Pollution control economic costs

Just as it costs money to control pollution, it also costs the public money not to control pollution. All the adverse Air Pollution Effects represent economic burdens on the public for which an attempt can be made to assign dollar values, i.e., the cost to the public of damage to vegetation, materials. 

The benefit-to-cost (B/C) ratio is a benchmark that is determined by taking the total present value of all of the financial benefits of an air pollution control project and dividing it by the total present value of all the costs of the project. If the ratio is greater than unity, then the benefits outweigh the costs, and we may conclude that the project is economically worthwhile. 

The economic factors must be considered in every application. It is important to find a technique that will meet both the technical and economical requirements. In short, pollution control costs depend on the system characteristics and the application. Some cost equations that generalize the economics of the managing systems are available in the literature. Most of these equations give rough estimates and have an accuracy of only about 30% to 50%. For a comprehensive cost comparison of different units, a detailed cost analysis based on the equipment tender proposals and the special characteristics of the project is necessary. 

Significant opportunities exist for industry to reduce or prevent pollution through cost-effective changes in production, operation, and raw materials use. In addition, such changes may offer industry substantial savings in reduced raw materials, pollution control, and liability costs, as well as protect the environment and reduce health and safety risks to workers. Where pollution prevention practices can be both environmentally beneficial and economically feasible, one would consider their implementation to be prudent. 

If A has significant economic value then it should be separated from the reactor effluent stream and recycled for subsequent use. Since the conversion level is higher in the plug flow reactor, the recycle rate will be much smaller and the demands on the separation equipment for reclaiming species A will also be somewhat smaller. Even when species A is of relatively little economic value, there may be circumstances when the costs associated with meeting the pollution control requirements for the process effluent will dictate separation and recycle of this reactant as the most economic alternative. 

Notwithstanding the intellectual challenges posed by the subject, the main impetus behind the development of computational models for turbulent reacting flows has been the increasing awareness of the impact of such flows on the environment. For example, incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons in internal combustion engines is a major source of air pollution. Likewise, in the chemical process and pharmaceutical industries, inadequate control of product yields and selectivities can produce a host of undesirable byproducts. Even if such byproducts could all be successfully separated out and treated so that they are not released into the environment, the economic cost of doing so is often prohibitive. Hence, there is an ever-increasing incentive to improve industrial processes and devices in order for them to remain competitive in the marketplace. 

Trijonis, J. C. Economic air pollution control model for Los Angeles County in 1975. General least cost-air quality model. Environ. Sci. Technol. 8 811-826, 1974. 

For each policy specification, the technology matrix of the integrated industry model is transformed from the productive structure existing before the policy change to the productive structure existing after the policy change. This structural transformation is the master key to identifying the economic demands and supplies of the industries modeled. Identification is necessary to soundly estimate (1) the economic demands for crude oil, natural gas, coal, water, and capital (2) the economic costs of pollution control for major water and air pollutants and (3) the economic supplies of the endproducts in the model. 

In addition, pollution control prevention also has economic benefits. Although waste management and recycling in most cases increase the production cost, it pays back the initial investment in the long term. Economic benefits include the amount of reduction of waste produced or treated and disposed, and also in reduction of raw material. 

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Pollution Control Costs In the Primary Aluminum Industry. OECD, Paris, 1977. 

F. W. Fink, F. A. Butner, and W. K. Boyd, "Technical-Economic Evaluation of Air-Pollution Corrosion Costs on Metals in the U.S., Report to Air Pollution Control Office, Environmental Protection Agency, Feb. 19, 1971, NTIS, PB198-453. 

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