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IIASA's interdisciplinary research develops a systems perspective that encompasses a variety of aspects that are relevant for environmentally and economically effective pollution control strategies.
IIASA's modelling tool, i.e., its GAINS (Greenhouse gas - Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies) model, brings together scientific understanding and best available data on the full chain of pollution from the drivers to health and environmental impacts.
IIASA's GAINS model combines information on
- economic development that determines current and future levels of anthropogenic activities,
- statistics and future projections on the levels of emission generating activities (e.g., energy use, industrial production, agricultural activities, etc.),
- emission characteristics of the various activities,
- measures that are available to reduce emissions from all sources,
- the costs of such measures,
- the chemical conversion and transport of emissions in the atmosphere,
- the impacts of pollution to human health, vegetation and ecosystems.
With such a systems perspective, IIASA's tools enable a holistic assessment of the costs and environmental benefits of alternative emission control strategies. In particular, its optimization approach facilitates the design of portfolios of measures (to be taken in different sectors, for different pollutants and in different regions) that achieve user-defined environmental objectives at least cost. |
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Benefits from a systems approach |
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Such a systems perspective is particularly relevant for acting on both fronts against climate change. As many measures to reduce one type of pollution have (positive or negative) impacts on the other, there exist considerable co-benefits as well as potential trade-offs.
For example, measures that aim to reduce fossil fuel combustion will have ancillary benefits for regional air pollutants; improving structural measures in agriculture can reduce both regional air pollution and climage change; the abatement of CH4, which is both an ozone precursor and a greenhouse gas, has synergistic effects, and some cheap abatement measures may be highly cost-effective. In contrast, enhanced use of diesel cars would reduce CO2 emissions, while it would exacarbarate health effects from fine particulate matter unless efficient particle filters are applied.
IIASA's analysis provides a comprehensive framework to systematically address such interactions, and to search for strategies that maximize synergies for multiple benefits. |
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About the program