PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The European Environment Agency (EEA) have continually emphasised that air pollution poses the biggest risk to environmental health in Europe. In Ireland, air pollution is estimated to cause 1 180 premature deaths a year. The Irish Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent improvements to monitoring and assessment has highlighted more individual exceedances than anticipated in both urban and rural areas. This highlighted the need to further investigate the extent of impacts of air pollution, to improve governance and take appropriate action to counter its negative effects. There were several issues and barriers relating to the assessment of air quality:
- Ireland does not have an air quality forecasting system;
- The EPA relies on a limited monitoring network for its real-time measurements and better resolution is needed to identify hotspots to allow for more accurate health exposure calculation and risk assessment to flora and fauna;
- There was a lack of sufficiently high-quality, spatial, residential and traffic emission intensity data, which are required as input parameters to build urban scale air quality models;
- Irish citizens have become increasingly aware of the negative impacts of air pollution. As a result there is an increased demand for accurate information and remediation actions;
- There was an upsurge in the use of wood to heat homes, alongside a misunderstanding of what may constitute green fuel for home heating.
OBJECTIVES
The key goal of LIFE EMERALD was to strengthen air quality management in Ireland, to ensure effective implementation of the 2 complementary EU Ambient Air Quality Directives (AAQD) and to help implement the European Green Deal. The project addressed the recommendations of the Clean Air Dialogue with Ireland, namely, the review of air policy in light of EU standards, ensuring that sufficient detailed information on air quality could be made available to citizens and stakeholders to accelerate decisions aimed at tackling air quality issues.
The main objectives were:
- The implementation and customisation of the LIFE ATMOSYS air quality modelling system, allowing the EPA to gain a better understanding of Irish air quality, to better advise its citizens and improve Irelands EU reporting obligations under the AAQD;
- Setting up an operational 3-day ambient air quality forecasting system to inform the public of predicted air quality, to enable Irish authorities to take appropriate actions, and to provide near real-time air quality maps able to integrate monitoring data from low-cost sensors;
- The creation of an annual high-resolution air pollutant maps, detailing reliable health impacts to meet current/future reporting needs, and a customised air quality dashboard for internal/external use;
- Empowering regional and local authorities responsible for air quality action plans, providing improved/innovative tools and updated information regarding air pollution sources and hotspots, to ensure that cost-effective measures are taken;
- Strengthening awareness-raising actions amongst the public, policymakers and stakeholders regarding the sources of air pollution, its negative health effects and how effective measures can be implemented;
- Encouraging more dialogue between Irish stakeholders on the topic of air pollution, and transboundary international cooperation with neighbouring regions (UK and Northern Europe), and more involvement at the EU level.
RESULTS
The project successfully established management and reporting procedures, completing the ATMOSYS Implementation Report. Extensive air quality measurements and surveys in Edenderry and Dungarvan contributed to populating the residential emissions database and validated high-resolution pollution maps.
A refined residential solid fuel inventory was developed for Edenderry and Dungarvan, alongside a scalable methodology for national application. Over 1 000 residents were surveyed to improve emissions data using the EU Delta emissions tool.
Key forecasting and modeling systems are now made operational via the ATMOSYS dashboard, including a 3-Day Air Quality Forecast, High-Resolution Annual Average Air Pollutant Maps, and Hourly Updated AQIH Maps. All the tools are accessible at www.airquality.ie with an explanatory video.
The SHERPA model was used to assess Ireland’s Climate Action Plan and new Solid Fuel Regulations. The ATMOSYS dashboard was customised for air quality management and an assessment of the spatial representativeness of the Irish monitoring network was completed, aligning with EU recommendations. Policymakers were trained on ATMO-Street for local air quality planning, including modeling a Low Emission Zone (LEZ) for Dublin.
Performance monitoring included the submission of the Key Project-Level Indicator (KPI) Report, verified by experts. Dissemination efforts reached 100 000 citizens via social media, 300 000 through national TV, and 300 000 at major events, raising awareness of the causal relationship between air pollution, asthma and allergies.
Impact and Achievements
On the air pollution reduction side, NO₂ levels in Dublin decreased from 4.36 µg/m³ (3 700 tonnes/year NOx) to 3.26 µg/m³ (2 812 tonnes/year NOx) and PM10 levels reduced from 1.64 µg/m³ (721 tonnes/year PM10) to 0.82 µg/m³ (306 tonnes/year PM10).
High-Resolution Air Quality Maps were developed for NO₂, PM10/PM2.5, O₃, SO₂, and NH3-N deposition, benefiting the EPA and 5 local authorities.
On the public engagement side, citizens actively participated in air quality initiatives, with widespread collaboration among stakeholders, air quality experts, and policymakers across Ireland, the EU and the UK.
Lastly, on the regulatory and scientific advancements side, Ireland is now positioned to participate in EU FAIRMODE exercises and validated its e-reporting system for compliance with evolving European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) standards.
