[Stoves] Air pollution in cities

Tom Miles tmiles at trmiles.com
Tue Nov 21 07:56:30 CST 2017


China is making a substantial effort to reduce air pollution. We have just
completed the “2nd China-Asian Workshop on Biochar Production and
Application for Green Agriculture -From Technology to Viable Systems” at
Nanjing University and the International Biochar Initiative Asia-China
center. Scientists and companies from around the region attended. We visited
plants converting straws, manure, and biosolids to biochar and biochar
fertilizers. China has invested in many biochar plants in Northern China,
primarily to reduce air pollution, improve yields and soil fertility, and
sequester carbon. They are currently building about 50 biochar plants. They
have located a biochar plant in each of several provinces. They have tested
the biochar fertilizer products in the field at more than 300 sites with
impressive results. They have set up farmer coops and businesses to collect
and densify crop residues at harvest. The pellets are used to store the
straw and improve the efficiency for the process used to make the biochar,
recover oils and vinegars, and convert the biochar into fertilizers that can
be used by local for fertilizers. They have methods to account for the
sequestered carbon. They grow more food with less fertilizer while reducing
air pollution and sequestering carbon. Last year they converted 200,000 tons
of crop residues to biochar. This year they expect to convert 800,000 tons
of crop residues to biochar and biochar products. That is expected to grow
to three million tons within five years. It is profitable for the farmers
and for the biochar fertilizer companies. 

 

Organizations through the region will be working with the International
Biochar Association to demonstrate ways to reduce are pollution from crop
residues by converting part of the residue to biochar and biochar products
to smallholders and large crop producers.    

 

Tom        

Chair, International Biochar Initiative



 

 

From: Stoves [mailto:stoves-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of
Crispin Pemberton-Pigott
Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2017 9:22 PM
To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves <stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
Subject: Re: [Stoves] Air pollution in cities

 

Dear Nikhil

 

I used to live in Ibadan, Nigeria. During the Harmattan the air turns into a
permanent (so it seems) copy of a Delhi photo. It is perfectly natural and
perfectly dreadful. 

 

"On its passage over the Sahara, it picks up fine dust and sand particles
(between 0.5 and 10 microns).‎"

 

"In some countries in West Africa, the heavy amount of dust in the air can
severely limit visibility and block the sun for several days,
<https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmattan#cite_note-8> [8] comparable to a
heavy  <https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fog> fog.‎"

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmattan

 

Yup. Sounds right. Now, is the burning of agricultural wastes natural too?
Is everything people do unnatural? Cooking too?

 

Regards 

Crispin 

 

 

‎

Crispin:

Clean air is not a luxury
<https://nam03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.livemi
nt.com%2FTechnology%2FUrRkv3afeGi3Xt5hXKTFGK%2FClean-air-is-not-a-luxury.htm
l&data=02%7C01%7Ccrispinpigott%40outlook.com%7C06c1bc30d31c4473098d08d530c36
2b1%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636468538083757936&sdata=qE
85ZwyzrXoQsJFJoX4OIIVgMqZE8b8Wv6MV6uY5RnM%3D&reserved=0>  Vishal Mathur Mint
14 November 2017.

I don't know what death chamber like conditions are. But no single
technology is an answer to air pollution which varies by season, day, time
of day, location, mobility. 

There are proper methods for air quality monitoring and air modeling, then a
cost and schedule program has to be generated for each location. Some fuel
or activity bans may work, and episodic situations like Delhi recently
require emergency response measures. Just look up EPA color codes and local
government responsibilities. 

A 40-year program. Little to do with ISO Tier 4 PM2.5 ERT. 

You ought to be in Delhi in a sand storm period to appreciate that the
picture in Anil's essay conveys the right image. Leave aside toxicity
arguments for WHO. 

Nikhil




------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nikhil Desai

(US +1) 202 568 5831
Skype: nikhildesai888

 

On Mon, Nov 20, 2017 at 10:11 AM, Crispin Pemberton-Pigott
<crispinpigott at outlook.com <mailto:crispinpigott at outlook.com> > wrote:

Dear Anil

 

I think this is a bit over the top:

 

“This did not allow the smog and dust to disperse into higher atmosphere,
thereby creating death chamber like conditions on the ground.”

 

It is common hear claims that breathing air in such-and-such a place is
“like smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day”. I provided here at least one
calculation of what people are exposed to in a city.

 

First, PM is not equally toxic. The agricultural residue burning makes
really ‘bad smoke’ stinging the eyes at 400 µg/m3. Coal smoke and vehicle
smoke has nothing like the same effect, with the proviso that coal smoke
varies a lot depending on what the source device is. Having experienced 3000
µg/m3 I can report that stubble burning is way worse than coal smoke.

 

Second, just because someone places a number on paper does not make people
sick. People who have ‘pre-existing conditions’ are at risk from all sorts
of things. One of my childhood neighbours, an adult woman, was allergic to
house dust and lived in a hermetically sealed home – but smoked! There is no
pleasing some people…

 

So…the photo in the article is taken over a long distance and zoomed, so you
are looking ‘through’ perhaps a km or more of air. The BBC frequently shows
pictures in Beijing taken in the same way – showing morning mist as
‘pollution’ when there really isn’t much to show.  How bad is Delhi air
compared with living in an apartment in which one person smokes? Do the
math. There is no city air as bad as sharing a flat with a smoker.

 

The smouldering garbage and wet leaves story is typical of real pollution in
cities. Absolutely awful with a huge emission rate per kg. The inversion in
Delhi is a good example of what happens in Ulaanbaatar in winter – daily.
Sometimes there is no wind, like last winter. Living in the city was like
smoking ¼ of a cigarette per day in terms of exposure. I am not recommending
it, but it is completely untrue that it is like ‘smoking 2 packs a day’. 

 

What rubbish.

 

Anil, what is the right balance to portray between factual alarm and
alarming facts?

 

Thanks

Crispin

 

 

 

 

My blog which appeared as front page news in Huffington Post. 

 

http://m.huffingtonpost.in/dr-anil-k-rajvanshi/there-are-various-ways-devise
d-in-india-itself-to-reduce-pollution-from-stubble-burning_a_23281512/?utm_h
p_ref=in-homepage
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fm.huffingt
onpost.in%2Fdr-anil-k-rajvanshi%2Fthere-are-various-ways-devised-in-india-it
self-to-reduce-pollution-from-stubble-burning_a_23281512%2F%3Futm_hp_ref%3Di
n-homepage&data=02%7C01%7Ccrispinpigott%40outlook.com%7C48d1d810b735421177c8
08d52ffc58c3%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636467683224884788
&sdata=zmIWiqX3Z47qDluqiBnaEc9haY7z50uaiyodY1KLu4M%3D&reserved=0> 

 

Cheers. 

 

Anil Rajvanshi 


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