Control Technology Options and Costs for Reducing Volatile Organic Compounds

In many areas in Europe present ambient concentration levels of ozone are considered as a serious air quality problem. Current scientific understanding of ozone formation mechanisms suggests that only a balanced cut of the major precursor emissions (nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds) will effectively lead to a decline of ozone concentrations over larger areas. Consequently, a systematic framework will be required to explore various strategies to reduce exposure of human beings and sensitive ecosystems to elevated ozone concentrations and to identify cost-effective approaches. Such an integrated assessment has to incorporate information on emission sources, the technical potential and the costs of emission reduction measures as well as an understanding of the chemical processes influencing ozone formation. This paper provides an initial overview on the available information material and associated costs of the major options for controlling emissions of volatile organic compounds. Thereby, it makes an important contribution to the ongoing development of a tool for the integrated assessment of the tropospheric ozone problem