Acidification and transboundary air pollution: policy
| SO2 | NOx | NH3 | VOC | |
| million kg | ||||
| Emission objectives for the Netherlands in 2010 | ||||
| Emission ceiling Gothenburg Protocol | 50 | 266 | 128 | 185 |
| Emission ceiling NEC directive | 50 | 260 | 128 | 191 |
| National target | 46 | 231 | 100 | 163 |
| Emission targets by sector in 2010 | ||||
| Industry, energy, refineries | 30 | 65 | 2 | 60 |
| Consumers | 1 | 7 | 7 | 26 |
| Trade, services, government and construction | 1 | 3 | 26 | |
| Agriculture | 1 | 6 | 86 | 2 |
| Traffic | 13 | 150 | 5 | 49 |
| Source: VROM. | RIVM/EDC/Oct02 | |||
| See the Guide to 'National air quality' section for the policy objectives for particulate matter and ozone. | ||||
International agreements about acid emissions
At the international level, 31 countries, including all the EU member states, have made agreements about emission ceilings for 2010 (the Gothenburg Protocol). In the Environment Council meeting of 22 June 2000, the EU member states agreed on national emission ceilings (the NEC directive). The national objectives have been made stricter than the international agreements, in part to create a safety margin.
Possible adjustments of targets by target sector
Various objectives and targets in the table may be adjusted in the future.
- A correction of the ammonia (NH3) objective is possible in response to further research into the 'ammonia gap', the difference between calculated and measured ammonia emissions. Ammonia emissions by traffic are being studied in further detail.
- Note on the Relation between figures for emissions and environmental quality.
- If the EU directives are established for products containing VOC (such as paints, lacquers, glues, cosmetics) and for engines, motor scooters and mopeds, the targets for Consumers, Trade, Services, Government and Construction and, finally, Traffic will be 25, 23 and 45 million kg respectively. The VOC objective for industry, refineries and the energy sector has been set at 60 million kg. The evaluation of the VOC emission objectives will lead at most to a target of 65 million kg.
Objectives for acid deposition
The objective for potential acid deposition is an average of 2,150 mol acid/ha for Dutch ecosystems in 2010. In that case, 20% of the surface area of the Dutch natural environment will be completely protected. The objective for nitrogen deposition is 1,550 mol/ha in 2010. This means complete protection for 30% of the surface area of Dutch nature (VROM, 2001). These objectives can only be achieved if there is a further reduction in the emissions of acidifying substances.
