THE UNIVERSAL ENVIRONMENTAL BURDEN INDEX

Since many choices involve varying quantities of pollution from several sources it is necessary to create a common metric. If reusable garments result in water pollution while single use garment manufacture results in air pollution, it is necessary to make a decision on which is worse.

For the last 20 years McIlvaine has been developing metrics to make this type of comparison. The original metric was called a harm index. With the concern about greenhouse gases, the concept was expanded and the Universal Environmental Burden Index was created. This is based on equivalent tons of CO₂.

This metric is very useful but it is second order logic. There is a first order logic that rates the life quality enhancement or reduction. McIlvaine has created a metric “Quality Enhanced Life Days” (QELD) to measure the impacts of not only environmental but political and social decisions as well.

Quality Enhanced Life Days (QELD) can be used to measure the impact of any environmental burden. Some burdens directly impact health and life span. Others affect the quality of life. All can be converted to QELD. There are already a number of indices determining the relative burden of specific pollutants. By determining QELD for one pollutant we can quickly ascertain the QELD for the others.

Air Pollutants

McIlvaine began working on an index to rank toxic air pollutants soon after the 1990 Clean Air Act mandated the reduction of hazardous air pollutants. The regulations identified hundreds of air toxics and mandated the reduction of these toxics based on their health impacts. Congress told EPA that even with the least toxic on the list that any source emitting 10 tons per year or 25 tons of a combination of toxics should be subject to installing best available control technology (BACT). Some substances are thousands of times more toxic than others. Therefore EPA prepared a lesser quantity emission rate (LQER) for 47 pollutants. These have been integrated with priority pollutants into the following abbreviated index. 

While the threshold to trigger BACT would be on 10 tons of HCl the threshold for chromium would be 0.0l tons.

The LQER was drafted by EPA but became politically sensitive and never incorporated into standards. However it is a good base for determining the environmental burden. However, it is necessary to add values for other pollutants. Since NO_x and SO_x emitters are considered major emitters when their emissions exceed 100 tons/year it is logical to assess an environmental burden which is 10 times that of the most benign toxic pollutant. 

PM_2.5 is identified as the cause of 50,000 premature deaths in the U.S. each year. So setting an index factor equal to the most benign toxic is justifiable.

VOCs can be air toxics and qualify for high numerical rating (e.g. dioxins). Non-toxic VOCs react with NO_x to form ozone.  So setting a numerical equivalent to NO_x is logical.

Greenhouse Gases

Some greenhouse gases are more potent factors in global warming than others.  

CO₂ can be indexed based on potential trading values. NO_x trades for $2000/ton in some areas of the United States. CO₂ is trading for $3/ton in the North East U.S. There is talk of generating an allowance system based on trading values of $20/ton. At this value a ton of CO₂ would be worth one percent of the value of a ton of NO_x.  If a ton of CO₂ is indexed at one, NO_x would be indexed at 100.

Life Values

In order to determine the cost benefit of environmental regulations, the U.S. EPA has calculated the value of a human life. It is now $6.9 million, down from $7.8 million some years ago. A value of $7 million/life has been incorporated into the environmental burden index. If CO₂ is valued at $20/ton then a human life is valued at 350,000 tons of CO₂. There are 35,000 days (QELD) in an average enhanced life (QELY). So 1 QELD= 0.1 tons of CO₂.

The following Environmental Burden Index table displays both the relative burden and the QELD value.

Wastewater Burdens

U.S. municipal wastewater plants experienced CBOD5 loadings of 11 million tons per year in 2004 while discharges were 1.3 million tons. This compares to SO₂ in air where 20 million tons were generated by power plants, but emissions were 9 million tons. There is a program to reduce this to 2 million tons, so the two would be comparable objectives.

As of 2004 EPA estimates the capital cost needed for wastewater plants is $70 billion. At an average of   $500/kW it would take $140 billion for U.S. coal-fired power plants to install best available control technology. Since half the control technology is in place, the power plant air needs are close to the $70 billion required for municipal wastewater plants.

Total suspended solids fit the same parameters.

Ammonia is an order of magnitude more strictly limited. The environmental burden for a ton of ammonia released to the air is the same as one released to the water. This makes sense in that one can convert to the other. The same is true of toxic metals such as mercury, arsenic, etc. In fact, the main concern about airborne mercury is its entry into water and eventually into fish.

Chlorine is pegged at 10,000 in water vs. 1,000 for hydrochloric acid in air. But in terms of weight of chlorine the burden is more equal.

Environmental Burden Index

(relative)

The first column represents the relative burden with CO₂ at 1. The second column represents the QELD in terms of equivalent quality enhanced days lost per ton generated. These values could change. If the burden of CO₂ were to change the value of methane would also change but it would not affect the burden of toxic air pollutants. This is because the basis of burden is greenhouse gases for both CO₂ and methane but it is health for toxic air pollutants.

Sustainability and specifically life quality enhancement requires inclusion of the potential depletion of resources.  There is a 40 year supply of oil and so potential depletion of this resource is significant. There is a 200 year supply of coal so the depletion impact of one ton is an order of magnitude less than oil.

Only a fraction of one percent of the world’s water is both uncontaminated and available. However there is a big difference in availability between cities such as Phoenix, which suffers a big water deficit, and Minneapolis, which has a water surplus. Where there is a surplus of water depletion would be similar to coal. But where there is a water deficit the loss would be similar to oil. There are temporary situations where the water deficit turns into a drought.

The following QELD burden factors have been assigned for water resource depletion.

Landfill depletion is another factor.  No one wants to live next to a garbage dump. On the other hand, how objectionable is a land fill which is 30 miles away?  In the U.S. there is space for landfills to be farther from communities than in Europe. Likewise, there is a lot more land to fill in the U.S. Europe prohibits combustible material from being land-filled and insists that this material be utilized in waste to energy plants. The U.S. has taken the opposite position but is slowly changing.

The McIlvaine offices are only a three minute drive from a renovated landfill. It is now a golf course. The restaurant which is adjacent is the favorite choice for company parties. Hence, the lost QELD can differ greatly depending on the condition and location of a specific landfill.

There is no shortage of landfill space in the U.S. therefore the deposit of one ton of waste in a landfill will generate losses of only 0.0001 QELD. In Europe the loss would be 10x greater or 0.001 QELD.

To submit comments, please e-mail Bob at: rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com

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