The Relation between Energy Consumption in Small Urban Workshops and their Environmental Pollution Emissions: a case study from Qom city

摘要

Background: One of the major environmental impacts of energy use is air pollutant emissions such as greenhouse gases. The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between energy consumption in small urban businesses and their air pollution in small urban businesses in the city of Qom in 2015. Methods: In the first step, by referring to Qom chamber of trade, a list of all urban jobs from 67 trade :::union:::s was prepared and then, a total of 223 workshops were selected randomly and visited. Means consumption of electricity and gas were calculated by referring to the related gas and electricity offices in Qom. The amount of pollutants produced from energy consumption was calculated by using the software available at the Abraxas Energy website. Results: The results showed that the average monthly consumption of 9098.86 kwh and 41669.35 cubic meters of gas in the small businesses of Qom, on average produced 50.995 of carbon dioxide, 78.963 kg of lead compounds, 52.39 kg nitrogen compounds, 8.403 kg carbon monoxide, 5.02 kg volatile organic compounds, 1.996 kg nitrogen oxides, 1.781 kg mercury compounds and less than 1 kg per month particulate matter and SO 2 . Conclusion: Any attempt for reducing energy consumption, in addition to its economic benefits, can be a basic measure to reduce environmental pollutants. Implementation of proper management plans for reducing electricity and gas consumption is a major step in this direction.