Air pollution with sulphur dioxide

Indicators Years

2010

2009

2008

SLEDI NAM

/ EIONET Slovenija

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Transportation and climate change

In Slovenia, conventional vehicle propulsion is strongly predominant

Fossil fuels private cars are dominant mode of transport in Slovenia

Definition

The main sources of sulphur dioxide (SO₂) emissions are large thermal power plants and heat production plants and in urban areas also small and medium-sized coal-burning boiler facilities. SO₂ is also produced in certain processes in industry (e.g. cellulose production plants).

The indicator shows the frequency in exceedances of 1-hour limit concentration value (350 μg/m³) and the frequency in exceedances of 24-hour limit concentration value (125 μg/m³) for SO₂ in the major Slovenian urban areas by individual year.

Charts

Figure ZR05-1: Število ur s preseženo mejno povprečno urno vrednostjo koncentracije SO₂ (350 μg/m³) v slovenskih krajih (dovoljeno preseganje znaša 24 ur v koledarskem letu)

Sources:

Zbirka podatkov avtomatskih meritev državne mreže za spremljanje kakovosti zraka (DMKZ), Agencija RS za okolje; Zbirka podatkov avtomatskih meritev merilne mreže TE Šoštanj, TE Trbovlje, TE-TO Ljubljana, Elektroinštitut Milan Vidmar, 2011

Show data

		1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
National monitoring network
Ljubljana Bežigrad	number of hours	80	51	13	16	32	39	14	14	0	0
Maribor	number of hours	41	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Celje	number of hours	94	104	22	11	0	4	4	0	1	1
Trbovlje	number of hours	249	162	61	46	17	52	14	18	12	20
Zagorje	number of hours	219	137	71	22	31	48	38	49	15	25
Hrastnik	number of hours	110	82	24	14	23	58	24	40	11	14
Nova Gorica	number of hours	np	np	np	np	np	np	np	np	np	np
Murska Sobota - Rakičan	number of hours	np	np	np	np	np	np	np	np	np	np
Monitoring stations within TE Šoštanj network
Velenje	number of hours	38	27	16	0	2	3	6	13	6	0
Šoštanj	number of hours	324	318	218	131	175	127	289	249	324	334
Topolšica	number of hours	209	194	83	9	26	38	62	33	47	2
Veliki Vrh	number of hours	474	315	246	179	200	200	273	400	279	250
Zavodnje	number of hours	252	196	233	54	90	158	152	152	96	18
Graška Gora	number of hours	232	248	293	80	64	107	102	131	120	17
Škale	number of hours	np	np	np	np	np	np	45	43	24	3
Monitoring stations within TE Trbovlje network
Kovk	number of hours	205	315	448	260	151	486	262	323	218	159
Dobovec	number of hours	64	323	152	177	187	340	277	227	146	189
Kum	number of hours	18	10	13	25	22	68	19	23	16	13
Ravenska vas	number of hours	87	50	61	149	122	390	399	178	131	125
Monitoring stations within TE-TO Ljubljana network
Vnajnarje	number of hours	np	13	5	7	11	11	10	9	0	1
		2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
National monitoring network
Ljubljana Bežigrad	number of hours	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Maribor	number of hours	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Celje	number of hours	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Trbovlje	number of hours	10	28	np	17	1	0	0	0
Zagorje	number of hours	15	33	72	17	0	0	2	np
Hrastnik	number of hours	43	8	49	12	0	0	0	0
Nova Gorica	number of hours	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Murska Sobota - Rakičan	number of hours	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Monitoring stations within TE Šoštanj network
Velenje	number of hours	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Šoštanj	number of hours	228	108	47	22	12	11	1	0
Topolšica	number of hours	13	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
Veliki Vrh	number of hours	269	246	90	56	28	9	6	0
Zavodnje	number of hours	45	23	1	9	1	0	0	2
Graška Gora	number of hours	34	7	2	2	0	2	0	0
Škale	number of hours	9	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Monitoring stations within TE Trbovlje network
Kovk	number of hours	26	288	278	94	3	1	0	1
Dobovec	number of hours	149	139	168	129	3	3	0	7
Kum	number of hours	np	np	6	12	0	0	0	0
Ravenska vas	number of hours	249	193	139	205	1	0	1	1
Monitoring stations within TE-TO Ljubljana network
Vnajnarje	number of hours	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	np

Figure ZR05-2: Število dni s preseženo mejno povprečno dnevno vrednostjo koncentracije SO₂ (125 μg/m³) (lahko presežena največ trikrat v koledarskem letu)

Sources:

Show data

		1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
National monitoring network
Ljubljana Bežigrad	number of days	38	28	2	3	1	1	1	0	0	0
Maribor	number of days	22	7	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Celje	number of days	50	36	18	8	0	4	0	0	2	0
Trbovlje	number of days	59	53	25	21	7	8	4	3	1	2
Hrastnik	number of days	50	28	4	4	3	4	0	2	1	1
Zagorje	number of days	61	48	28	14	6	0	5	4	3	3
Nova Gorica	number of days	np	np	np	np	np	np	np	np	np	np
Murska Sobota - Rakičan	number of days	np	np	np	np	np	np	np	np	np	np
Monitoring stations within TE Šoštanj network
Velenje	number of days	4	1	1	0	0	2	0	1	0	0
Šoštanj	number of days	41	37	25	14	22	17	34	30	44	52
Topolšica	number of days	29	30	12	1	1	2	5	6	4	0
Veliki Vrh	number of days	63	45	37	26	32	28	47	67	41	32
Zavodnje	number of days	37	29	34	11	13	26	28	27	18	2
Graška Gora	number of days	27	32	46	14	13	13	18	17	23	1
Škale	number of days	np	np	np	np	np	np	6	7	1	0
Monitoring stations within TE Trbovlje network
Kovk	number of days	36	55	71	47	19	65	48	53	49	38
Dobovec	number of days	10	33	19	20	24	47	42	25	22	21
Kum	number of days	1	0	0	2	1	6	0	1	1	2
Ravenska vas	number of days	14	11	16	33	29	80	90	35	30	29
Monitoring stations within TE-TO Ljubljana network
Vnajnarje	number of days	np	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
		2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
National monitoring network
Ljubljana Bežigrad	number of days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Maribor	number of days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Celje	number of days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Trbovlje	number of days	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Hrastnik	number of days	5	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
Zagorje	number of days	1	1	8	1	0	0	0	np
Nova Gorica	number of days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Murska Sobota - Rakičan	number of days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Monitoring stations within TE Šoštanj network
Velenje	number of days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Šoštanj	number of days	29	9	1	0	1	0	0	0
Topolšica	number of days	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Veliki Vrh	number of days	44	21	5	4	0	0	0	0
Zavodnje	number of days	9	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Graška Gora	number of days	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Škale	number of days	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Monitoring stations within TE Trbovlje network
Kovk	number of days	6	39	50	21	0	0	0	0
Dobovec	number of days	16	15	18	13	1	1	0	0
Kum	number of days	np	np	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ravenska vas	number of days	55	47	23	35	0	0	0	0
Monitoring stations within TE-TO Ljubljana network
Vnajnarje	number of days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	np

Figure ZR05-3: Letna koncentracija SO₂ in preseganja kritične letne koncentracije za zaščito vegetacije (20 μg/m³)

Sources:

Show data

		1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
National monitoring network
Ljubljana Bežigrad	µg/m3	38	45	33	21	33	34	27	15	10	11
Maribor	µg/m3	47	42	30	28	24	23	18	17	13	10
Celje	µg/m3	57	54	49	32	24	27	23	19	17	15
Trbovlje	µg/m3	69	71	49	48	37	40	32	23	18	14
Hrastnik	µg/m3	62	51	32	29	24	27	25	21	23	17
Zagorje	µg/m3	71	60	48	41	34	31	27	21	18	18
Nova Gorica	µg/m3	np	np	np	np	np	np	np	np	np	np
Murska Sobota - Rakičan	µg/m3	np	np	np	np	np	np	np	np	np	np
Iskrba	µg/m3	np	np	np	np	np	np	np	np	np	np
Monitoring stations within TE Šoštanj network
Šoštanj	µg/m3	49	48	38	29	34	29	44	42	52	51
Topolšica	µg/m3	54	51	32	20	20	18	20	17	18	11
Veliki Vrh	µg/m3	71	54	49	49	57	53	63	72	56	52
Zavodnje	µg/m3	51	44	46	26	33	42	43	42	31	21
Velenje	µg/m3	19	19	12	6	10	11	10	10	7	5
Graška Gora	µg/m3	39	42	47	27	28	36	32	32	34	15
Škale	µg/m3	np	np	np	np	np	np	np	16	19	10
Monitoring stations within TE Trbovlje network
Kovk	µg/m3	73	59	70	58	35	76	55	57	53	40
Dobovec	µg/m3	30	50	29	36	41	66	54	41	35	39
Kum	µg/m3	17	13	11	13	18	25	16	14	10	18
Ravenska vas	µg/m3	56	34	34	50	51	82	82	57	45	51
Monitoring stations within TE-TO Ljubljana network
Vnajnarje	µg/m3	np	np	np	np	19	19	18	14	6	7
		2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
National monitoring network
Ljubljana Bežigrad	µg/m3	9	11	8	5	4	3	2	4
Maribor	µg/m3	8	9	8	8	5	3	2	5
Celje	µg/m3	10	10	11	9	7	5	5	5
Trbovlje	µg/m3	15	16	9	15	7	3	2	5
Hrastnik	µg/m3	22	8	15	10	9	6	5	4
Zagorje	µg/m3	16	21	20	12	6	5	4
Nova Gorica	µg/m3	6	7	7	7	7	7	8	4
Murska Sobota - Rakičan	µg/m3	5	5	5	5	6	5	6	np
Iskrba	µg/m3	np	np	np	np	1	1	1	1
Monitoring stations within TE Šoštanj network
Šoštanj	µg/m3	43	24	13	11	8	9	6	4
Topolšica	µg/m3	15	16	6	5	4	3	2	3
Veliki Vrh	µg/m3	56	45	30	33	20	14	8	5
Zavodnje	µg/m3	23	15	8	12	8	6	3	6
Velenje	µg/m3	8	8	6	4	5	3	4	2
Graška Gora	µg/m3	21	10	6	6	6	5	4	3
Škale	µg/m3	14	12	8	8	3	3	4	5
Monitoring stations within TE Trbovlje network
Kovk	µg/m3	10	52	61	30	12	9	12	8
Dobovec	µg/m3	40	28	31	23	6	7	8	6
Kum	µg/m3			4	6	4	7	9	5
Ravenska vas	µg/m3	67	59	43	42	17	14	9	8
Monitoring stations within TE-TO Ljubljana network
Vnajnarje	µg/m3	8	10	np	8	4	4	3	np

Goals

The main aim of air quality management is reduction of air pollution in Slovenia caused by SO₂, as stated in the Decree on Sulphur Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxides, Particulate Matter and Lead in Ambient Air (OJ RS No 52/02) and the EU Directive (1999/30/EC). Legislation provides that average 24-hour concentration of SO₂ may exceed the value 125 μg/m³ not more than three times per calendar year, and average 1-hour concentration of SO₂ may exceed the permissible 1-hour value not more than 24 times per calendar year. Since, according to the Decree, the permissible 1-hour value will reach the target limit value 350 μg/m³ in 2005, the indicator also shows the exceedances of this target limit value for the purposes of comparison with the preceding years. The target is to ensure that the requirements of this Decree are fulfilled. Reduction of air pollution due to SO₂ is also a target of the National Environmental Action Programme.

Comment

The figures clearly demonstrate that Slovenia has in some urban areas achieved the required standards. A number of individual and smaller combustion plants fuelled with coal was transferred to central power plant heating and cleaner fuels. The situation is improving in Europe as well. Exception in Slovenia is Šoštanj, where the monitoring site is influenced by emissions from the thermal power plant. The established hourly and daily limit values are exceeded too frequently, but the problem is being resolved with desulphurisation units having been installed. There are also occasional exceedances of limit values in the Zasavje urban areas, which have an unfavourable geographical position, especially in winter period when thermal inversions occur and are, in addition to local emission sources, also affected by the influence of emissions from the Trbovlje Thermal Power Plant. Particularly unfavourable conditioned occured in December 2004, when there was a long period of very strong thermal inversions.

Methodology

The data for Slovenia are taken from the National authomatic measurement air quality network database (ANAS) maintained by the Monitoring Office (Environmental Agency of the Republic of Slovenia) and Šoštanj Thermal Power Plant measurement database provided by the Electroinstitute Milan Vidmar, Ljubljana. The database is updated monthly; the data are available in their entirety upon the completion of final annual review.

Information on the ANAS automatic network monitoring sites:
Ljubljana had two monitoring sites until 2001 – Figovec and Bežigrad. By the end of that same year, it was put out of operation, since the Bežigrad monitoring site was considered representative enough for determining the impact on health of the majority of Ljubljana’s population. The monitoring site in Maribor is located directly at the carriageway in the city centre, near an intersection; therefore the air samples show a higher level of traffic-related pollution. Since traffic is not the source of SO₂, the monitoring site is also representative for a wider urban area. In Celje, measurements are taken in the hospital complex located just outside the city centre. The monitoring site is representative for a wider urban area. Monitoring site in Nova Gorica is placed on the edge of the city. The Trbovlje and Zagorje monitoring sites are set up at roadside locations in the city centres. The Hrastnik monitoring site, however, is not directly affected by the influence of traffic-related emissions. All three monitoring sites are representative of the above mentioned urban areas. The Rakičan by Murska Sobota monitoring site is representative for rural area in the vicinity of a town.

Information on the Šoštanj Thermal Power Plant automatic network monitoring sites:
The Šoštanj monitoring site is located east of the city and in the event of south-western winds is exposed to the influence of emissions from lower stacks of the Šoštanj Thermal Power Plant. The measured SO₂, concentrations are not representative for the Šoštanj urban area. The monitoring sites at Velenje and Topolšica are representative for the Velenje urban area and Topolšica with close surroundings.