Impact Assessment on Environment from Transboundary Air Pollution in Italy carried out by a multi-pollutant integrated assessment model

The effects of transboundary Air Pollution, at continental level in Europe, are regularly analysed by Integrated Assessment Modelling, specifically by the RAINS_Europe model, developed by IIASA (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Austria). These analyses are carried out both in the UN-ECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) context, in relation to the Gothenburg Protocol of the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP), and within the EU framework, in support to the definition of the Community Environmental policies. The RAINS_Italy (MINNI Project), has been developed, in co-operation with IIASA, to perform multi-pollutant multi-effect analyses, at national level. In particular, in this paper the impact on the environment deriving from the multi-pollutant anthropogenic activities, in terms of damage on ecosystems caused by acidification and eutrophycation (excess of nutrient Nitrogen in the soil), are analysed by the RAINS_Italy Model, considering 2 different scenarios. The 1(st) scenario is assuming all the pollutant abatement measures, as they are planned in the Current Legislation (CLE scenario) at national and EU level, are implemented. The second scenario, assumes the full implementation (at 100%) of the most effective technical abatement measures, at the target year 2020, to estimate the Maximum Technical Feasible Reduction (MTFR scenario), in the impact on the ecosystems. Then, comparisons are made between the 2 scenarios, in terms of effects and implemented technologies. The results show how more than 50% of the ecosystems remain unprotected from eutrophycation, in some areas in the North of Italy, namely the Po Valley, and in some west cost areas in Central Italy, even in the best case of the MTFR (Maximum Technical Feasible Reduction) scenario, at 2020.