Air pollution - Drivers and pressures (Iceland)

Key drivers  

Road traffic is the main source of local air pollution in urban areas in Iceland. Consequently NOx and PM are the main pollutants in urban areas.

Key Pressures

Use of studded tyres has been widespread and, for example, in the year 2001, 55 % of particulate matter in Reykjavík on polluted days was due to the wear of asphalt (1).

Figure 1. Temporal trend in emissions of SO₂ (in Gg) by sector 1990-2008. Emission from geothermal energy is on the form of H₂S but is calculated as SO₂. (2)

Figure 2. Temporal trend in emissions of NOx ( in Gg) by sector 1990‑2008 (2).

Figure 3. Temporal trend in emissions of NMVOC (non-methane volatile organic compounds) (in Gg) by sector 1990-2008 (2).

References

(1) Method for determining the composition of airborn particle pollution. Composition of particle air pollution in Reykjavik. Report in English. http://english.ust.is/media/skyrslur2003/uppruni_svifryks_eng.pdf

(2) Emissions of greenhouse gases in Iceland from 1990 to 2008. National Inventory Report 2010. Report in English. http://www.ust.is/media/fraedsluefni/ICELAND_NIR_2010.pdf