Los recursos y las capacidades de la empresa

Kuwait has enjoyed a very rapid growth in it socioeconomic and infrastructure development in the forty years. The construction of freeways and other accesses has contributed immensely to the development of the socio-economic sectors in Kuwait (Al-Salem and Khan, 2010). The overwhelming and increasing population of over three million relative to its land mass, and the number of vehicle fleet on the roads, Kuwait City is experiencing increasing volumes of traffic. Hence, the outdoor air is becoming increasingly polluted. The air quality is becoming a major air pollution issue and concern for the people living in Kuwait City. Given that Kuwait City is by far dependent on automobiles for travel. The smoke/sooth caused by traffic congestion during rush hours (within city limits and along major highways) contribute mainly to the CO, NOx and VOCs levels in the air. According to Al-Salem and Khan (2010) there is an average of 611 to 2792 vehicles/hr. on the roads in Kuwait City. Also, Al-Salem and Khan (2010) showed that; activities on the city harbor, oil fields, power stations, refineries, also contribute to the traffic-related airborne pollutants and pollution load in Kuwait City. Although, the latter contribute the least to the overall air pollution. Kuwait has three major refineries located on the south and called the ‘refineries belt’. Along that belt are other industrial activities such as petrochemical processing facilities, conversion industries, and fossil fuel power plants on the north. These activities are the main sources of SO2 and NOx pollutants in the city of Kuwait. In addition, H2S and NH3 pollutants are generally emitted by old landfills, oil fields, and other agricultural activities that take place within the vicinity of the city (Al-Salem and Khan, 2010).

Al-Salem and Khan (2010) documents the work of Al-Mutairi and Koushki (2009). Al- Mutairi and Koushki (2009) analyzed 7 years of data from 1998 to 2004 of three outdoor air monitoring stations of KEPA. Results showed that the concentration levels of gases such as CH4, CO, NOx, O3, SO2, and TS, had increased over the same period, with NOx and SO2 exceeding the permitted standards. Pollution from Traffic, hitherto, was the main source of ambient air pollution in Kuwait City. However, in recent years, oil refineries, power plants, industrial activities, etc. contributes the most to the ambient air pollution in both the urban and rural areas. Furthermore, there is no literature available that has reviewed air pollution trends or sources in the city of Kuwait.

Figure 3.7: Possible local sources of pollutants to Kuwait City (Source: Al-Awadhi, 2014).

3.5.1 Major Pollution Sources and Activities within the State of Kuwait.

The geographic characteristics of Kuwait and the human activities in Kuwait make it susceptible to air pollution. Furthermore, the major contributors to the ambient air pollution load are; the petrochemical and conversion factories, the harbor activities from the north, and traffic-related emissions from the south (Al-Salem and Khan, 2010). Majority of the CO,

NOx and VOCs levels in the ambient air of the city are mainly contributed by traffic congestion which reach peak levels during rush hours. Major roads such as King Abdulaziz (Fahaheel), 5th and 6th ring road, are where high levels emissions are seen because of the heavy traffic in the area. Al-Salem and Khan (2010) report that there are 100 registered cars to 33 residents in Kuwait. In other words, every resident has three cars. This astounding number contribute to the level of pollutant that Kuwait City contends with in its ambient air. Kuwait Environment Public Authority (KEPA) must take up the mantle of studies of how the level of pollution in the ambient air affect Indoor Air Quality in residential and well commercial areas in Kuwait City.

3.5.2 Primary Pollutants Monitoring.

compared to its neighbors, Kuwait suffers more from pollutant effects (Al-Salem and Khan, 2010). KEPA’s strategically located ambient air monitoring stations take these readings. However, it has been argued that the locations of the monitoring stations are not strategic after all and need to be redistributed within the city, in residential areas to measure actual impact of a number of primary pollutants such as CO2. Abdul-Wahab (2009) compared the concentration of primary pollutants in residential areas of Kuwait and that of Oman, in terms of air pollutants and their loads. His result showed higher levels of primary pollutants in Kuwait urban residential areas than Oman’s suburban industrial area. This levels are pretty high for residential areas. The results also showed that both non-methane hydrocarbons NMHC, NO2, and CO, peaked three times daily which was also linked to the traffic loads on the roads, and that these numbers have exceeded the Kuwait standards for residential areas (Al-Salem and Khan, 2010).

3.5.3 Secondary Pollutants.

According to Al-Salem and Khan (2010), the secondary pollutant in the ambient air that is of major concern is ground level ozone (O3). The high ambient temperatures and high emissions some primary pollutants contribute to ozone formation, with power plants, cars, and diesel operated machinery or vehicles, as major contributors of secondary pollutants. Therefore, the priority is to control ozone formation by controlling the emission of precursor gases i.e. NOx and VOCs (Al-Salem and Khan, 2010). Hence reducing the number of cars on the roads, and adopting alternative, green power generation strategies is crucial to reducing the ozone levels and formations (Al-Salem and Khan, 2010).

3.5.4 Health Impact.

Brunekreef and Holgate (2002) state that both primary and secondary pollutants have: a health impact on human health, negatively affect; plant life, crop yield, and the eco-system (Al-Salem and Khan, 2010). Pollutants such as tropospheric O3 found in urban regions have detrimental impacts on human health (Karandinos and Saitanis, 2005; sited in (Al-Salem and Khan, 2010).

Research is clear on the link between air pollution and the number of health effects on the Kuwaiti population of different ages and groups in the unban area of Kuwait (Beinstein et al. 2004). Studies have shown that between August-October 1991, 40% of the patients in Kuwait hospitals suffered a respiratory related problem, even after discounting the first Gulf War and oil fields fires effects. Al-Ghawaby et al (1994) drew a strong correlation between specific pollutant and symptoms to respiratory diseases.