New RAINS-ASIA 2 CD-ROM available now!

Many Asian countries have experienced rapid economic growth during recent years and this trend is expected to continue. The economic growth is accompanied by increasing energy demand, with coal as the dominant energy source. A significant increase in emissions of various air pollutants is therefore foreseen.

After completion of Phase 2 of model development it is now possible to assess present and future ambient SO2 concentrations for their relevance to human health, as well as to evaluate sulfur deposition, which damages plants and aquatic ecosystems. The new optimization tool enables users to identify the emission control strategies that meet environmental targets at least costs.

RAINS-Asia now includes the following key features:

• Estimates of historic and future (1990-2020) sulfur emissions in Asia for a range of economic development scenarios
• Coverage of 24 countries in Southeast Asia (from Pakistan over India and China to Japan and from Mongolia to Indonesia)
• Distinction of more than 100 administrative regions and 400 large point sources
• Assessment of the cost-effectiveness of emission control measures
• Cost estimates of emission control strategies
• Assessment of the atmospheric dispersion of SO2 emissions
• Impacts of emission control measures on regional sulfur deposition and concentration levels
• Optimization tool to identify least-cost emission control measures
• On-line help system

RAINS-Asia (Version 7.5) is implemented as a user-friendly, interactive software package for Windows95/98/NT/2000 operating systems.

The development of the RAINS-Asia model was made possible by funding provided by the government of the Japan through the World Bank and by the Asian Development Bank, and as a result of collaboration between a number of scientific institutions in Asia and in the West.

Click here for more information on: