Creating Awareness among People

The assignment content highlights the importance of environment protection, particularly in Europe, where air and water pollution are significant issues. The government's role is crucial in setting standards for vehicle emissions and establishing testing centers to control air pollution. Additionally, promoting vehicles using clean energy sources, proper maintenance, and regular emissions testing can help reduce pollution. It emphasizes that creating awareness among people and promoting a collective effort by the public is essential to combat environmental problems. Furthermore, implementing a circular economy and waste management system can also contribute to reducing pollution.

ROLE OF ENERGY SECTOR IN THE TRANSITION TO A CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Introduction: After the announcement of a circular economy package of the European package,
various business leaders have adopted the circular economy due to which many businessmen
have earned profits and reached heights of success. However, there are implications of circular
economy on environment, employment and growth. Europe has been considered to be very
successful in providing high earnings to people. Like the whole economy of the world, European
economy follows a model caused take make a disposing strategy which inculcates an important
amount of waste. After the initiation of industrial growth in 1800, the European economy has
generated enormous prosperity and growth. This has given a good standard of living to the
people of Europe. It has been seen that using the materials again and managing the design of the
reuse can lower down the expenditure of disposal.
In the linear system, disposal of a product in landfills means that all its residual energy is lost.
When the product is recycled, generally a small amount of energy is saved, however, when the
product is reused, the energy comes out to be saved is more. The system of reuse of energy is a
technical process and involves a lot of expenditure, however, it is very beneficial and the
European Commission has been promoting it.
In circular economy concept, the materials are considered to be very significant. On the other
hand, lineal economy does not work on the same lines and material is thrown away after
consumption. In the energy sector, two materials are considered which biological and technical
materials are. Biological materials are easily decomposed by living organisms and on the other
hand, technical materials cannot be decomposed by living organisms (Kuepker, 2015). The
generation of waste has been reduced by the European economy. Talking about numbers, the
waste in Europe from 2002-12 has been decreased by 25% and the major contribution has been
made by Norway.
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Walking towards the circular economy, it is beneficial for Europe both environmentally and
economically. The opportunities are as shown below:
1. More focus on the environment: When the waste is managed by the best practices, the
greenhouse gas emissions can be curtailed down. This brings home clean and green
environment, making the air and the environment healthy for people. Waste management
helps to lower down the loss in biodiversity. It is very important to reuse the waste
materials and make the best use of it so that the environment can be made healthier and
living habitat can be improved (MacArthur, et al., 2015).
2. High competition: A circular economy could bring savings to businesses and consumers
through improved resource efficiency. A 2015 Ellen MacArthur Foundation report
estimates that by the year 2030, a move towards a circular economy can curtail down net
resource expenditure in the EU by €600 billion every year, bringing earnings of around
€1.8 trillion annually. Moreover, stringent laws related to the environment can bring
higher income to people and can become a unique selling proposition.
3. More opportunities for job: A circular economy has become responsible for bringing
opportunities for job. The European commission continuously supports this drive because
it believes that a circular economy leads to many innovative ideas and hence, the job
sectors can be improved by redesigning the products and materials (Europe, 2014).
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Some of the challenges are stated below: -
1. Municipal waste combustion: The waste produced by municipalities adds so much to the
pollution of the environment and the harmful elements contained in it can have a long
lasting impact on the health of people causing various numbers of diseases which are not
easily curable. A survey report has provided the information that around 20% of the
deaths in the world are due to municipal combustion waste which is a sign that something
needs to be done (MacArthur & Potocnik, 2013).
2. Medical waste incineration: Hospitals generate waste in a huge quantity that comes in
different categories, for example by experimenting on animals, blood banks, dialysis, etc.
Between 70 % and 85 % of the waste generated is not very risky or is usually connected
to medical care which is as good as domestic residue. It pops up generally from
housekeeping and administrative functions of medical-care entities and also includes
residue which comes out while maintaining the hospitals. The remaining 10-20 % of
medical-care waste is considered very hazardous and may lead to a number of health
problems. Around 5% of such waste is by contaminated nature. Other types of waste may
be other toxic gases, toxic drugs, inflammable and radioactive wastes. This is related to
infectious medical-care waste; wastes which we can compare with domestic waste should
be strictly dealt with by the waste disposal mechanisms related to municipalities.
3. Industrial wood combustion: The waste generated by wood industries is a risky waste and
can be proved fatal for some people, but if we compare this waste with the rest of the
categories, comparatively this is less harmful. Generally, the residential area is away
from such combustion, but it proves to be toxic when it gets mixed with the environment
causing breathing problems, asthma, respiratory problems and even skin problems.
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4. Residential coal combustion: The coal is a natural resource and its exploitation is
important for the running of various businesses and even for exports. The waste that
comes out of this process is disadvantageous for people and not for the present
generation, but for the coming generation as well. It is important to save the resources
and save as many as we can. There should be techniques generated to avoid the release of
waste in such manner so as to avoid causing problems to people. The process can be
conducted away from residential areas.
5. Open burning/fires: The fire which is used in open, toxics produced directly gets mixed
with air and creates breathing problems for people. This practice is famous in rural areas
as this practice is famous in that area. Even the forest fires add to the problems of people
and cause many harmful diseases.
6. Pulp and paper mills: The waste produced by paper and pulp industry is toxic, but is less
toxic when we compare the waste produced by other areas. Not only the solid waste, but
the smell produced is very toxic. The liquid waste has added many harmful pollutants to
the water and has made the water unfit for drinking and many deaths can be witnessed
due to this industry. The waste has made the environment very polluted and such
industries are even responsible for acid rain. If the practice will be continued for a long
time, acid rain will happen more often and increase the death rate (Ulmann, 2015).
7. On road mobile vehicles: Due to increase in population, the number of vehicles has also
increased and every second person now owns the vehicle. This is added to air pollution,
noise pollution. The vehicles emit very harmful gases and exploiting petrol and diesel in
great amount and a study states that in future times, the natural resources will start
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depleting to such a level that future people will not be able to even witness these
resources. The solution is switching to vehicles working on solar energy.
8. Residential wood combustion: The wood used in residential homes is a common practice
in rural areas and create a lot of waste which is harmful for the ones who use such wood
in their houses and decline in their health can be easily seen and the number of hospitals
is also less in number in rural areas so only some of them are cured and rest succumb to
diseases. It causes diseases like tuberculosis; asthma, etc., which generally proves fatal
for them.
The European Commission believes that earlier there were no standards in Europe for industrial
burning fuel oils, including the low and high grade burner oils. They made it obvious that there is
a need to ensure that customers are given accurate information about the products and the
standards that apply. Liquid effluents produced from industries go into the water bodies and
hence contaminate the water. This same water exposes aquatic life to Dioxins and Furans. When
we eat a fish we get infected with Dioxins and Furans. When rain falls it brings with it Dioxins
and Furans settled on air and contaminates water bodies into which this rain falls with Dioxins
and Furans. Not only water bodies, but the soil are being exposed to Dioxins and Furans as rain
falls on soil too (Taranic, et al., 2016).
They made a point to apply a regulatory standard of 1000 ppm for total chlorinated compounds
in fuels. Therefore, taking into account the propensity of fuel, when get composted, to produce
Dioxins and Furans. Which when emitted is harmful to the human health.
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In order to minimize the volume of municipal wastes prior to disposition, we go for a process
called municipal waste combustion. In these processes, a significant amount of Dioxins and
Furan is originated. In this category we have three types of processes used which are Mass burn,
Modular burn and Refuse-derived fuel.
Huge wastes are produced from hospitals, research institutes and crematoriums. Hospital wastes
are infectious and non – infectious wastes. These wastes are composted at medical waste
incinerators. Three types of medical wastes incinerators are Controlled air incinerators, Excess
air incinerators, and Rotary kiln incinerators (World Health Organization, 2015).
In all these processes and many more, dioxins and furans have their birth and from there spread
enormously over many areas. Thus get accumulated in the atmosphere, environment and even
food chain.
Under normal conditions there are no Dioxins and Furans present in the atmosphere. But when
huge forest fires take place the chlorinated compounds degenerate and rearrange resulting in the
formation of Dioxins and Furans. Biomass combustion from prescribed burning and wildfires are
potentially the most significant sources of Dioxins and Furans.
An exposure source is a source from which Dioxins and Furans enter the human body. These
sources include foods containing Dioxins and Furans, such as fish and dairy products.
Environmental media like soil, air and water. It was found that most of the people are exposed to
Dioxins and Furans via the medium of Air. It`s therefore noticed that the main source through
which people get exposed to the deadly Dioxins and Furans. According to a report from USEPA
Science Advisory Board air – to – plant – animal pathway is most probably the primary way in
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which the food chain is impacted and humans are exposed. We inhale air, therefore get exposed
directly to the Dioxins and Furans that may be present in it. This is direct exposition. It can also
happen that from the air they get deposited on plants and through plants reach animals and those
animals we eat their meat and get exposed to Dioxins and Furans present in their meat. This long
route exposure is called indirect exposure. Even the vegetables make us vulnerable to the
Dioxins and Furans (Withana, et al., 2012).
Liquid effluents produced from industries go into the water bodies and hence contaminate the
water. This same water exposes aquatic life to Dioxins and Furans. When we eat a fish we get
infected with Dioxins and Furans. When rain falls it brings with it Dioxins and Furans settled on
air and contaminates water bodies into which this rain falls with Dioxins and Furans. Not only
water bodies, but the soil itself get exposed to Dioxins and Furans as rain falls on soil too.
GC is gas chromatography and MS is mass spectrometry. GC – MS is an analytical used to
identify different substances. It has the combined features of both GC and the MS. We use it for
environmental analysis. By using this method, we find the organic pollutants in the environment
(Steenge, 1991).
Atmospheric pollution is a very dangerous form of pollution and it took place because of the fuel
burning in excess way, automobiles and many industries that throw out the huge amount of
smoke in the air, which consists of chemical substances and gases like Sulfur dioxide and these
chemicals pollute the air in the atmosphere. Sulfur dioxide is very dangerous and toxic gas and
releasing of these chemicals also creates a problem of global warming and acid rain. Global
warming increases the temperature of the environment and makes it very difficult for animals to
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survive. Usually, when a human being takes a breath, these dangerous particles present in the air
enter into the human body and as a result increase in the health problems like asthma and lung
cancer. Air pollution can be divided into two parts –one is visible air pollution and invisible air
pollution. The survival of the living thing I because of the combination of gases which are
required for the living things, the imbalance caused by the changing level of the percentage of
gases can be dangerous for survival. There are two types of pollutants – primary pollutants are
the direct result of the process, whereas the other secondary pollutants are caused by the
interactions of primary pollutants like smog. The causes of atmospheric pollution in Europe are
burning of fuels, gases from factories and industries, mining operations, emission of smoke
through automobiles. In Europe, the Air Quality Index (AQI) measurement shows the alarming
level of atmosphere pollution in Hanoi-based US Embassy.
As per the records of AQI, Pollutant concentrations in the air ranged between 114 and 159
during the day, then instantly increased in 388 which seem to be very dangerous for the people of
Europe. The decrease in the air quality of areas of Europe has been recognized to high traffic
vehicles and industrial activities (European Commission, 2013).
Almost every person in Europe is using motorbike and cars for the transportation purposes. In
the year of 2015, it had a 4.9 million of vehicles running in the city. All of these vehicles emit
high level of fumes and smoke which is one of the biggest reasons of atmospheric pollution in
the country. Except vehicles another cause of the atmosphere is the emission of gases by the
factories and industries. The manufacturing industries in Europe also decreased the quality of the
air by emitting large amount of carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons and chemicals into the air. There
are many industries and petroleum refineries in Vietnam that releases the chemicals and
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hydrocarbons that pollute the air and leads to atmospheric pollution. Similarly, the mining is the
process of extracting of minerals below the earth with the use of equipment’s that releases dust
particles and chemicals in the air (EU Team, 2016).
Moving further, this atmosphere pollution is affecting the lifestyle of people living in Europe.
The problems they are facing nowadays because of the increase in the population, urbanization
and development of industries. The environment and human health are negatively affected by the
Air and Water pollution. One major problem faced by the Europeans is vanishing of fishes. A lot
of rivers used to be very clean and consists of fishes and it becomes very dirty because of the
factory wastages and now there are no fishes found (Svedin, 2012). However, water pollution
also has ruined plant life because plants also need water to survive and grow. When the polluted
water is irrigated into the plants, plant died in that water. Due to the deforestation and ruined
plant life leads to increase the amount of CO2 in the environment and also creates smog, which
is responsible for restricting sunlight rays from coming to the earth. Also, gases like Sulfur
Dioxide and Nitrogen oxide leads to the acid rain and global warming. Global warming is also
one of the serious problems faced by the people across the world. Global warming is basically an
increase in the temperature of earth due to the emissions of the greenhouse gases like CO2, SO2
and Nitrogen Oxide. The increase in CO2 and other gases leads to melting of the ice caps that
raises the level of the sea and create a dangerous situation for the people of Europe. Furthermore,
the Ozone layer Depletion is also a problem faced by the people. Ozone layer depletion is also
reason that leads to the global warming and the ozone layer is the layer that protects the human
being from the ultra-violet rays by stopping them from reaching to the earth. That layer is
depleting due to the environmental pollution and this depletion of the ozone layer has negatively
affected the atmosphere and people across the world (Energy, 2015).
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Besides damaging the environment, air and water pollution has serious effects on the health of
the human beings. Because of the low quality of air and drinking water leads to many respiratory
problems like asthma, lung cancer, pain in chest, throat swelling, diarrhea, stomach cancer, and
several digestive system problems (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2015). Water pollution also
causes the skin problems like irritation and itching, rashes, inflammation, etc. Similarly,
agricultural use pesticides on plants and polluted water for crops and when people of our country
consume these plants they become ill with the diseases like infection and digestive problems.
Because of this environment the people living in this village faced the health issues like liver
cancer, lungs cancer and stomach cancer. As per the records, there were 106 rural people died
because of cancer during the year of 1991 to 2005. The Lack of the waste treatment system is the
serious problem in Europe. Because of this inadequate system, polluted water is not purified
before throwing it into the rivers or canals and leads to the breakdown of the ecosystem and loss
of the biodiversity. There is surely no solution to tackle with this problem as it’s not feasible that
these existing factories bodily shifted to a place away from the river areas. But, there are some of
the initiatives that has taken by the government to avoid this problem. First initiative is that the
UN Conference on Human Environment assembles to research about the thoughtful changes that
can be done to understand the relationship between human beings and his atmosphere in the
favor of industrial developments and technological changes. Secondly, the World Health
Organization also establishes an international network for controlling and looking for the best
remedial solutions to avoid the air pollution on a large scale. As per the Environment ministries
study the nitrogen level in Europe was found 1.3 times more than the actual level (Wenzel,
2015). The rise in the Nitrogen Oxide in the atmosphere increases the problems of respiration.
High amount of NO2 also leads to lung infections, coughing, flu, and throat inflammation. The
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people who are suffering from the asthma and heart problems are at high risk because of this
pollution. Similarly, they also found some high levels of dust particles that cause lung cancer,
which is a serious health problem and because of this the people died in this city because of the
cancer problem.
However, only some of the steps can be taken to reduce this environmental solution. Firstly, the
government can take a step that upcoming factories should be set up at some faraway places
from regions of the township. Secondly, the deforestation should be reduced and need to grow as
many plants to avoid this problem. Also, there should either set up adequate water treatment
systems in factories or banned the discharge of factory wastage to make the river free from the
pollution. Thirdly, it’s really needful to find out how to avoid the harmful smoke from the
automobiles and mining factories by the researchers. At last, the most important solution to avoid
this problem is to create awareness among the people because it’s only the man who is
responsible for this. A man should need to change its thinking because it’s not only the
government responsibility to handle these problems. It is a collective effort done by the people
living in Europe and also it’s applicable for the people across the world (Venter, 2014). There is
a need to control the pollution from automobiles activities as per the Ministry of Natural
Resources and Environment. One step taken by the European government is to set the standards
for the emissions of the vehicles and these standards have been strict worldwide. Vehicle
emissions testing centers have been established in the period of 2011-2012 and authorities have
also given his approval for this scheme. This scheme has given a great contribution in controlling
the air pollution in Europe from the vehicle activities. Another step that can be taken by the
environmental experts in Europe to reduce pollution is to promote the vehicles using clean
energy sources, proper maintenance of the vehicles and there should be testing of the emissions
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of smoke of the vehicles every year before renewing their driving licenses. It is very necessary to
create awareness among the people and responsibility of the people towards the environment.
Moreover, conducting a media campaign also helps to raise the people’s awareness on the
environment protection. Europe has faced many problems at the time of its development and air
and water is the need of the living things either its animals or plans or a common man. It must
develop the waste treatment system to prevent the economy from this crucial situation (C Frei,
2016). Environment protection is most important or crucial thing and persons need to emphasize
on it because nature, plants and human life are valuable gifts to the mankind. It has become very
imperative to eradicate the roots of pollution from our nation to live happy and healthy life.
Conclusion: The energy produced by reusing the products can be proved very beneficial for the
people and not only Europe, but all the nations worldwide should promote waste management.
The European Environmental Bureau also promotes the idea of waste management and transition
of circular economy and doing the management in time to reduce any kind of destruction and
keeping the polluting elements at bay and away from people and their health. The European
Academies Science Advisory Council has been promoting the idea of circular economy very
aggressively during international trade agreements which can easily draw attention of people
towards the competitiveness of Europe. The steps need to be taken in order to solve these
problems since the population in increasing at a greater rate and for meeting their demands; the
number of industries is also increasing leading to increase in amount of waste. The industries
should be set up in an area where the people and animals are not exposed to the waste released.
Moreover, the diet of the people should be improved and they should not eat such food which is
high in fat and adds to the problems. The water should be filtered before using it so that the
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intake of contaminated water is reduced. The exploitation of resources is done in a way that it
can be useful for the present generation and should not be over exploited to deprive the future
generations from enjoying it. This will not lead to eradication of the problem, but will help in
reducing the problem and saving a number of lives of many people of the world. The waste
coming out of industries not only contaminates the air, but also pollutes the water and it is used
by a large amount of people which again causes serious health issues. When the smoke released
from the industries gets mixed with the environment and even leads to acid rain which is a
serious problem for the nation as it destroys the infrastructure, crops and is proving fatal for the
people. The intensity with which such industries are working is a sign that soon the nation will
be under the clutches of acid rain taking uncountable lives.
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