Acidifying substances: emissions by target sector in the Netherlands, 1990-2002*

The emissions of acidifying substances are still decreasing. Most of the decrease is accounted for by the reduction in emissions of ammonia in the Agriculture and horticulture target sector.

	1990	1995	2000	2001*	2002*
	billion a.e. 1)
Total	33	27	21	21	20
Agriculture and horticulture	13	11	8	8	8
of which - furnaces	0.24	0.32	0.27	0.26	0.26
- process/other	13	11	8.2	7.6	7.3
Energy	3.1	1.9	1.6	1.5	1.6
of which - furnaces	3.1	1.9	1.6	1.5	1.6
- process/other	0.029	0.013	0.005	0.007	0.003
Industry	6.1	4.7	2.7	2.7	2.5
of which - furnaces	4.5	3.5	1.8	1.7	1.6
- process/other	1.6	1.2	0.87	1.05	0.97
Consumers	0.86	0.88	0.85	0.87	0.87
of which - furnaces	0.47	0.49	0.45	0.46	0.46
- process/other	0.38	0.40	0.41	0.41	0.41
Traffic and transport	9.1	8.2	7.5	7.2	7.1
Other activities	0.64	0.49	0.42	0.44	0.44
of which - furnaces	0.36	0.37	0.34	0.38	0.39
- process/other	0.28	0.11	0.077	0.060	0.051
Source: CCDM (2003).	CBS/EDC/Aug03/0185
1) An acidification equivalent (a.e.) is the measure for the acid-forming ability of the various substances and corresponds to 32 g SO2, 46 g NO2 or 17 g NH3.

Developments

The emissions of acidifying substances continued to fall in 2002 compared to previous years. The largest absolute fall was realised by the reduction in NH₃ emissions from the Agriculture and horticulture target sector. The largest relative fall was realised by the Industry target sector, where emissions have more than halved since 1990.

Policy

The fourth National Environmental Policy Plan (NEPP4) formulates new national objectives for 2010 for sulphur dioxide (SO₂): 46 million kg, nitrogen oxides (NO_x): 231 million kg and ammonia (NH₃): 100 million kg. This corresponds to 12.3 billion acid equivalents in 2010.

Relevance

The listed substances contribute to the acidification and eutrophication of soil and water. Direct exposure to these substances can also result in damage to human health and to damage to materials and ecosystems.

Technical note

The acidification potential of a substance is expressed in acid equivalents (a.e.) that are equal to the amounts of H+ (in mol) that can arise (1 mol SO₂ = 2 a.e.; 1 mol NO_X = 1 a.e. and 1 mol NH₃ = 1 a.e.).

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

Relevant information outside of the Environmental Data Compendium

• Acidification and transboundary air pollution: causes and impact
• Acidification and transboundary air pollution: policy
• Acidifying substances: emissions 1990-2002
• Acidifying substances: emissions by target sector in the Netherlands, 2002*
• Guide to emissions to air, water and soil
• Emissions to air by target sector, 2002*
• See the Guide to surface water quality and the Guide to groundwater quality for the consequences of acid emissions for the quality of the environment.
• Guide to section Impact of environmental pressure on nature, with a reference to four indicators about the impact of acidification and eutrophication on nature.
• Recent emission data and descriptions of the calculation methods used (meta-information) can be viewed in detail on the Data Warehouse of the 'Emissieregistratie' website. Emission data can also be found on Statline of Statistics Netherlands.