This document provides an overview of non-point source (NPS) air pollution emissions in Alberta, Canada. It shows that in 2011, 64% of particulate matter emissions in Alberta came from road dust, while agriculture accounted for 90% of ammonia emissions. The document also notes that stationary air quality monitoring shows improvements from 2005-2010, but mobile monitoring identified some areas with increased air pollution. Finally, it defines NPS as aggregated small sources of emissions that are too numerous or widespread to measure individually, such as vehicle exhaust, farming activities, and residential fuel combustion.

1. What‟s known about NPS
Matthew Dance M.A.

2. Overview
1. Context
• Global
• Alberta
2.
3.
4.
5.
Alberta NPS Emissions
Gaps
NPS Defined
Questions

3. 1.CONTEXT

4. NASA Global „Pollution‟ Map
Image from: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/

5. NPRI, Zones and Monitoring
Data from: NPRI, data.alberta.ca &
Open Street Map

6. Traffic Counts in Edmonton
Data from: data.edmonton.ca and Open Street Map

7. Building Emissions
From: http://tools.decc.gov.uk/nationalheatmap/

8. 2.ALBERTA NPS EMISSIONS

9. 2011 Alberta Total Particulate Matter Emissions
Agriculture
481 kt
6%
Construction
Operations
2,182 kt
29%
Data Source: 2011 Air Pollutant Emissions Inventory.
Other
Sources 99
kt
1%
Road Dust
4,886 kt
64%

10. 2011 Alberta NOx Emissions
Other Sources
40 kt
5%
Transportation
237 kt
31%
Data Source: 2011 Air Pollutant Emissions Inventory.
Industrial
492 kt
64%

11. 2011 Alberta VOC Emissions
Other
128 kt
3%
Agriculture
99 kt
3%
Industrial
357 kt
9%
Data Source: 2011 Air Pollutant Emissions
Inventory.
Biogenics
3,242 kt
85%

12. 2011 Alberta CO Emissions
Forest Fires
81 kt
5%
Other 39 kt
3%
Industrial
454 kt
30%
Data Source: 2011 Air Pollutant Emissions Inventory.
Transportation
938 kt
62%

13. 2011 Alberta NH3 Emissions
Industrial
8 kt
6%
Other
Sources 5
kt
4%
Agriculture
118 kt
90%
Data Source: 2011 Air Pollutant Emissions Inventory.

14. 3.GAPS

16. AQ improvement
and decline in
Hamilton ON
2005-2010
From: Adams M.D., et al.
2012. Mobile Air
Monitoring: Measuring
Change in Air
Quality in the City of
Hamilton, 2005–2010.
Soc Indic Res 108:351364

17. “Stationary monitoring indicated air quality
improvement from 2005 to 2010, whereas
mobile monitoring indicated areas that
experience both improvement and
decline…”

18. 4.NPS DEFINED

19. Definition
Non-point sources are aggregated sources
of air emissions, as opposed to individual
identifiable sources of emissions (point
sources). This aggregation is done because
the emission sources are either too small
and numerous, too geographically
dispersed, or too geographically large to be
estimated or represented by a single point.

20. Examples on NPS
Residential Fuel Combustion (e.g.
home heating);
Commercial Fuel Combustion (e.g.
space and water heating);
Residential Fuel Wood Combustion
(e.g. fire places, wood burning
stoves);
Transportation (e.g. on-road and offroad vehicles, air, rail, etc).
Incineration
(cremation, industrial, commercial);
Cigarette Smoking;
Dry Cleaning;
General Solvent Use;
Meat Cooking;
Refined Petroleum Products Retail
(gas stations);
Printing;
Structural Fires;
Surface Coatings;
Agriculture (animals, tilling & wind
erosion, fertilizer application);
Construction Operations;
Road Dust (paved and unpaved
roads);
Waste;
Mine Tailings;
Prescribed Burning;
Biogenics (soils and plants);
Forest Fires; etc.

21. Matthew Dance
matt@matthewdance.ca
@mattdance
QUESTIONS?