is a land-scarce country so we incinerate our waste into ash to help reduce the volume of the waste down to as low as 10% of their original volume. The ash will then be transported to our offshore landfill island, Pulau Semakau, which was a land reclamation project between two original smaller islands. It is well known to be a world leading innovative waste management method as it is  also fast becoming a habitat in supporting a diverse biodiversity.  

Pulau Semakau, The World's First Offshore Landfill
Source: Roslan Rahman/ AFP/ Getty Images

As perfect as it may seem, incineration is far from being the perfect solution as it produces extremely carcinogenic air pollutants also known as the furans and dioxins, along with other better known air pollutants such as nitrous oxides and sulfur dioxide. In addition, it is highly expensive to build and maintain the incineration plants especially the pollutants trapping system to ensure that these harmful air pollutants are not released into our air.

Therefore, the more sustainable way forward is to minimise the waste sent for incineration. Now we will explore on a relatively novel framework - closed-loop production system, that industries can adopt to help reduce their industrial waste. A comprehensive paper that evaluate and emphasis on the value of this innovative framework by H. Winkler is available here.

In his paper, he stresses that the current unsustainable production chain between various industries generates high amounts of industrial waste. Hence, he introduced the concept of sustainable supply chain networks (SSCNs), which different manufacturing industries will collaborate to collect, exchange and eliminate waste. For instance, waste from an industry can serve as a valuable material for production process in another industry, thus reducing the total amount of waste generated if these industries are to operate individually. For instance, carbon dioxide gas generated from cement producing plants can be harnessed for biofuel companies to manufacture their algae-based fuels.

Moreover, he also recommends the manufacturing companies to invest in new technologies such as the ease of disassembly of their products when discarded to increase the recycling potential of the products. This will in turn help to reduce the waste generated when the products reach the end of their shelf life.

This exciting closed-loop production system definitely opens new possibilities and possesses the potential to help to minimise waste sent for incineration, thus reducing the generation of hazardous air pollutants such as dioxins. Lesser waste generated can also help to fight against other pollution such as water pollution and etc. 

Singapore's Legislation on Air Pollution Control

Singapore well known for its clean and green environment
Source: Carlina Teteris/ Gettyimages

Today's Singapore is bless with good air quality conditions despite the staggering amount of vehicles on the roads, high national power consumption and even boasting one of the world's largest petrochemical industry and oil refinery, and this did not happen by chance. The good air quality is established and maintained by a set of tough and effective legislation system that has undergone continual revision over the past decades.

Prior to the Clean Air Act introduced in 1971, air pollution control is governed by a provision known as the Local Government Integration Ordinance that was lacking in clear emission standards and thus resulting in ineffective enforcement by the authorities on the polluting industries. 

The launch of Clean Air Act was thus followed by the establishment of the Clean Air (Standards) Regulations in the following year, 1972. Through the regulations,   exact emission limits were imposed on various air pollutants to enable effective enforcement of the Clean Air Act. 

With a better understanding of the intertwined nature of pollution such as eutrophication that was mentioned in one of my previous post on how air pollution can lead into water pollution, Singapore government saw the need to integrate the various pollution control acts. As a result, the 1999 Environmental Pollution Control Act (EPCA) was established to serve as a more comprehensive legislative framework to control pollution ranging from air pollution, water pollution to noise pollution. The EPCA integrates the previous pollution control acts and seeks to maintain a general healthy and safe environment that is free of pollution in Singapore. 

Through the EPCA, emissions of air pollutants from mobile and stationary sources of pollution are regulated and limited. For instance, Euro V and IV vehicular emission standards are imposed on new diesel and petrol vehicles in 2014 which will contribute in the significant reduction of PM2.5 concentration in our atmosphere, with the constant commitments in reducing sulfur content in diesel fuels to reduce SO2 emissions. In addition, the EPCA even made it illegal for car owners with poor maintained cars that emit smoky exhausts. The EPCA also contains regulations to ensure that industries monitor their emissions frequently. Tax incentives are further granted to subsidise the purchase of more efficient equipment that will have reduced emissions in air pollutants.

Singapore's clean air today is attributed to successful legislation, dating back to the 1970s that safeguarded Singaporeans' health while Singapore rapidly developed from third to first world country. Air pollution control still remains a challenge into the future especially from the ever-growing vehicle demand and the transboundary haze episode. Innovative solutions such as electric cars and efficient public transportation system as well as regional collaboration with our neighbouring countries will be required to ensure that the air in Singapore continues to be clean and healthy for our wellbeing. 

Kudos to The Man Who Valued the Importance of Clean Air in Singapore 

This has been a sombre week for all Singaporeans as it marks the passing of one of our greatest leaders in Singapore, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. He had been a visionary leader whom I dearly respect, as without his guidance, Singapore will never be able to achieve the present level of development. With his team of dedicated ministers, Mr Lee solved many major problems ranging from housing to environmental issues. 

Mr Lee Kuan Yew was instrumental in the establishment of the early anti-pollution legislation act in Singapore. In 1970, Singapore was in the midst of rapid industrialisation and such was his belief in the importance of a clean and safe environment in Singapore, he placed the Anti-Pollution Unit (APU) in his Prime Minister Office and gave strong political backing in the anti-pollution initiative. 

From the book 'The Singapore Water Story: Sustainable Development in an Urban City State', it is mentioned that it was due to the swift implementation of effective anti-pollution law, Singapore was able to avert environmental degradation that most developing countries are experiencing from having lax environmental legislations in a bid to attract industrial investments. This can be largely accredited to Mr Lee's emphasis in creating a clean and healthy   environment which help to enact The Clean Air Act in 1971 shortly after the establishment of the APU. The Clean Air Act was an important piece of legislation that empowered Singapore authorities to take effective measures against polluting industries. It was Mr Lee's foresight that allowed Singapore to excel in the balancing of economic growth with its associated environmental consequences.

I hereby sincerely thank Mr Lee Kuan Yew for his momentous contributions in building Singapore from a third world country into such a liveable and green city that many Singaporean generations will cherish and enjoy. His lifelong dedication in serving the nation will definitely help to inspire more future leaders and every Singaporean will never forget this great man. Stay tuned as I will discuss more about Singapore's Clean Air Act in the next post.

Air Pollution is Fast Becoming a Global Issue

Air pollution has been hitting the global headline news over the past week, highlighting the vulnerability of cities in the face of haze and smog. Thailand has been enveloped in its annual haze episode since early March due to the increased 'slash and burn' farming techniques in the current dry season. Singapore's air quality also fell to  the moderate range over the past 3 days with suspected fire spots in the region.

Further away from Asia, Paris encountered a severe air pollution spike last Wednesday. It was largely attributed to the exhaust fumes from transportation especially from the polluting diesel cars. As such, drastic measures have been called upon and only cars with odd-numbered plates would be allowed to drive on Monday. The public transport will also be made free to encourage city dwellers to utilise the public transportation system and reduce the need for private transportation.

Paris Shrouded in Smog
Source: Marcaux/ Gettyimages 

However, this air pollution episode was made worse due to the meteorological conditions. The current warmer March period creates a dry and stable condition that has filled the air with more air pollutants. This goes to show the complexity in the understanding and controlling air pollution as there are many other interacting factors between the air pollutants and the atmospheric system. 

In addition, the atmosphere can also interact with the hydrosphere such that air pollutants can enter waterbodies and cause water pollution. For instance, eutrophication can be a result from transboundary air pollution in which external nutrient sources are deposited through precipitation processes. 

Eutrophication is a condition in waterbodies with excess nutrients that can result in harmful algae blooms to degrade water quality and kill marine life. Air pollutants such as nitrous oxides are liberated into the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels, following which these active forms of nitrogen would be deposited along with precipitation into waterbodies and cause eutrophication.     

In view of the transboundary nature and complexity in the transport of air pollutants, it is crucial for international cooperation between different states to come out with comprehensive air pollution measures.   

The Future of Electric Cars

Can electric cars be the solution to exhaust fume pollution?
Source: Michael H/ Gettyimages

From the previous post, we learnt about the growing importance in environmental consumerism. Consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious in making informed decisions to purchase more eco-friendly products. Today we will look into the prospects of electric cars which can potentially help resolve a major air pollutant source that most cities are facing - vehicular emissions.

Having written a post on how adopting cycling as an alternative mode of transportation can help to reduce the reliance on private vehicles, it is also important not to neglect the fact that the demand for cars will be difficult to    stop in the near future. This is due to the rising growth in middle-income groups, especially when cars are associated with the status of wealth and higher standard of living.  

In the recent years, the electric car technology has improved by leaps and bounds and it is heartening to know that many cities are attracted to tap into it. Electric cars are powered by rechargeable batteries and they do not emit harmful exhausts, thus having the potential to achieve great reductions in major air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide. In addition, electric cars are also much more efficient than current conventional cars that run on petroleum fuels. For instance, electricity can be even recovered from braking of vehicles which can then be utilised again to power the electric cars. Electric cars are estimated to be up to three times more efficient than conventional cars.  

However, there are concerns that electric cars could result in more air pollution if their electricity source is derived from conventional coal burning. This will just translate into the meaningless transfer of air pollutants from vehicular exhaust to the flue gas liberated from coal-fired power plants. Hence, it is crucial to develop clean energy sources to generate electricity for these electric cars, before they can be truly considered as the solution that can help tackle air pollution. 

Other current barriers to the commercialisation of electric cars include the high cost of producing their batteries. The upfront cost of electric car is still significantly higher than most conventional cars, discouraging consumers from purchasing them. However, there are much optimism in the future that the cost of electric cars would be able to compete in the market. For instance, Tesla Motors, a giant electric car manufacturer, has already plans to upscale its production of batteries that will greatly help to reduce the cost of battery production through sheer economy of scale. 

Nevertheless, many cities are already exploring or have even started to tap on the potential of electric cars. For instance, Singapore has launched several extensive trials on electric cars with further plans to devise effective blueprint that can make electric cars a reality in the city. Elsewhere in Shenzhen, China, the city has been awarded with the C40 City Climate Leadership Awards for its green public transportation infrastructure that runs on renewable energy, boasting over 800 electric buses and 850 taxis. Electric cars definitely show much promise to help alleviate air pollution in cities in time to come. 

Societal Responsibility through Effective Eco-labelling of Palm Oil 

From the previous post, it is irrefutable that the ever-increasing global demand for cheap palm oil is fuelling the annual Southeast Asian haze episode as oil palm producers employ the unsustainable 'slash and burn' practice to lower the production costs. We also learnt about the wide application of palm oil in manufacturing industries to produce many daily products such as margarine and even soap. 

Being heavy consumers of these palm oil products, we can make a difference by placing societal responsibility on the manufacturers to seek for sustainable palm oil sources. We can support sustainable palm oil industry by making the informed decision to choose products that are made from certified sustainable palm oil. One of the eco-labels or trademarks of these products is the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil), which certifies the production of sustainable palm oil without the need for deforestation. (Click on the video  link provided below to learn more about RSPO! :))

However, eco-labelling of products is never easy due to the complex palm oil market chain. An journal article from ScienceDirect (Sustainability in the Malaysian palm oil industry by Chong, C. and Mckay, A.) emphasised on the importance of eco-labelling in informing the general consumers like us; to make informed choices to purchase sustainable palm oil products. It is important for us to be responsible consumers so as to influence the manufacturers to acquire sustainable palm oil certification by practising our purchasing rights. This will help stop the unsustainable oil palm agricultural practices such as deforestation through the 'slash and burn' technique that has resulted in the annual Southeast Asian haze. 

In addition, the article also revealed that effective eco-labelling requires the traceability of information from the end product to the raw palm oil sources so as to ensure the accountability of sustainable oil palm sources in the palm oil supply chain. This would require the stringent monitoring mechanism to ensure the reliability of the information reported. 

Nevertheless, we can exert pressure on the palm oil supply chain by purchasing products with trusted eco-labels that have stringent certification and auditing procedures such as RSPO. By doing so, the manufacturing industries would have to eventually conform to the environmental norm and source for sustainable palm oil so as to meet the expectations of the consumers. 

Unmasking the Hazy Affair in Southeast Asia

"For 11 months, they enjoyed nice air from Indonesia and they never thanked us" is the recent remarks by Indonesia's vice president Jusuf Kalla last week evoked our memories of the dreadful haze episode back in 2013 when PSI readings hit a record high of 401 in Singapore. It is the epitome of the modern transboundary scale of air pollution as the 2013 Southeast Asian haze enshrouded several regional countries such as Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. Today I will be discussing on the main causes behind the almost annual haze affair that has been blighting the Southeast Asia.

The haze episodes that the region has become increasingly familiar with, usually occur during the relatively drier period from June to September in the Southeast Asia. The drier conditions leads to the increased occurrence of natural forest fires. However, the drier conditions are also optimal for anthropogenic (man-made) fires to clear vegetation via the cheap and traditional agricultural practice known as the "slash and burn" technique, which is used by the indigenous locals in Indonesia for subsistence farming. 

Through the intentional burning of the vegetation, the remaining ashes will produce fertile soils for the growth of agriculture. It represents as a sustainable farming technique when it is done on a smaller scale with controlled burning. However, many companies in the huge palm oil industry in Indonesia have upscaled the "slash and burn" technique to clear large expanses of vegetation for the growth of oil palm plantations. As a result, the uncontrolled and often unmonitored burning has led to the severe haze episodes. The haze contains hazardous air pollutants such as the PM2.5, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide, which will result in noticeable increases in respiratory cases especially among those who have pre-existing respiratory diseases.   

Slash and Burn Technique Used to Clear Vegetation
Source: Jacques Jangoux/ Getty Images

The ever-increasing global demand for cheap palm oil especially from China and India is spurring the unsustainable "slash and burn" technique so as to expand the oil palm plantations to cope with the demand. The palm oil is currently a hot commodity to manufacture a huge array of products ranging from soaps to pharmaceutical products. It is also an important ingredient for the preservation of food products due to its property to resist oxidation. The rampant burning of vegetations to clear land is also driven by competitive economic factor as these manufacturing industries always source for the cheapest palm oil to lower their production costs.

Although the open burning of forests has been made illegal in Indonesia,  corruption among the officials has led in the loose enforcement of the legislation. The persistent haze episodes have also been largely attributed to the general lack of political will of the Indonesian Government, which is evident in the  delay in the ratification of the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution. Fortunately, the Indonesian Government took a major step in ratifying the agreement last year, which will hopefully help in the better future management and control of illegal burning of forests through regional collaboration and support from other ASEAN countries. Stay tuned as I will discuss more on how we can do our part in the fight against the haze by being informed consumers and buy sustainable palm oil products in the next blogpost.

The Tricky Balancing Act Behind Air Pollution Control

The Dark Truth Behind Air Quality Standards
Source: Alice Sundbom/ EyeEm

Beside the energy dilemma due to coal burning being the cheapest energy generating option (discussed in my previous post), there are many other factors  that are complicating efforts in air pollution control such as the legislation of air quality standards. 

Air quality standards are important measures that are established to ensure that air pollutant concentrations do not exceed to levels that will greatly harm the public health. It is known that air quality standards vary across the world even though most governments follow the same World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines when setting their own national standards. The WHO air quality guidelines are based on the latest scientific evidence of air pollutants and their health consequences. However, these research is not sufficient to determine the exact thresholds of air pollutants such that adverse health effects will not occur, especially due to the fact that everyone has different sensitivities to air pollution. For instance, children and  the elderly are significantly more vulnerable to air pollution. Thus, it is even stressed by the WHO that the guideline values provided cannot be implied to fully protect human health. 

In the ideal scenario, there should be zero air pollutants in our atmosphere to ensure maximum protection of the population's public health. However, economical growth plays an indispensable role in today's world and emission of air pollutants from these economical activities can be regarded as a necessary evil. Therefore, it can be implied that the air quality standards represent the level of tolerable risk that the country is willing to accept to balance its economical growth or development of the country with public health risk. Other important factors, which influence the level of air quality standard, include technological feasibility and level of development of the country that will directly determine the country's capability in meeting these air quality standards.

A recent article has suggested that even the current European Union (EU) air pollution target may still be too high for human health, drawing the need to  continuously revise current air quality standards. The article also highlighted an important fact that even if a certain level of risk from air pollution can be deemed acceptable, the risks to individuals within the population can never be equally distributed. For example, it mentioned that communities that are located nearer to major sources of air pollution such as living next to a busy road can have a much higher risk due to the long-term exposure to the hazardous air pollutants. Therefore, it is vital for policymakers to pay attention to the difference in sensitivities and distribution of risk when establishing comprehensive air quality standards to safeguard the public health. It is truly a tricky balancing act to determine air quality standards in air pollution legislation. 

The Great Energy Dilemma; Will Nuclear Power Put a Stop on Air Pollution?

Continuing from my previous post that energy production represents a major source of air pollution especially from the combustion of fossil fuels, today I am going to discuss about other renewable energy sources.

Breakdown of Damage Costs by Industrial Sector
Source: European Environment Agency

Unsurprisingly, a recently published report by European Environment Agency has revealed that energy production is still the leading industrial source of air pollution (67%) that dwarfs other major industries such as manufacturing and agriculture industries. For example, it is reported that 29 coal-fired power-generating facilities are in the top 30 most polluting facilities in Europe. Other significant polluting industries after power generation are production facilities of iron and steelworks. 

Although it has already been universally known that burning of coal to generate energy is a highly pollutive method that emits high amounts of greenhouse gases, nitrogen oxides and sulfate dioxide, coal accounts for 40% of the world's electricity needs and the demand for coal has not shown any signs of slowing in the near future. This is because coal burning has always been the cheapest way of generating electricity since Industrial Revolution. As a result, cleaner renewable non-burning energy sources such as solar energy, wind energy and hydropower are still not as economically competitive as compared to energy generation via coal burning. 

One major difficulty that is still preventing renewable energy sources to compete with fossil fuel burning; is the lack of efficient energy storage system to cope with peak demands of electricity due to the high cost and difficulty in store large amount of electricity. For instance, solar energy only generates electricity in the day when there is sunlight but the peak demand of electricity is usually in the night time where a greater amount of electricity is required to power lightings in major cities and households. Therefore, more investment to create more efficient smart grid is required before renewable energy can compete with the reliable and cheaper coal burning. 

In addition, other renewable sources of energy can also cause other form of environmental degradation in one way or another. For instance, the manufacturing of solar panels require the use of toxic heavy metals such as lead  (neurotoxin) and cadmium (carcinogen), which will pose as a great hazard with improper disposal at the end of their shelf life. Even hydropower is known to result in the destruction of downstream aquatic ecosystems and may even worsen droughts if not being managed carefully.

Contrary to the public perception that nuclear power is deemed highly unsafe due to the fear of nuclear meltdown and potential nuclear enrichment for nuclear weapons; nuclear power technologies have improved by leaps and bounds to become a reliable, safe and yet truly green energy. For instance, Thorium has been hailed as the future nuclear fuel that will reduce the risk of an potential nuclear meltdown and it is also difficult for the enrichment of Thorium to make nuclear bombs. Furthermore, the advancement in nuclear technology has even enabled us to recycle hazardous nuclear waste by using them as fuels to generate more power. Perhaps advanced nuclear power will be the answer to the world's energy dilemma in years to come, solving the air pollution issue as it can satisfy our ever-growing energy demand without emitting any air pollutants.