Technology and policy options for reducing industrial air pollutants in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area

Technology plays an important role in dealing with air pollution and other environmental problems faced by developing and developed societies. This research examines if technological solutions alone, such as end-of-pipe and process control technologies, can achieve substantial and sustained emissions reduction from the industrial sector in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA). Environmental standards for most of the criteria pollutants have frequently been violated in the MCMA. Severe air pollution in the MCMA, and the roles of point and area sources, particularly industrial sector, are the prime motivating factors for this research. Industrial sources of air pollution play a significant role in aggravating the air pollution problem in the MCMA. This research focuses on a 25-year horizon for socio-economic growth of the MCMA, and its implications on industrial energy demand, and pollutant emissions. I develop a simulation model to estimate industrial energy demand and emissions from the MCMA industrial sector. The model incorporates industrial growth rate, changes in the structure of industry and energy intensity, pollution control technologies, fuel-switching, technological progress, etc. I find that the level of industrial activity, driven by the macroeconomic environment, plays a significant role in shaping the long-term industrial air-pollution trajectory in the MCMA. I use two cost measures for evaluating cost-effectiveness of various strategies. First, the direct cost, which includes capital, operation & maintenance cost. Second, the policy cost includes direct cost and the cost of foregone production due to policy of deindustrialization.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Technology, Management, and Policy Program.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Vijay, Samudra, 1968-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Mario M. Molina and Stephen R. Connors.

• Technology, Management, and Policy Program.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/30287

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/30287