Research Associate post advertised

The Air Quality Management Resource Centre in the Faculty of Environment and Technology at UWE, Bristol are seeking to appoint a Research Associate in Air Quality and Carbon Management. This research position offers an exciting opportunity to make a significant contribution to the future of air pollution and climate policy through high-level engagement with national and international bodies. The main duties are: 
• To undertake a variety of air quality and carbon analysis work, as part of the AQMRC team, for a range of high profile partners and clients. 
• To contribute to a range of air quality, climate change and energy policy analysis and development work. 
• To support a range of on-going air quality and carbon management research and consultancy projects.

Further details and applications can be made online at http://goo.gl/bxunlV and the closing date is 22nd June. For further details, please contact jo.barnes@uwe.ac.uk.

AQMRC's Global Research Impact

The AQMRC have a history of sharing expertise and developing partnerships through research globally, with resultant impact on policy development at home and abroad. Some specific examples of AQMRC's research impact are now provided on the UWE webpage (http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/research/researchimpact/improvingairquality.aspx) and you can also see details of our wide range of current and recent projects on our Research Project pages (http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/et/research/aqmrc/researchprojects.aspx).

UK deaths from air pollution mapped in Google

A new interactive map showing the data from the Public Health England report on deaths in over 25's from long-term exposure to PM2.5 has been published by the Guardian today - http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/interactive/2014/apr/10/air-pollution-deaths-uk-borough-interactive-map. It allows you to search by postcode to identify the effects of air pollution in your area, and the 'big picture' also shows a clear south-east predominance emanating from London, even across more sparesely-populated rural areas.

Jo presented at Air Quality Conference in Germany

Jo presented a 'Study on Ozone Concentrations and Trends in Europe: 1996-2010' at the 9th International Conference on Air Quality - Science and Application in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany on 27th March 2014. A pdf of the presentation can be downloaded here http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/22820/. This was a presentation of research undertaken by Dr Tim Chatterton as part of a consortium contract for the European Commission to assess the reasons for non-compliance of ozone target value set by Directive 2008/50/EC and potential for air quality improvements in relation to ozone pollution. The summary report for this project is now available on the European Commission website as supporting documentation to assist in their review of the implementation of the Directive and can be accessed here: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/pdf/review/Final_ozone_report.pdf.
Jo commented: "This was an excellent conference, very well organised by Hertforshire University and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), with some fantastic presentations and posters. It was a great networking opportunity with nearly 300 delegates in attendance and plenty of opportunities for mingling and socialising. I would also like to thank the organisers for the opportunity to chair the final day's sessions on Air Quality Management and Policy."

Jo fields media enquiries about air pollution episode

In response to the media interest in the elevated pollution experienced over much of the UK today (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26844425), Jo made the following statement (http://info.uwe.ac.uk/news/UWENews/news.aspx?id=2791), which has been followed up in interviews including with the Daily Mail and the Bath Chronicle as well as tweeted and retweeted by UWE News and others (https://twitter.com/uwebristolnews/status/451329543698006016).

"While the high levels of air pollution that we are seeing this week across England and Wales are as a result of a combination of short-term meteorological factors and continental and Saharan sources, it is important to recognise that this is simply adding to and exacerbating existing long-term poor air quality experienced in many of our towns and cities much of the rest of the time. There are already more than 60% of UK local authorities with Air Quality Management Areas declared for exceedances of air quality objectives for nitrogen dioxide (NO­₂) and particulate matter (PM₁₀), primarily for traffic-related sources. In February 2014 the European Commission launched legal proceedings against the UK for its failure to cut excessive levels of NO₂. Technological solutions (e.g. Euro standard vehicles) have not delivered the expected reductions in pollutant emissions and resulting concentrations and behavioural changes (e.g. driving less) are difficult to bring about without greater public awareness and education about the effects of individual’s actions. It is therefore good to see that this week’s extreme pollution has made it onto the media and public consciousness, but I hope that it doesn’t give the false impression that once the rains come everything will be fine!"

Enda invited to join the Editorial Advisory Board of the Clean Air Journal

Enda has just joined the Editorial Advisory Board of the South African Clean Air Journal following an invite from the Journal Editors. The AQMRC team have contributed to the Journal on a number of occasions and this continues the close link that AQMRC has with government officials, academics and environmental practitioners in South Africa. The journal website is www.cleanairjournal.org.za.

 

Enda invited to Vietnam by the Mekong River Commission

Enda has been invited by the Mekong River Commission to present at their International Conference on ‘Cooperation for Water, Energy, and Food Security in Transboundary Basins under Changing Climate’ (Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, 2-3 April 2014).  Enda will be presenting some of his nexus work looking at the strategic role that the Severn River Basin could play in delivering the UK’s 2050 ambitions of an 80% reduction in GHG. Enda will explore specific energy projects (such as tidal, nuclear and shale gas) that may deliver against the UKs decarbonisation plans but at what cost to water and food security.

 

Jo chairing and presenting at 9th International Conference on Air Quality

Jo will be attending the 9th International Conference on Air Quality in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany next week, where she will be presenting a paper on "Ozone Concentrations and Trends Across Europe: 1996-2010" and a poster on "Ozone Exposure Across Europe: 2004-2010". These were both developed from research undertaken by Dr Tim Chatterton as part of of a consortium contract for the European Commission to assess the reasons for non-compliance of ozone target value set by Directive 2008/50/EC and potential for air quality improvements in relation to ozone pollution. Jo has also been invited to chair a session on 'Air quality management and policy'. Further details about the conference can be found here: http://www.airqualityconference.org/

 

Irish ammonia impact project gathering pace

Following the Project Inception Meeting back in January, this collaborative project with University College Dublin investigating the impact of ammonia on Natura 2000 sites on behalf of the Irish EPA has started to gather pace. The project website can be found here - http://ssu.ie/research/ammonian2k/. Enda Hayes and Mark Everard are involved in this project, managing two work strands on Data Analysis/Modelling and Ecological Assessment.

Enda presenting at the Nexus 2014 Conference

Enda is in the US at the moment presenting at the Nexus 2014 Conference. Hosted in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the conference looks at the inter-connectivity of water, energy, food and climate. Enda is presenting on the work that UWE has done with Bristol City Council investigating low carbon futures for Bristol (www.futurebristol.co.uk)

Openair paper most popular download!!

The South African National Association for Clean Air Journal statistics indicated that our Openair paper is the most popular single paper downloaded from the current issue.  It appears that everyone loves a pretty graphic!!

Openair paper in South African Clean Air Journal

Following Enda’s visit and presentation at the IUAPPA Clean Air Congress in Cape Town last year, our paper on “Utilising Openair to support multi-stakeholder engagements and the resolution of air quality issues” has been published in the official journal for the South African National Association for Clean Air.  The paper and journal can be accessed here http://www.cleanairjournal.org.za/.  Subsequently, Enda has been invited to write an editorial for the May/June issue of the journal.

Jo interviewed on BBC Radio Somerset about Highways Agency consultation

Jo was interviewed last Tuesday live on BBC Radio Somerset about the Highways Agency's consultation on the introduction of 60 mph speed limits on the M1. Jo spoke up on the contribution of motorway traffic to poor air quality and the damage this may be having on those living in close proximity, but criticised the Highways Agency for their "disingenuous" use of air quality in their argument to introduce speed limits. If, as stated in their consultation document, the Highways Agency's intention is to improve traffic flows in order to increase the capacity on motorways to enable future traffic growth then this is not a long-term solution for air quality.

AQMRC assisting the Irish Environmental Protection Agency

AQMRC has just started a 3 year research project, in collaboration with University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland, to assist the Irish Environmental Protection Agency in the quantification and assessment of the impact of ammonia from intensive agriculture installations on Natura 2000 sites. Enda is leading AQMRC's involvement which takes him back 10 years to collaborate with his old PhD supervisor, Dr Tom Curran from UCD, on a subject which was closely related to Enda' PhD topic. Additionally, Dr Mark Everard (UWE Associate Professor) is on board to support in the ecological assessment aspects of the project. The project will have a dedicated website in due course and the primary aim is to enhance the accuracy of Irish EPA submissions as part of their EU reporting requirements.

New policy package to clean up Europe's air

Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik has just announced a new package of policies to address air pollution in Europe. Watch the press conference on EbS here and read the full press release here.

Jo presents MOT presentation at CTS Winter Conference

Jo gave a very well-received presentation on 'Variations in car type, size, usage and emissions across Great Britain' at the Centre for Transport Studies' Winter Conference at UWE this afternoon, on behalf of Dr Tim Chatterton. As well as academics from a number of institutions, the conference was also attended by local policy-makers from transport and highways. The presentation set out the initial findings from our spatial and longitudinal analysis of the MOT dataset focusing on emissions and energy at a Post Code Area level. The work is being undertaken under WP2.2 of an 3-year EPSRC/RCEP-funded project, led by Prof. Jillian Anable (University of Aberdeen), with Prof. Eddie Wilson (University of Bristol and Dr Sally Cairns (Transport Research Laboratory/University College London). Further details about the research can be found on the AQMRC webpages.

Defra publish response to LAQM consultation

Defra published their response to the LAQM consultation on Friday 13th December. The consultation had provoked 232 'substantive' responses (including from 133 local authorities)and more than 18,000 petition responses. In general the report appears to reflect the sentiments and arguments of those responses. A summary of the conclusions and next steps is presented below:

Aim 1 – Local Action focused on what is necessary to support air quality improvements to benefit public health and to work towards EU air quality standards

There was sufficient support for Defra to develop more detailed proposals for consolidating the Air Quality (England) Regulations 2000 and the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010. This would need to take account of:

1. The extent to which local authorities should be expected to meet or work towards EU air quality standards
2. The need to have clarity as to the role and relationship between Defra’s national assessment of compliance with EU limit and target values, and locally derived air quality assessments.

As part of this,

Defra will review the range of air quality objectives that apply to local authorities, taking into account the relevance of these objectives for health protection, and the levels assessed in recent years.

Aim 2 – Local government and other stakeholders are clear on their roles and responsibilities and work together to improve air quality

There were clear concerns that currently different tiers of authorities and even to some extent different departments within authorities do not work effectively for the benefit of local air quality. Whilst most respondents supported the current arrangements for district and unitary authorities to have responsibility for assessment of local air quality many also recognised the key role that transport and planning authorities had in influencing air quality and in delivering improvements.

The Environment Act 1995 states that first tier authorities must cooperate with district tier authorities on the identification of measures to improve air quality and must be consulted upon plans. There is also clearly much in the way of good practice available to demonstrate what can be achieve by successful cooperation.

Defra will review the need for additional guidance on these duties as part of its review of guidance to local authorities in fulfilling their duties under the Act.

Aim 3 – Local authorities have simple reporting requirements with less bureaucracy and more time to concentrate on actions to improve air quality and public health

There was clearly support for a review of the reporting required in Local Air Quality Management. In particular there was support for removing the need for a three year updating and screening assessment of local air quality. There was also strong support for an annual report of local air quality which is public facing. This report should provide an overview of air quality across a local authority and a report of progress with actions to improve air quality.

There was some support for providing flexibility in reporting for local authorities that had no significant local air quality hotspots.

Defra will make proposals to introduce regular annual reporting on air quality for local authorities, taking into account comments made and following further discussions with stakeholders on the content of such reports.

 

There was support for clarity on the purpose of local and national air quality assessment, and for local actions to be valued and represented both within and without nationally identified exceedance areas.

There was overwhelming support for retaining AQMAs as a frame for defining the extent of a locally designated exceedance and where actions to improve air quality should be focused. However, there was also support for having some flexibility in applying these, especially for areas where exceedances or exposure was relatively low.

Defra will take account of the support for retaining AQMAs and will also review guidance on declaration/revocation procedures in order to reduce administrative burdens, taking into account matters of health impacts through exposure to air pollution and scope for measures.

  

Aim 4 – Local authorities have access to information about evidence based measures to improve air quality, including on transport and communications

There was clear support for producing and increasing access to information on evidence-based measures, including on transport and communications. A number of examples were cited, especially on communication schemes.

Defra will continue to explore (with delivery partners and stakeholders) way of improving and disseminating evidence-based measures, including supporting innovative schemes. We will revise official guidance to coincide with the implementation of changes to the LAQM system, likely in mid-late 2015.

Fracking and the Environment

Enda presented at a recent Fracking event (11^th December) sponsored by RGS and CIWEM. The event covered the implications of fracking on the environment.  AQMRC’s, newest PhD, Jenna Brown presented on the background and regulatory side of fracking, UWE’s Chad Staddon addressed the water angle while Enda looked at the implications for air quality and GHG.  The event was very well attended with >70 people from various background including consultants, Environment Agency, politicians and concerned members of the public.  The UWE team are planning on turning the lectures into  ‘working papers’ to disseminate our thoughts and evidence to the wider public…………..more to follow.

Tim quoted in new report on 'Climate Silence'

The Climate Outreach and Information Network has just published a new report on “Climate Silence and How to Break It” .

 

This report describes the blanket of silence that has descended on the issue of climate change in the UK in the past five years. The report argues the debate urgently needs new narratives that make the link between the climate challenge and ordinary people’s lives.

 

Tim was interviewed by Dr Adam Corner of Cardiff University who wrote the report and it  contains a quote from Tim comparing problems following the Climate Change Act 2008 to those that have beset the air quality  community since the Environment Act 1995.

 

The report is available here: http://www.climateoutreach.org.uk/portfolio-item/climate-silence-and-how-to-break-it/

Expert workshop on Smart Meters

On Monday 9th December, Tim has been invited by DECC to participate in an Expert Workshop on Smart Meters at the Department or Business Innovation and Skills in London.