Particulate matter and VOC, emissions by target sector in the Netherlands, 2002*

The emissions of volatile organic compounds come mainly from Industry, Traffic and transport, and Consumers. Agriculture and horticulture, Industry, and Traffic and transport account for most of the particulate matter emissions.

Developments

The Industry (incl. refineries), Traffic and transport, and Consumers target sectors account for most emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC, excluding methane).
The emissions of particulate matter come mainly from Agriculture and horticulture, Industry (incl. refineries), and Traffic and transport.

Policy

The national objective for 2010 is 163 million kg for VOC (VROM, 2001). Objectives for VOC emissions have been adopted for the target sectors for 2010. The emission targets for particulate matter still have to be determined. The calculated emission figure for 2010 is 27 million kg.

Relevance

Sunlight releases ozone from VOC. This can result, for example, in the formation of photochemical smog. Direct exposure to volatile organic compounds, particulate matter and ozone can also result in damage to human health and in damage to materials and ecosystems.

Technical note

Due to incomplete observations in 1999 in Industry (incl. refineries) and the Energy sector, it was not possible to calculate definitive emissions of particulate matter for these target sectors or the national total.

For further descriptions of the calculation method, the reader is referred to the meta-information for the Emissiemonitor.

References

CCDM (2003). Emissiemonitor. Jaarcijfers 2001 en ramingen 2002. Datawarehouse-Emissieregistratie. Coördinatiecommissie Doelgroepmonitoring, The Hague.

VROM (2001). National Environmental Policy Plan 4. Working on sustainability: Where there's a will there's a world. Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, The Hague.