STB-2.G—Explain how air pollutants can be reduced at the source

Explain how air pollutants can be reduced at the source.

• Methods to reduce air pollutants include regulatory practices, conservation practices, and alternative fuels.
• A vapor recovery nozzle is an air pollution control device on a gasoline pump that prevents fumes from escaping into the atmosphere when fueling a motor vehicle.
• A catalytic converter is an air pollution control device for internal combustion engines that converts pollutants (CO, NOx, and hydrocarbons) in exhaust into less harmful molecules (CO₂, N₂, O₂, and H₂O).
• Wet and dry scrubbers are air pollution control devices that remove particulates and/or gases from industrial exhaust streams.
• Methods to reduce air pollution from coal-burning power plants include scrubbers and electrostatic precipitators.
• Enduring understanding STB-2: Human activities have physical, chemical, and biological consequences for the atmosphere.
• Required environmental legislation for the course, as it relates to solutions to environmental problems: Clean Air Act; Clean Water Act; Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA); Montreal Protocol; Kyoto Protocol; Endangered Species Act; Safe Drinking Water Act (SWDA); Delaney Clause of Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).