Integrated analysis for acid rain in Asia: Policy implications and resultsof RAINS-ASIA model

Fossil fuels account for about 80% of energy consumption in Asia. Because o f its abundance and easy recoverability, especially in India and China, coa l will remain the fuel of choice in the foreseeable future. If current tren ds continue, sulfur dioxide emissions from Asia may soon equal the emission s from North America and Europe combined. These trends portend a variety of local, regional, and global environmental impacts. Acid rain damages human health, ecosystems, and built surfaces. Many ecosystems will be unable to absorb these increased acidic depositions, leading to irreversible ecosyste m damage with far-reaching implications for health, forestry, agriculture, fisheries, and tourism. RAINS-ASIA is a scenario-generating tool used to es timate the extent of damages caused by acid rain and to review the costs an d impacts of alternatives to provide a look into the future. Its use extend s from national-, regional-, and city-scale evaluation and inputs for cost- effective options analyses, to international negotiations on transboundary pollution.