Title: Estimating the benefits of emissions reductions in complex atmospheres

Authors: Darwin C. Hall, Jane. V Hall

Addresses: Department of Economics, California State University, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, California 90840-4607, USA. ' Department of Economics and Institute for Economic and Environmental Studies, California State University, Fullerton, California 92634, USA

Abstract: Air pollution is a globally ubiquitous consequence of increasing reliance on fossil fuel-based industrial, residential, electrical, and transportation energy systems. Controlling emissions can be costly, and it is therefore useful to evaluate the benefits of reduced pollution. Estimation of the damages resulting from pollution and economic evaluation of the benefits of avoiding that damage is confounded by the nature of the chemical transformations emissions undergo in the atmosphere. This paper describes the mechanics of damage estimation and valuation, and then develops and presents some practical and theoretical limitations of such estimation. The focus is on changes in ambient tropospheric ozone resulting from the activity of nitrogen oxides and non-methane volatile organic compounds. The chemical model of ozone formation is related to the neoclassical economic production model to demonstrate difficulties for estimating the derived demand for reductions in nitrogen oxide emissions.

Keywords: air pollution; pollution damage; atmospheric chemistry; fossil fuels; isopleth; isoquant; nitrogen oxides; NOx; ozone formation; production function; volatile organic compounds; VOCs; emissions reduction.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGEI.1997.063342

International Journal of Global Energy Issues, 1997 Vol.9 No.4/5/6, pp.286-298

Published online: 10 Jul 2014 *

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