Multi-year program to curb air pollution launches
By SHARON UDASIN
12/11/2011 07:16
Environment Ministry unveils comprehensive plan which will save country half a billion shekels each year, according to ministry.
Talkbacks (1)
The Environmental Protection Ministry is unveiling on Sunday Israel’s first comprehensive, multi-year national plan for preventing and reducing air pollution, which will save the country half a billion shekels each year, according to the ministry.
The plan, which is two years in the making and involved experts all over Israel and the world, comes under the jurisdiction of the Clean Air Act, and will be voted upon by the cabinet in a few weeks, a ministry statement said.
Due to the fact that Israel’s population as well as transportation and industrial activities have grown so tremendously in the recent past, experts have predicted that the health effects of air pollution will cause hundreds of deaths and thousands of hospitalization cases in the coming years.Therefore, by implementing a new national program, the ministry predicted that the government will end up around saving NIS 500 million each year in treatment costs associated with morbidity and mortality from the pollution.
“Implementation of this program, which is made obligatory under the Clean Air Act, will provide an answer to the most serious environmental problem in Israel that is causing deaths of hundreds of people each year,” said Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan in a statement, noting that such plans have been adopted in most other Western countries years ago.
“Israel, which has become the most densely populated Western state in the world, must urgently implement the plan prepared by us in order to not reach serious levels of air pollution that exist in countries like China.”
At the current rate of growth in population and consequent air pollution, resultant health damages are expected to cost the economy NIS 7.8 billion per year by 2015 and NIS 8.5 billion per year by 2020, according to the ministry.
In the transportation sector, some examples of new policies to be implemented include an expansion of the vehicle scrapping program, as well as an increase in the amount paid for each vehicle; economic incentives for multi-passenger vehicles on tolled roads and hybrid taxis; and legislation to encourage companies to purchase less polluting buses. Along this line, the plan would introduce a pilot program in which three buses powered by natural gas are introduced into the Israeli transportation system.
Meanwhile, the program would also provide NIS 60 million in grants to companies to discourage their employees from using private vehicles.
In households, the new plan would encourage people to operate appliances at night, at a cheaper rate, when the overall electricity system is less stressed, as well as apply varying electricity rates depending on the volume of consumption and consumption hours.
Also critical to the plan would be updated standards for sulfur dioxide emissions as well as new regulations on reducing respirable particles from mines. The program would allocate tens of millions of shekels to expanding air pollution monitoring coverage on national lands, and would also mandate that the future Ashkelon power station be powered only on natural gas, rather than with coal as well, the ministry said.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-introduces-first-national-air-pollution-reduction-program-1.400788
Israel introduces first national air pollution reduction program
Ministry of Environmental Protection says program will substantially reduce emission of most harmful pollutants.
By Zafrir Rinat
The Ministry of Environmental Protection will distribute to government offices on Sunday Israel’s first national air pollution reduction program. The ministry says the program will substantially reduce the emission of the most harmful pollutants. The program, which includes changes to the pricing of electricity and the taxes on vehicles and fuel, will be brought to a vote by the government during the upcoming weeks. According to the ministry’s projections, illness caused by air pollution will cost NIS 8 billion, within a decade, if the necessary measures are not taken, will be.
The new program calls for a substantial expansion of the scrappage program, encouraging owners of old vehicles to take old polluting cars of the road in exchange for cash. In addition, another program, encouraging public transportation companies to purchase less polluting buses. The ministry will also begin running a pilot-project, which will operate three city buses fueled by Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), a program that had up to now been objected to by the Ministry of Public Security.
pollution – Baz Ratner – August 31 2010
Haifa Bay.
Photo by: Baz Ratner
The Ministry of Transport and Road Safety and the Ministry of Environmental Protection will offer reduced rates on toll-roads for multi-passenger vehicles and public transportation. In addition, incentives valued at NIS 60 million will be given to employers that will operate programs encouraging employees to commute by carpool or public transportation.
The Ministry of Finance will formulate an incentive program, providing a 33% tax break to owners, purchasing hybrid vehicles. The program also proposes a graded tax rate on fuels based on how polluting they are.
A substantial part of the program deals with changes in the pricing of electricity, and the improvement of Israel’s electricity infrastructure, aimed at lowering consumption; reduced rates for household consumption during the night, when demand is low. A deferential rate will be enacted, so that those consuming a lot of electricity will pay a high price per watt. More sophisticated consumption monitoring systems will be implemented.
The program drafted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection is based on the estimate that the measures taken to date are not sufficient to meet the ministry’s air quality objectives. The ministry estimates that the implementation of the program will lead to a double-digit reduction in the percentage of ozone, Microparticles, and nitrogen oxides in Israel’s air. The plan is estimated to cost NIS 690 million, NIS 290 million in the next two years. But according to the ministry this is small change compared with the NIS 7.8 billion in costs to the Israeli economy incurred due illness stemming from air pollution by 2015, and approximately NIS 8.5 billion by 2020.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-introduces-first-national-air-pollution-reduction-program-1.400788