Task Force on Integrated Assessment Modelling 2022
The 51st session of TFIAM, the Task Force on Integrated Assessment Modelling of the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution was held online from the 6th to the 8th of April 2022. At most 100 experts participated simultaneously. Our Technical director Carlo Trozzi presented the regional air quality plan of Campania Region in Italy. The region currently often has NO2, PM10 and ozone concentrations higher than air quality limit values, which required the development of an air quality plan. Based on emission inventories, air quality modelling and emission and emission abatement scenarios, future emissions and concentrations has been analysed. The strategic environmental assessment has been completed and the plan was adopted by Regional Council.
Horizon 2020 CLAiR-City project
Techne Consulting is a partner of the Clair-City project (Citizen Led Air pollution Reduction in Cities), funded by the European Community in the framework of Horizon 2020 with over € 6.5 million, started on may 2016 and with duration 48 months. It is conducted by a consortium of universities (University of the West of England, Bristol, United Kingdom; Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet, Denmark), research centers (Norsk Institutt for Luftforskning NILU, Norway), government agencies (Ministerie van Infrastrutture en Milieu, Netherlands, Centraal Bureau voor de Statistic, Netherlands), international organizations (Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe, Hungary) and SMEs (Trinomics, Netherlands, Techne Consulting, Italy, Transport & Mobility Leven, Belgium).
The project follows the Research and Innovation actions type of funding scheme and addresses the Topic SC5-04-2015 - “Improving the Air Quality and Reducing the Carbon Footprint of European Cities”.
CLAiR-City will apportion air pollution emissions and concentrations, carbon footprints and health outcomes by city citizens’ behaviour and day-to-day activities in order to make these challenges relevant to how people chose to live, behave and interact within their city environment. Through an innovative engagement and quantification toolkit, we will stimulate the public engagement necessary to allow citizens to define a range of future city scenarios for reducing their emissions to be used for supporting and informing the development of bespoke city policy packages out to 2050.
Umbria Region of Italy - Update of Air Quality Plan
With the D.G.R. n.741 of 28 July 2021, the Proposal for the Update of the Regional Plan for Air Quality of the Italian Umbria Region was adopted. Attachments to the resolution are Annex A) Update of the Regional Plan for Air Quality and Annex B) Scenarios for updating the PRQA. The update of the Plan is consistent with the Program Agreement between the Umbria Region and the Minister of the Environment for the rehabilitation of the air quality in the TernI Basin. The identified remediation actions mainly aim to reduce emissions produced by vehicular traffic and domestic heating systems, with particular reference to the use of biomass in fireplaces and stoves. This objective is pursued both by implementing incentive measures and prescriptive measures. Annex B to the Plan reports the study carried out by Techne Consulting on behalf of ARPA Umbria in the frame of the "Service for the Update of the Regional Air Quality Plan" relating to the assessment of air quality and the development of emissions scenarios.
Abruzzo Region of Italy - Update of air quality plan
On 13 January 2022, the Regional Council of the Abruzzo Region adopted the provision aimed at updating the Air Quality Regional Plan which has, among its main purposes, the identification of "quality objectives of the air aimed at avoiding, preventing or reducing harmful effects on human health "and at maintaining the quality of the ambient air, where good, and improving it in other cases. The update of the Air Quality Regional Plan, which will replace the previous Plan, contains plans and measures aimed at avoiding exceeding the limit values and limit levels, reducing the risk of exceeding the limit values, objective and alarm thresholds in the areas where the risk of exceeding the alarm threshold arises, to limit the duration of any episodes of exceeding, with the relative provision of interventions to be implemented in the short term to achieve these purposes. The Plan was drawn up with the support of Techne Consulting srl as part of the assignment of the Abruzzo Region for "Updating the Regional Plan for the Protection of Air Quality"
Expert Panel on Clean Air in Cities (EP-CAC)
The 2° meeting of the Expert Panel on Clean Air in Cities (EP-CAC), in the frame of UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution) was held remotely on 29 September 2020 due to restrictions in place in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Expert Panel works under the auspices of the UNECE Task Force on Integrated Assessment Modelling. The mission of the Expert Panel on Clean Air in Cities is to analyse and communicate the potential benefits of multi-scale air quality management and find an optimal mix of local, national and international policy actions. In the frame of the Panel our Technical Director was co-author of the presentation on The Main Lesson and the next steps of the ClairCity project project realized in the frame of EuropeanUnion’s EU_H2020 research and innovation programme.