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Frontiers of Chemical Science and Engineering >> 2017, Volume 11, Issue 3 doi: 10.1007/s11705-017-1660-0

Combining innovative science and policy to improve air quality in cities with refining and chemicals manufacturing: The case study of Houston, Texas, USA

University of Texas Austin, Department of Chemical Engineering and Center for Energy and Environmental Resources, Austin, TX 78759, USA

Accepted: 2017-07-14 Available online: 2017-08-23

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Abstract

In Houston, a combination of urban emissions from a city of 4 million people, coupled with emissions from extensive petroleum refining and chemical manufacturing, leads to conditions for photochemistry that are unique in the United States, and historically, the city had experienced some of the highest ozone concentrations recorded in the United States. Large air quality field studies (the Texas Air Quality Studies or TexAQS I and II) were conducted to determine root causes of the high ozone concentrations. Hundreds of air quality investigators, from around the world, deployed instruments on aircraft, on ships, and at fixed ground sites to make extensive air quality measurements; detailed photochemical modeling was used to interpret and assess the implications of the measurements. The Texas Air Quality Studies revealed that both continuous and episodic emissions of light alkenes, which came to be called highly reactive volatile organic compounds, played a critical role in the formation of ozone and other photochemical oxidants in the region. Understanding and quantifying the role of these emissions in regional air quality required innovations in characterizing emissions and in photochemical modeling. Reducing emissions required innovative policy approaches. These coupled scientific and policy innovations are described, and the result, substantially cleaner air for Houston, is documented. The lessons learned from the Houston air quality experience are relevant to cities with similar population and industrial profiles around the world.

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