A METHODOLOGY FOR THE ECONOMIC-ASSESSMENT OF MATERIAL DAMAGE CAUSED BY SO2 AND NOX EMISSIONS IN EUROPE

Damage to materials causes high economic losses in Europe. A large par t of this damage can be attributed to the emissions caused by the ener gy and the transport sector. In the paper, the procedure for the econo mic assessment of material damages caused by SO2 and NOx emissions in Europe is described. Model and data requirements are outlined, and gap s and uncertainties of the quantification are discussed. Two types of results are presented: First, the marginal (additional) costs of damag e to materials caused by an additional power plant are assessed. The a nalysis covers plants with different technologies. Results for the fos sil power plants are in the range of 0.0062 to 0.12 mECU/kWh. In addit ion, the total economic material damage due to the present air polluti on was assessed. It is in the range of 2.9 to 5.3 x 10(9) ECU/year. Ho wever, the analysis has many .uncertainties. Most noteworthy are the m aterial inventories and partially the damage functions and input data.