Volatile Organic Compound | VOC | VolatileOrganicCompound.com

Volatile Organic Compound
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Volatile Organic Compound - VOC

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The Renewable Energy Institute

What is a Volatile Organic Compound?

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects. Concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors (up to ten times higher) than outdoors.

Where do Volatile Organic Compounds Come From?

Volatile Organic Compounds are emitted by a wide array of products numbering in the thousands. Examples include: paints and lacquers, paint strippers, cleaning supplies, pesticides, building materials and furnishings, office equipment such as copiers and printers, correction fluids and carbonless copy paper, graphics and craft materials including glues and adhesives, permanent markers, and photographic solutions. VOCs are found in everything from paints and coatings to cleaning fluids.

Key signs or symptoms associated with exposure to VOCs include conjunctival irritation, nose and throat discomfort, headache, allergic skin reaction, dyspnea, declines in serum cholinesterase levels, nausea, emesis, epistaxis, fatigue, dizziness.

What are the Health and Environmental Implications from Volatile Organic Compounds?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is very concerned over the release of VOCs into our environment as are each of the state's air quality boards across the United States. VOCs are significant contributing factor to the production of ozone, a major air pollutant in large metropolitan cities, which are proven to be a public health hazard.

Ozone protects the earth and the environment when it is located in the upper atmosphere by reflecting the sun's ultraviolet rays. However, when ozone is produced and found at ground-level, it then becomes a major pollutant and causes harm to all life forms.

According the the EPA, ozone is a highly reactive gas that "negatively affects the normal function of the lung in many healthy humans." EPA's studies show that breathing air with ozone concentrations above air quality standards aggravates symptoms of people with pulmonary diseases and seems to increase rates of asthma attacks.

Prolonged exposure to ozone causes permanent damage to lung tissue and interferes with the functioning of the immune system. Ozone has been difficult to control because it is not emitted into the air, but formed in the atmosphere through a photochemical process. VOCs play a large role in the photochemical process and production of ozone as they react in the air with nitrogen oxides and sunlight to form ozone. Because of this, the EPA has determined that controlling VOCs is an effective method for minimizing ozone levels.

How We Assist Our Customers Turn an Environmental Problem and Expenses Into Profits

We recover Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and turn the "waste to fuel" for use by the company generating the VOCs with one of our technologies, including cogeneration. Instead of an expense cost for incinerating the "waste" in a thermal oxidizer, we create clean energy from the recovered VOCs, and decrease the facility's energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

Our VOC Control technology permits our client companies to meet even the most stringent European environmental laws and legislation. These ever- increasingly greater environmental laws to control VOCs in Europe and the U.S. has caused companies to become tougher on measuring and controlling volatile organic compounds. Our VOC Control solutions exceed all environmental requirements and reduce your energy and environmental expenses and costs, creating profits for your company from what was an expense.

What Are Hazardous Air Pollutants?

Hazardous Air Pollutants or "HAPs" are generally defined as those pollutants that are known or suspected to cause serious health problems. Section 112(b) of the Clean Air Act currently identifies a list of 188 pollutants as HAPs. EPA's ATW Web site presents more information on HAPs, their effects, and EPA's programs to reduce HAPs.

What Sources Emit Hazardous Air Pollutants?

Hazardous Air Pollutants are emitted by a variety of source categories that include stationary major and area sources, other stationary sources, and mobile sources. Major and area source categories are defined in Section 112 of the Clean Air Act.

Major sources are large stationary sources that emit more than 10 tons per year of any listed HAP or a combination of listed HAPs of 25 tons per year or more. The NTI includes facility data for major sources. Examples of major sources include electric utility plants, chemical plants, steel mills, oil refineries, and hazardous waste incinerators. These sources may release air toxics from equipment leaks, when materials are transferred from one location to another, or during discharge through emissions stacks or vents.

Area sources are smaller stationary sources that emit less than 10 tons per year of a single HAP or less than 25 tons per year of a combination of air toxics. The NTI includes facility data for some area sources and aggregated emission estimates at the county level for the remaining area sources. Area sources are regulated under toxics provisions in the Clean Air Act. Examples of area sources include neighborhood dry cleaners and gas stations. Though emissions from individual area sources are often relatively small, collectively their emissions can be of concern particularly where large numbers of sources are located in heavily populated areas.

Other stationary sources are sources that may be more appropriately addressed by other programs rather than through regulations developed under certain air toxics provisions (sections 112 or 129) in the Clean Air Act. Examples of other stationary sources include wildfires and prescribed burning whose emissions are being addressed through the burning policy agreed to by EPA and USDA.

Mobile source categories include on-road vehicles, non-road 2- and 4- stroke and diesel engines, off road vehicles, aircraft, locomotives, and commercial marine vessels.

This Means that 65% of America's Energy Supplies are Now Imported from Suppliers from Foreign Countries.

Simply put, about 65% of the gasoline in your car's gas tank, comes from a foreign country.

EVERY day, the U.S. must IMPORT over 13 million bbls of oil from foreign countries and foreign suppliers to meet demand.

At $80/barrel of oil, this also means that $1,040,000,000.00 American Dollars leave our country, EVERY DAY, to foreign countries/suppliers of our fossil fuels, to pay for the energy we need.

That's $1 Billion EVERY day leaving our economy, and going to support a foreign country's economy.

Talk about our foreign trade deficit..... nearly $400 Billion each year, leaves our country to pay for our oil addiction and the energy we need. To be exact, that's $379,600,000,000.00 American Dollars.

Millions of new and sustainable American jobs would be created here at home, if we would end our addiction to foreign fossil fuels, and quickly transition to an economy based on renewable energy and renewable fuels, produced here in the U.S.A.

According to Monty Goodell, Founder and Chairman of the Renewable Energy Institute, "our increased dependence and reliance on foreign energy supplies represents a Clear and Present Danger to our national security, our economy, and the lives and livelihood of every American. Energy - including the energy we use from imported fossil fuels, is the very "lifeblood" of the American economy as it is for every industrialized country. An economy dies without it's lifeblood of energy. This Clear and Present Danger we face is far more serious than the problems related to greenhouse gas emissions. And while greenhouse gas emissions are very serious issue, in the long-term, pales in comparison to America's vital national security interests and America's economic stability in the short term. For this reason alone, America needs to transition away from its addiction to foreign energy supplies. And America's abundant renewable energy resources such as the energy we receive from the sun, and renewable energy technologies such as concentrated solar power (CSP) plants - can supply 100% of America's power requirements with a concentrating solar power plant measuring 75 miles by 75 miles, located in the Southwest U.S. By generating America's power from concentrating solar power plants, America resolves its' short-term Clear and Present Danger as it relates to importing its energy from foreign countries, and the long-term problems relating to greenhouse gas emissions."

Continuing, Mr. Goodell states that "too many Americans have forgotten what happened to us in 1973, when the Arabs and OPEC brought the United States economy to a screeching halt during the OPEC Oil Embargo. This happened because they (mainly the country of Saudi Arabia) disagreed with our foreign policy and is the reason why they "turned off the tap" of our need for their oil supplies. When Saudi Arabia and OPEC stopped the vital flow of oil to our country in 1973, they caused an "oil shock" that severely and negatively impacted our economy.

Mr. Goodell's question for us to ponder is, "do these countries who sell us 60% of our daily energy requirements, like us and our foreign policy, or might they leverage our addiction to their fossil fuels, and turn off the tap to make us adjust or revise our foreign policy?? Like any addict, America's foreign policy may be held hostage to its addiction, and in this case, our addiction to foreign oil, may over-ride our national interests."

Have American's forgotten the gas shortages and long lines at
their gas stations to get gas during the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973?

"Apparently so." Mr. Goodell states that "in 1973, America was 'addicted' and 'over the barrel' of foreign oil to the amount of 40%. Forty percent of our energy 'needs' in 1973 came from countries - many of which didn't like us then, and I'm afraid, many of them still don't. The difference between 1973 and today - is that today we receive 50% MORE foreign oil now than we did in 1973. And now we know about the problems relating to greenhouse gas emissions that we didn't know then. America needs to change course, and change course now, in terms of its' energy supplies and how we keep America's economy strong, without the threat of being held hostage to a middle-east tyrant or regime, that could once again, turn on us, and turn off our supply of foreign oil."

" Sadly," Monty Goodell continues, " most Americans have forgotten the long lines of people waiting in their cars - lined up and waiting for gasoline at their nearby gas station, with lines that were many blocks long. And, after waiting 4-5 hours, many even waiting overnight in many places, to finally take their turn to fill up their car with gasoline, only to find that the gas station had run out of gas."

"Let me Repeat.... That was 1973 when we imported 40% of our daily energy requirements in the form of crude oil from overseas, and from foreign countries - and many of these from countries that don't like us.

Today, over 35 years later, America has yet to learn the lesson. We cannot continue our reliance on energy from foreign countries that supply us with 60% of the crude oil that our refineries use as a feedstock for producing gasoline and diesel fuel for our cars and trucks comes from overseas.

America is "over the barrel" and it's not our barrel, but the barrels of oil that we are addicted by and owned by other countries. Why have we not learned the lessons we needed to learn in 1973 when we were cut-off from the vital energy supplies we need?

Countries like China, are growing rapidly, and have an insatiable need for crude oil. China, with their booming economy, is increasingly growing in its clout and control over international supplies of crude oil - whether they do this through their ability to buy as much oil as they need on a daily basis, or whether they simply but American drilling rigs, technology, and explore and produce oil and gas from their own fields. China, is buying large amounts of oil for their country, and causing upward pricing on declining supplies. What happens if Russia, with all of their oil and natural gas, along with China and Venezuela, with or without the help of OPEC, decided to NOT sell oil to us????

America's reliance for 60% of our energy "needs" coming from foreign suppliers is un-acceptable.

The "driver" to get America to begin reducing and eliminating fossil fuel use should be our nation's national security and the welfare and safety of its citizens. And this can all begin with developing and investing in our own renewable energy resources and renewable energy technologies, let's start by putting solar on every rooftop that has a clear and unobstructed view of the Southern sky. See www.RooftopPV.com or www.DistributedPV.com for more information. Let's create incentives begin with adopting a national "Feed In Tariff" as Germany did in 1990.

The Renewable Energy Institute is "Changing The Way The World Makes and Uses Energy by Providing Research & Development, Funding and Resources That Create Pollution Free Power, Carbon Free Energy & Renewable Energy Technologies."

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