How can Airmen ensure air quality? Published July 10, 2015 By Mike Jago 14th Civil Engineer Squadron COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- A human can go without food for about three weeks; and without water for about three days. What about air? Humans can only go without air for three minutes. While invisible to the naked eye, it can be deduced that air is the most important factor to life, thus clean air is critical to health. Air is composed of 20.95 percent oxygen, and 78.08 percent nitrogen, which leaves 0.97 percent for water, CO2, argon and more. In this small margin is a dose of air pollution. Worldwide the biggest impacts on air quality are from energy generation, cooking fires, manufacturing, transportation and forest fires. They all contribute to lowing air quality worldwide. Our health is negatively impacted by dust from all types of mechanical combustion. We are not adapted to surviving with micro-particles in our lungs and our bodies have no methods to cope with them. In countries where cook fires are used daily, families are over exposed to the micro particles, carbon monoxide and any chemicals on the wood, grass or dung being burned. The problem is showing up as fuel shortages from using inefficient burning techniques and asthma symptoms in young children as the fires are generally not well vented. Here on Columbus Air Force Base, our problems are our own making too. Our daily commute in a fuel using vehicle has a major contribution to poor air quality. Other concerns in our light industrial area are asphalt paving, jet and diesel engine testing, fuel transfer and storage, pesticides and herbicides, light manufacturing, painting, landfills, pesticide application, use of refrigerants, vehicles, aircraft, and electricity use. Essentially, air pollution comes from our homes, transportation, work and play. So what can be done to support cleaner air? Think thrift, the easiest thing to do is to just not use energy when you really don't need to since energy use is the major cause of air pollution we personally control. This means turning off lights and computers, and unplugging chargers when they are not in use. Use cold water to wash clothes and avoid running the water heater. Maybe consider upgrading the old heater to a demand heater so it costs less to run. Use natural light whenever possible and replacing old style bulbs with CFL & LED technology to cut use 78 to 93 percent; plus they save air conditioning cost as every watt of energy used in a home takes 1.3 watts of energy to cool. Computers, TV's and other devices warm to the touch are raising your air-conditioning cost too. Curtains and shades in windows are very important for saving energy. We can't control what we don't own, but be a watchdog and report industrial fumes, smells, smoke and leaks. Often these are maintenance issues and can be fixed. Many farmers are changing operations too. Big chicken houses are carefully managed to avoid costs and keep smells to a minimum. Locally owned stores are your "neighbors" and they don't want to cause problems or get complaints. Help them to understand and manage dust, ammonia, carcasses, and manure to not cause emissions. On base, we paint aircraft on a regular basis. There is no smell, dust, or other evidence of the activity because the air is filtered at considerable cost to catch all the vapors and dust. The emergency generators associated with many buildings do not smoke when then run, are reasonably quiet, and use fuel much more efficiently than the older types. These are operational cost savings that also improve air quality. Nature will clean itself of most pollutants given time, but the problem is we are making pollution faster than the dust can settle or plants can absorb carbon. The issue is balance, and we must ensure nature can handle it if we want to keep breathing clean air and have safe water. On a corporate level the Air Force goal for energy reduction is to reduce energy intensity by a total of 37.5 percent by 2020 with a 2003 baseline. This is a tricky problem because energy costs have risen faster than our use has fallen. The Air Force spends over $9 billion annually on electricity and fuel costs; thus the importance of energy conservation increases dramatically when the cost of fuel rises even by a small amount. By chasing energy reduction, the secondary effect is better air quality. Vehicles should get regular maintenance to ensure it becomes a more fuel-efficient car. That means it will be less expensive to run. Carpool with a co-worker, or better yet, walk or bike. Walking and biking not only saves money on fuel, but also has obvious health benefits. The Air Force is making strides to reduce its energy use, burn cleaner fuels, and use solar and wind energy all to reduce the energy footprint and energy dependence of the service. It also benefits us all by keeping the air cleaner. To learn more see the U.S. Air Force Strategic Plan, which may be found at safie.hq.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-130325-124.pdf. The plan includes priorities to improve resiliency to energy costs, reduce demand for energy through conservation, assure supply of fuel and energy by using renewable and local sources, and foster an energy aware culture. By supporting Air Force energy reduction goals, Airmen can improve air quality and the health of everyone, as well as save money for our future.
