Rose to present at 15th IUAPPA World Clean Air Congress

Rose has been selected to present at the 15th IUAPPA World Clean Air Congress held in Vancouver, Canada, from 12th-16th September. The title of Rose's abstract is 'City-Scale Carbon Management: an innovative methodology for imagining a low carbon future', which will be presented in the Technical Session on 'Urban Sustainability Issues'.

More information about the conference can be found here: http://www.iuappa2010.com

The 2010 IUAPPA Congress theme of "Achieving Environmental Sustainability in a Resource Hungry World" recognizes the need for holistic management approaches to effectively mitigate potential water, food, energy, and environmental challenges. This Congress will bring together specialists from academia, industry, consulting, environmental advocacy groups, and government to present innovative ways to improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and minimize environmental impacts. The program will examine international, national and local-scale issues facing both emerging and developed economies.

More information about Rose and her research can be found on her web page.

Jo to present at 15th IUAPPA World Clean Air Congress

Jo has been selected to present at the 15th IUAPPA World Clean Air Congress held in Vancouver, Canada, from 12th-16th September. The title of Jo's abstract is 'Reframing the United Kingdom Air Quality Management Challenge: From Diagnosis to Solutions', which will be presented in the 'Approaches to Environmental Management' technical session.

More information about the conference can be found here: http://www.iuappa2010.com

The 2010 IUAPPA Congress theme of "Achieving Environmental Sustainability in a Resource Hungry World" recognizes the need for holistic management approaches to effectively mitigate potential water, food, energy, and environmental challenges. This Congress will bring together specialists from academia, industry, consulting, environmental advocacy groups, and government to present innovative ways to improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and minimize environmental impacts. The program will examine international, national and local-scale issues facing both emerging and developed economies.

More information about Jo and her research can be found on her web page.

Rose has just returned from the Second International Conference on Climate Change in Brisbane, Australia, where she presented a paper on her research methodology entitled "Envisioning the Future: a Methodology for City Scale Carbon Management" which discussed the use of Delphi techniques to imagine low carbon futures for Bristol. The conference attracted delegates from all over the world with discussions on all aspects of climate research.

More information about the conference can be found here: http://www.climate-conference.com

The paper will shortly be published in the conference journal, 'The International Journal of Climate Change: Impacts and Responses', found here: http://on-climate.com/journal/

More information about Rose's research can be found on her web page: http://www.uwe.ac.uk/aqm/rose.html

Tim to present at Climate Change conference in November

The Centre for Psycho-Social Studies, UWE in association with UWE Institute for Sustainability, Health and the Environment presents a one-day conference: Seeing Futures: Integrating Scientific Views on Changing Climates on November 13th 2010. Speakers include:

*Dr Stephan Harrison, Associate Professor of Quaternary Science, University of Exeter
Climate Science – Certainty, Uncertainty and Risk

*Dr Tim Chatterton, Senior Research Fellow in Air Quality at UWE, currently on Social Science Policy Fellowship with the Department of Energy and Climate Change
Climate Change – Science, Media, Policy and The Public

*Dr Clive Hamilton, Professor of Public Ethics, Australia National University and author of Growth Fetish, The Freedom Paradox and Requiem for a Species
By audio-visual link from Canberra - Climate Knowledge Under Siege – the Many Forms of Denial

*Sandra White Ecopsychologist, environmental writer, bereavement counsellor, founder member of Transition Hertford
Beyond Sacrifice – Reaching Towards the Ecological Self

The Conference Chair is Sara Parkin, Founder Director of Forum for the Future.

Further details and online registration are available here. Hurry - discount rate until 30th August!

Air Quality and Carbon Management CPD training

AQMRC are running a training session this Friday (30th July) as part of their Air Quality and Carbon Management CPD training. This Friday's session will focus on Monitoring and Modelling for Local Air Quality Management and will be attended by environmental scientists from local authorities and environmental consultancies. The course is accredited by the Institute for Air Quality Management (IAQM) and the Institution for Environmental Science (IES) and is worth up to 17 CPD hours, including additional online access after the event. If you are interested in attending this or any of the courses in the Air Quality and Carbon Management series, please email aqmrc@uwe.ac.uk or register your interest online.

Dr Nurul Leksmono Memorial Prize

The AQMRC are pleased to announce the inauguration of an award to commemorate Dr Nurul Leksmono who sadly passed away earlier this year. Nurul was a much loved and highly respected Research Fellow and PhD student in Air Quality Management. The prize, in her name, is to be awarded to the UWE Postgraduate International student whose PhD or MSc thesis on the subject of air quality, carbon management or environmental management can be considered the best in the graduating year. The prize will be presented at the graduation ceremony in November.

Air Quality Webinar

This is a priority invitation to the following webinar; ‘The Air Quality Paradox? Improving Health, tackling climate change and breathing easier’, hosted on the 2degrees Low Carbon Local Authorities working group on Friday, 16th July at 2pm.
Presenters:
• Daniel Instone, Deputy Director, Atmosphere and Local Environment Programme, DEFRA
• Dr Tim Chatterton, Air Quality Management Resource Centre, University of the West of England
• Simon Cousins, Environment Programme Officer, GLA
The presenters will:
• Examine how the transition to a low carbon economy can be managed to ensure it doesn't have an unintended negative impact on air quality, health and the environment
• Identify and explore synergies and conflicts in addressing carbon reduction and air quality
• Provide practical insights into London's efforts to tackle air quality
The webinar takes place online so requires no travel and will offer you the opportunity to put any questions you may have to the experts.
Register now to attend the webinar and join 2degrees Low Carbon Local Authorities Working Group.
Membership of 2degrees is FREE, but if you join before July 16th you will receive a FREE 2 month upgrade to our enhanced business level service.
Find out more about 2degrees and the Low Carbon Local Authorities Working Group.
For more information on 2degrees or further details of this webinar, please contact Laura at 2degrees here or on 01865 339431.

New AQM Publications

Just published:

Leksmono, N.S., Dorfman, P., Burnet, F., Gibbs, D.C., Longhurst, J. W. S., Weitkamp, E. (2010) Enhancing consultation practices on Air Quality Management in local authorities. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 53(5) pp 559 – 571

Brebbia, C.A &. Longhurst, J.W.S. (Editors, 2010) Air Pollution XVIII. WIT Press. Southampton and Boston. pp 430

J.W.S. Longhurst, J. Barnes, T.J. Chatterton, E.T. Hayes, J.G. Irwin & A. O. Olowoporoku (2010). Recalibrating the United Kingdom’s Local Air Quality Management regime to deliver desired goals. In Brebbia, C.A. & Longhurst, J.W.S. (Editors) Air Pollution XVIII WIT Press. Southampton and Boston. pp73-82.

A full list of AQMRC publications is available on the AQMRC website.

Rose to attend International Conference on Climate Change

Rose will be attending the Second International Conference on Climate Change at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, from 8-10th July. Rose will be presenting a paper entitled 'Envisioning the Future: a Methodology for City Scale Carbon Management'. In this, she discusses her research methodology, which proposes using Delphi techniques to identify potential future low carbon scenarios for the Bristol city region.
More information about the conference can be found here: http://on-climate.com/conference-2010/
More information about Rose's research can be found here: http://www.uwe.ac.uk/aqm/rose.html

Emission Factor Toolkit (Version 4.2)

A revised version of the emission factor toolkit (EFT) has been issued and is available for download on Defra’s LAQM tools website (http://laqm1.defra.gov.uk/review/tools/emissions.php). The revised version (Version 4.2) allows the use of detailed local vehicle fleet composition data, i.e. it gives the ability to split the traffic into more than just HDV and LDV. It also corrects some minor errors in the way the previous version interpreted some of the national fleet data. Because of these errors, emissions calculated using version 4.2 may be slightly different from those calculated using version 4.1. Any discrepancies will very small, particularly in relation to other modelling uncertainties. Local Authorities are not required to redo any work already carried out using version 4.1 but are advised to use version 4.2 for future work. Version 4.2 will soon be accompanied by a user guide which will explain how to use the new functions.

New LAQM website

Defra and the Devolved Administrations have launched their new and improved Local Air Quality Management website today!

This replaces the following websites: http://www.airquality.co.uk/laqm/laqm.php , http://www.uwe.ac.uk/aqm/review/ and http://www.laqmsupport.org.uk/.

The following links will help re-direct you:

LAQM homepage

Guidance – Policy and technical guidance, practice guidance and lots of other useful guidance for LAQM.

Helpdesks – contacts details for email or phone support for LAQM

FAQs – useful information grouped by subject area

Review and Assessment – example reports, checklists and useful information.

Action Planning – example reports, checklists, useful information on measures and best practice

Tools – including background maps, NOx/NO2 calculator, Biomass calculator, Emissions Factor Toolkit, VCM, DMRB, national Bias Adjustment Factor spreadsheet and more.

AQMAs – maps of AQMAs and lists of which councils have declared

Report Submission Website – for Updating and Screening Assessments and Progress Reports

Jim goes to Air Pollution 2010 in Kos

Professor Jim Longhurst is attending the 18th International Conference on Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Air Pollution in Kos, Greece this week as conference co-chair. Further details of the conference are available on the conference website http://www.wessex.ac.uk/10-conferences/air-pollution-2010.html. Check the AQMRC latest news for an update on Jim's activities at the conference on his return.

Mo and Jo Doubleact at Heating up GIS Seminar

Mofoluso Fagbeja and Jo Barnes gave presentations on applications of GIS in air quality management at yesterday's' 'Heating up GIS seminar', part of the heat@uwe programme. The seminar aimed to raise awareness of capabilities, applications and ideas about the use of geographical information systems (GIS) at UWE and to highlight its potential value to disciplines and staff unfamiliar with the subject. A number of varied disciplines were represented at the seminar, which was widely considered to be a very successful initiative potentially leading to some interesting and valuable research collaborations. For further information on 'Heating up GIS' or heat@uwe contact louise5king@uwe.ac.uk. For further information on GIS and air quality management please contact aqmrc@uwe.ac.uk.

Updated pollution data from industrial facilities now available in the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR)

E-PRTR is a comprehensive online register which contains information on emissions of pollutants to air, water and land by industrial facilities throughout Europe (EU-27 and EFTA countries). It includes annual data for 91 substances and covers more than 24 000 facilities in 65 economic activities. E-PRTR also provides additional information, such as the amount and types of waste transferred from facilities to waste handlers both inside and outside each country. The new dataset now contains information for 2008 and updated data for 2007. Voluntarily reported data from Switzerland are also included in the register for the first time.
More: E-PRTR website

Research in Physical Sciences/AQMRC Seminar Presentation

Mofoluso had his Research in Physical Sciences Assessment and AQMRC Seminar presentation on 19 May, 2010. He presented on the progress of his research. The presentation was titled, "Applying remote sensing, GIS and dispersion modelling techniques to air quality and carbon emission management in the Niger Delta". The audience at the presentation cut across disciplines. Details of the presentation can be found on Mofoluso's web page at http://uwe.ac.uk/aqm/mofolusosresearch.html

Europe to exceed air pollutant emission limits – NOx in particular

In 2010, around half of the European Union's Member States expect to miss one or more of the legal limits set by the National Emission Ceilings Directive. According to recent data compiled by the European Environment Agency (EEA), 11 countries expect to exceed their ceilings by significant amounts — some missing NOx targets by more than 40 %.
Read more ...

Nurul celebration video

To celebrate the life and times we shared with Nurul Leksmono, a memorial event was held on Wednesday, 28 April, 2010 at the Octagon Centre in UWE Frenchay Campus. A book of remembrance will be available for the next couple of weeks for those who were unable to attend and wish to send a message to her family. As part of the ceremony we compiled a presentation of photos of Nurul set to music, which will help us remember her as the happy, smiley person she was. Click on the image below to view:

Nurul celebration video from dotun olowoporoku on Vimeo.

Sad news - Dr Nurul Leksmono

We are very sad to announce the sudden and tragic death of Dr Nurul Leksmono who drowned in a diving accident in Indonesia on Saturday 10th April. Nurul studied and worked in the Air Quality Management Resource Centre at UWE from 2001-2009 before returning to work in her home city of Jakarta last year. Nurul was the most likeable, warm-hearted and generous of people. Her kind, patient, happy nature, which touched so many, will be missed by all who knew her. Our thoughts and sympathy are with her family and friends.

To celebrate her life and times with us, we will be hosting a memorial event from 12-1 pm on Wednesday, 28 April, 2010 at the Octagon Centre in UWE Frenchay Campus. A book of remembrance will be available at the event for those who wish to send a message to her family.

LAQM Review based on AQMRC questionnaire

An internal review of LAQM has recently been published for Defra by in-house consultants utilising the results of a local authority questionnaire undertaken by AQMRC. The Review of Local Air Quality Management report can be viewed online at http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/air/airquality/local/documents/laqm-report.pdf, along with the accompanying questionnaire report at http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/air/airquality/local/documents/laqm-questionnaire-review.pdf.

AQMRC contribute to Environmental Audit Committee report on air quality

The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee on Air Quality report was released last Monday. Published by the Stationery Office, reference HC229-I and available on line at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmenvaud.htm, the report draws heavily on evidence provided by AQMRC. (Press release at http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/environmental_audit_committee.cfm).