Emission Trading Scheme

The Gujarat government has launched country’s first ‘Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS)’ which is being described as world’s first market for trading in Particulate Matter (PM) emissions. ETS was launched in Surat to encourage and incentivize the industrial units to cut air pollution.

Why Surat was Chosen?

  • In the last five years, the quality of air in Surat has deteriorated. In 2013, when the project was conceptualized, the PM10 level at Air India Building in Surat was 86 micrograms per cubic meter.
  • Also, it was chosen because its industrial associations agreed to run the pilot scheme.
  • Also, industries in Surat had already installed Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems, which makes it possible to estimate the mass of particulate matter being released.

Significance

  • The reason for trading is that in a cap and trade market, the regulator will measure pollution over a period of time and industries must own enough permits to cover their total emissions.
  • Factories who find it very expensive to reduce pollution, will seek to buy more permits. Those who can easily reduce pollution are encouraged to do so because then they have excess permits to sell.
  • Eventually, after buying and selling by plants that find it cheap to cut pollution and those for whom it is expensive, most pollution is taken care of.
  • Whatever the final allocation, the total number of permits does not change so the total pollution is still equal to the predefined cap. And yet the costs to industry are decreased.

Pollution

What do you mean by Pollution?

Pollution is the introduction of the contaminants into the natural environment which has harmful or poisonous effects that causes adverse changes.

Types of Pollution

Air Pollution

  • When the air becomes contaminated with contaminants such as poisonous gases or particles, it can cause serious problems to human health.
  • The most common causes of air pollution include partially combusted exhaust gases, poisonous gases which are a by-product of industry including SO2 and CO, and other carcinogenic gases released through the burning of plastic, rubber and wood.
  • This works by slowly poisoning organisms which breathe it in, or by disturbing the atmosphere and mixing with their air and clouds to cause ‘acid rain’.

Water Pollution

  • This type of pollution can be referred to as the contamination of bodies of water including groundwater.
  • Universal causes of water pollution include industrial waste, insecticides, pesticides, and fertilizers, detergents and oil spills.
  • These contaminants work by killing off organisms through their toxicity (fertilizers, insecticides), or reducing oxygen value in the water by blocking out sunlight.

Soil Pollution

  • Soil can be uncovered of its nutrients by a number of chemical agents (.i.e. contaminants) causing Soil pollution ultimately.
  • Universal causes of soil pollution include pesticides, insecticides, agricultural chemicals, industrial waste, and radioactive waste.
  • The heavy metals which get into the soil via chemical pollution also have a devastating effect on the ecosystem as they alter the metabolism of microorganisms and arthropods living in the soil.
  • These heavy metals become more concentrated as they move up the food chain, often wiping out predator or consumer species at the apex (.i.e. bio-magnification).

Noise Pollution

  • Noise pollution refers to an excess of unpleasant sounds emanating from industry, infrastructure, heavy machinery, transportation, and even human occupation being released into the environment.
  • In humans, noise pollution can have a detrimental effect on both mental and physical health and has been linked to high stress levels, hearing loss, hypertension, depression, sleep disturbances and an increase in incidences of coronary artery disease.
  • Noise pollution affects flora and fauna as it interferes with communication, making it difficult for animals to navigate, mate and detect prey.

Light Pollution

  • Light pollution is defined as the alteration of natural light levels in both indoor and outdoor environments through human interference.
  • Light pollution causes headaches, fatigue, stress and anxiety.
  • Light pollution disrupts natural ecosystems by confusing animal’s navigation, altering predator-prey relations, disrupting plant growth and pollination, and change competitor interactions.

Thermal Pollution

  • Many industries release heat energy as a by-product and once released into the environment, this thermal energy is partially responsible for global warming.
  • CO2 prevents heat from exiting the atmosphere, so the heat from the sun, combined with the excess thermal energy which is a by-product of many industries as well as vehicles cannot escape and raises the temperature of the atmosphere.

Radioactive Pollution

  • When radioactive metals disintegrate, they release beta rays which can cause a whole host of mutative diseases in living organisms; this is known as Radioactive Pollution.
  • This mostly comes from the nuclear power plants, either in the form of radioactive waste being dumped or improperly disposed of and then making its way into bodies of water, or from the accidental release of radioactive substances when a nuclear reactor is damaged.
  • Once radioactive pollution is present in the environment, it can linger for decades, making enormous areas of land unfit for human occupation of any sort.

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