Air quality has been, for many years, a continued focus of attention in Europe, resulting in a number of legislative initiatives impacting upon the downstream oil industry, with particular regard to emissions from refineries and other installations.

CAFE (Clean Air For Europe) is the programme launched in 2001 by the European Commission, which culminated in the publication of the Thematic Strategy on Air Pollution (TSAP) (September 2005). The TSAP covers a wide range of air quality issues and potential pollutants, with a strong focus on Particulate Matter. CONCAWE has been closely involved in the technical work and has set up special task forces to shadow and support the Commission’s activities. These activities will be continued during the current revision process of the National Emission Ceilings Directive (NECD), this Directive being the first implementation of the TSAP targets in actual legislation.

CONCAWE is also keeping a watching brief on the development of possible new legislation arising from the UN-ECE’s Convention on Long Range Transport of Air Pollution and its associated protocols (e.g. the current review of the Gothenburg Protocol).

One of the major activities resulting from the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive has been the preparation of Best Available Technique REFerence (BREF) documents.

CONCAWE made a substantial contribution to the Refinery BREF and has also been involved in a number of the other BREFs relevant to the oil industry’s activities. CONCAWE will also participate actively in the review of the Refinery BREF (2008).

Rigorous air quality analysis and projections, based upon sound science, rely upon the use of complex models. Convinced of the need to ensure the best possible interpretation of data, CONCAWE has devoted substantial effort to the development of its own air quality model tools, where these were not already available from other sources.

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