Emissions monitoring is the observation and analysis of gases and particulate matter emitted by industrial activities. Many countries require continuous monitoring for environmental and health concerns, and cap-and-trade programs. Monitoring emissions helps to make combustion processes more efficient and reduce pollutants emitted. Legislation has been enacted to limit permitted emissions and aid in enforcement. Cap and trade plans allow manufacturing facilities to produce a share of greenhouse gases they are allowed, with continuous monitoring required. Vehicles report periodically for analysis of their emissions for compliance, and efforts to control emissions from fireplaces and landscaping machines are limited.
Emissions monitoring is the observation and analysis of gases and particulate matter emitted by industrial activities such as manufacturing, refining, power generation, and others. Countries around the world have adopted policies requiring emissions monitoring due to environmental and health concerns raised about the types of emissions released into the atmosphere. In many countries, continuous monitoring of emissions is the basis of cap-and-trade programs.
In the course of their daily operations, most industrial plants produce gas and particulate emissions as a by-product of their processes. Emission monitoring began as a way to control combustion; that is, when the mixture of fuel and oxygen in the combustion process is less than optimal, the gas mixture in the emissions produced reflects this fact. Thus, monitoring the emissions provided the information needed to make the combustion process more efficient. This in turn has led to a reduction in the level of pollutants emitted. The systems were built for the sole purpose of monitoring emissions.
In the late 20th century, many governments around the world began to pay more attention to the problem of air pollution and the many problems it causes, from human respiratory problems to acid rain. Legislation has been enacted in many cases limiting permitted emissions and requiring continuous monitoring of emissions to aid in enforcement of the statutes.
In the early 21st century, attention shifted somewhat to the global warming problem and it was determined that some of the components of combustion emissions were contributing to the greenhouse effect. Rather than impose unrealistic limits on industries, “cap and trade” plans were developed that provided manufacturing facilities with a share of the emissions of these greenhouse gases they were allowed to produce. Those producing less than their quota could sell “carbon credits” to those who exceeded their quota. Continuous monitoring of emissions from industrial plants is required for cap and trade systems to work.
However, it is impractical to monitor all sources of harmful emissions. Nearly all forms of motorized transportation, for example, produce greenhouse gases, but the technology to continuously monitor those emissions is prohibitively expensive. However, emissions standards are imposed on vehicles powered by internal combustion engines in many countries around the world. The emission monitoring systems for them is fixed and intermittent. Vehicles report periodically to test stations for analysis of their emissions for compliance. Those vehicles found to exceed the permissible standards must be repaired or taken off the road.
Fireplaces and many landscaping machines, such as lawn mowers and lawn mowers, are also significant sources of greenhouse gases in some parts of the world. However, it is very difficult to monitor these sources and therefore efforts to control their emissions are limited to the measures taken during their production.
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