Air Pollution Reduction Analysis

The average adult breathes over 3 ,000 gallons of air every day . Children breathe even more air per pound of body weight and are more susceptible to air pollution . The elderly are also more sensitive to air pollution because they often have heart or lung disease (Schmidt 2000 . Air pollution threatens the health of human beings and other living things on our planet . While often invisible , pollutants in the air create smog and acid rain , cause cancer or other serious health effects , diminish the protective ozone layer in the upper atmosphere , and contribute

to the potential for world climate change (Greenpeace UK

Air pollution is the contamination of air by the discharge of harmful substances . Air pollution can cause health problems including burning eyes and nose , itchy irritated throat , and breathing problems . Some chemicals found in polluted air can cause cancer , birth defects , brain and nerve damage , and long-term injury to the lungs and breathing passages in certain circumstances . Above certain concentrations and durations , certain air pollutants are extremely dangerous and can cause severe injury or death (Easa 1998

In response to this growing concern , many governments all over the world have conducted studies and implemented their own measures to reduce the level of atmospheric pollution (Walsh 2004 . One of the main plans is to shift from gasoline powered vehicles and use alternative-fuel vehicles instead

The first type of alternative-fuel vehicles are the Electric vehicles which do not burn gasoline in an engine . They use electricity stored on the car in batteries . Sometimes , 12 or 24 batteries , or more , are needed to power the car . Just like a remote-controlled , model electric car , EVs have an electric motor that turns the wheels and a battery to run that motor . Most EVs today , however , can only go about 100 miles before you need to plug them in and recharge their batteries (Faiz 1996 . They are not like the Energizer Bunny (tm ) that keeps on going , and going , and going . But , 50 to 100 miles is plenty for most people who only drive a short distance to and from work , to and from school , or to do some . Some EVs with special batteries can go a longer distance . Economically speaking , Electric vehicles are more expensive to buy than gasoline cars , but when more and more EVs are made , the price of EVs should drop to about the same as gasoline cars (Easa 1998

Another type of alternative-fuel vehicle is the natural gas powered vehicle . There are basically two (2 ) types of natural gas vehicles , the compressed natural gas (CNG ) which is natural gas compressed into high-pressure fuel cylinders to power a car or truck and liquefied natural gas (LNG ) which is made by refrigerating natural gas to condense it into a liquid (Faiz 1996 . The liquid form is much denser than natural gas or CNG . It has much more energy for the amount of space it takes up . So , much more energy can be stored in the same amount of space on a...