An Overview of Biomass Burning Impacts on Athens Air Quality and Analysis of Its Increasing Significance

Abstract

The economic crisis and its impacts on air quality in Greek cities showed up with two faces. On one hand, lower vehicles traffic and shrinkage of industrial activities led to acceleration of pollutants decrease and on the other hand the massive shift of cities’ inhabitants to wood burning for heating purposes led to intense smog events. An overview of the meteorological conditions that favor the formulation of smog and the main characteristic of this type of pollution is presented in this work. In addition, we analysed CO measurements from three sites of the ministerial-regulatory monitoring network (EDPAR network, period 2000–2015, Athens, Greece) in an attempt to evaluate diachronically (since 2000s) the biomass burning increasing impact on Athens’ air quality. Based on integral calculations of the late evening CO build-up it is shown that while summer and winter morning peaks are gradually decreasing over the years, the late evening peaks are increasing, demonstrating the prevailing role of biomass combustion for domestic heating since 2012, over fossil fuel use in central heating systems and vehicles.