Improving Air Quality in the Po Valley, Italy: Some Results by the LIFE-IP-PREPAIR Project
The Po Valley (Northern Italy) represents an important exceedance zone of the air-quality limit values for PM (particulate matter), NO<sub>2</sub> (nitrogen dioxide) and O<sub>3</sub> (ozone). This area covers the territory of most Italian northern regions and includes severa...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-04-01
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| Series: | Atmosphere |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/11/4/429 |
| _version_ | 1797569801533521920 |
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| author | Katia Raffaelli Marco Deserti Michele Stortini Roberta Amorati Matteo Vasconi Giulia Giovannini |
| author_facet | Katia Raffaelli Marco Deserti Michele Stortini Roberta Amorati Matteo Vasconi Giulia Giovannini |
| author_sort | Katia Raffaelli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Po Valley (Northern Italy) represents an important exceedance zone of the air-quality limit values for PM (particulate matter), NO<sub>2</sub> (nitrogen dioxide) and O<sub>3</sub> (ozone). This area covers the territory of most Italian northern regions and includes several urban agglomerates, such as Milan, Turin, Venice and Bologna. The area is densely populated and heavily industrialized. The paper summarizes the assessment of the impact of the current (2013) and future (2025) emissions and of the meteorological conditions on the air quality of the Po Valley. This study is one of the first outcomes of the EU LIFE-IP Clean Air Program Po Regions Engaged to Policies of Air (PREPAIR) project. The project, involving administrations and environmental agencies of eight regions and three municipalities in Northern Italy and Slovenia, started in 2017 and will end in 2024. Future emission scenarios consider the emissions reduction due to the air-quality action plans of the regions involved, of the agreements between the national authorities and regional administrations and of the PREPAIR project itself, in the overall context of the application of the current legislation of the European Union. The combination of these measures will lead to the reduction of direct emissions of PM<sub>10</sub> in the Po Valley and of the main precursors emitted in the area (NOx, nitrogen oxides and NH<sub>3</sub>, and ammonia) by 38% for PM<sub>10</sub>, 39% for NOx and 22% for NH<sub>3</sub>, respectively. This lowering corresponds to a reduction of about 30.000 tons of primary PM<sub>10</sub>, 150.000 tons of NOx, 54.000 tons of NH<sub>3</sub> and 1700 tons of SO<sub>2</sub>. The results show that these expected reductions should allow us to achieve the EU PM<sub>10</sub> limit value in the Po Valley by the year 2025. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:16:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bdc0f1ff883545e5b7526e21fa94a84a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4433 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:16:41Z |
| publishDate | 2020-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-bdc0f1ff883545e5b7526e21fa94a84a2023-11-19T22:31:27ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332020-04-0111442910.3390/atmos11040429Improving Air Quality in the Po Valley, Italy: Some Results by the LIFE-IP-PREPAIR ProjectKatia Raffaelli0Marco Deserti1Michele Stortini2Roberta Amorati3Matteo Vasconi4Giulia Giovannini5Emilia-Romagna Region—Air and Water Protection and Restoration Service, 40127 Bologna, ItalyEmilia-Romagna Region—Air and Water Protection and Restoration Service, 40127 Bologna, ItalyRegional Agency for Prevention, Environment and Energy of Emilia-Romagna (ARPAE), 40126 Bologna, ItalyRegional Agency for Prevention, Environment and Energy of Emilia-Romagna (ARPAE), 40126 Bologna, ItalyRegional Agency for Prevention, Environment and Energy of Emilia-Romagna (ARPAE), 40126 Bologna, ItalyRegional Agency for Prevention, Environment and Energy of Emilia-Romagna (ARPAE), 40126 Bologna, ItalyThe Po Valley (Northern Italy) represents an important exceedance zone of the air-quality limit values for PM (particulate matter), NO<sub>2</sub> (nitrogen dioxide) and O<sub>3</sub> (ozone). This area covers the territory of most Italian northern regions and includes several urban agglomerates, such as Milan, Turin, Venice and Bologna. The area is densely populated and heavily industrialized. The paper summarizes the assessment of the impact of the current (2013) and future (2025) emissions and of the meteorological conditions on the air quality of the Po Valley. This study is one of the first outcomes of the EU LIFE-IP Clean Air Program Po Regions Engaged to Policies of Air (PREPAIR) project. The project, involving administrations and environmental agencies of eight regions and three municipalities in Northern Italy and Slovenia, started in 2017 and will end in 2024. Future emission scenarios consider the emissions reduction due to the air-quality action plans of the regions involved, of the agreements between the national authorities and regional administrations and of the PREPAIR project itself, in the overall context of the application of the current legislation of the European Union. The combination of these measures will lead to the reduction of direct emissions of PM<sub>10</sub> in the Po Valley and of the main precursors emitted in the area (NOx, nitrogen oxides and NH<sub>3</sub>, and ammonia) by 38% for PM<sub>10</sub>, 39% for NOx and 22% for NH<sub>3</sub>, respectively. This lowering corresponds to a reduction of about 30.000 tons of primary PM<sub>10</sub>, 150.000 tons of NOx, 54.000 tons of NH<sub>3</sub> and 1700 tons of SO<sub>2</sub>. The results show that these expected reductions should allow us to achieve the EU PM<sub>10</sub> limit value in the Po Valley by the year 2025.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/11/4/429air-quality modelreduction emission scenarioair-quality action planPo Valley |
| spellingShingle | Katia Raffaelli Marco Deserti Michele Stortini Roberta Amorati Matteo Vasconi Giulia Giovannini Improving Air Quality in the Po Valley, Italy: Some Results by the LIFE-IP-PREPAIR Project Atmosphere air-quality model reduction emission scenario air-quality action plan Po Valley |
| title | Improving Air Quality in the Po Valley, Italy: Some Results by the LIFE-IP-PREPAIR Project |
| title_full | Improving Air Quality in the Po Valley, Italy: Some Results by the LIFE-IP-PREPAIR Project |
| title_fullStr | Improving Air Quality in the Po Valley, Italy: Some Results by the LIFE-IP-PREPAIR Project |
| title_full_unstemmed | Improving Air Quality in the Po Valley, Italy: Some Results by the LIFE-IP-PREPAIR Project |
| title_short | Improving Air Quality in the Po Valley, Italy: Some Results by the LIFE-IP-PREPAIR Project |
| title_sort | improving air quality in the po valley italy some results by the life ip prepair project |
| topic | air-quality model reduction emission scenario air-quality action plan Po Valley |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/11/4/429 |
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