Modelling Photochemical Air Pollutants from Industrial and Biogenic Emissions in Terrace-Kitimat
Wednesday January 13, 2016 12:00pm-1:00pm
The Old Church - on the corner of First Avenue and King St, Smithers, BC. - Smithers, BC
Ben Weinstein completed a BSc. in Atmospheric Science at UBC in 2003, and shortly thereafter moved to Smithers to work for BC Environment on air quality-related projects. In 2005 he became the air quality meteorologist for Skeena Region and managed all air quality-related files in NW BC. In 2013 he took a 2-year leave to pursue a MSc. in Atmospheric Science at UBC. This was completed last December and Ben is now back working with Environment on LNG and oil & gas-related projects. Ben’s work experience includes: air quality modelling, air quality effects assessments, air quality and meteorological monitoring network design, air quality and weather forecasting, airshed planning and policy development.
In and around Kitimat there is the potential for the construction of numerous liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities. The process of cooling methane from a gas to a liquid for overseas export requires tremendous power; proponents are currently proposing to drive the refrigeration process by burning natural gas in turbines. High temperature combustion leads to emissions of nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). These pollutants can interact with naturally occurring biogenic emissions (volatile organic compounds) to form a different pollutant, ground level ozone (O3). In this seminar, Weinstein will explore his research into the likelihood of O3 production in the Terrace - Kitimat Valley, assuming that all proposed LNG facilities are constructed.
For more information about our seminar series, please visit: http://bvcentre.ca/events/category/seminar_series
