Accepted Manuscript

Environmental impact and damage categories caused by air pollution

emissions from mining and quarrying sectors of European countries

Agata Fugiel, Dorota Burchart-Korol, Krystyna Czaplicka-Kolarz, Adam Smoliski

PII: S0959-6526(16)32200-4
DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.12.136
Reference: JCLP 8711

To appear in: Journal of Cleaner Production

Received Date: 11 September 2015

Revised Date: 14 November 2016
Accepted Date: 23 December 2016

Please cite this article as: Fugiel A, Burchart-Korol D, Czaplicka-Kolarz K, Smoliski A,

Environmental impact and damage categories caused by air pollution emissions from
mining and quarrying sectors of European countries, Journal of Cleaner Production (2017),
doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.12.136.

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 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
1 Environmental impact and damage categories caused by air pollution emissions from
2 mining and quarrying sectors of European countries
3
a a b a
4 Agata Fugiel *, Dorota Burchart-Korol , Krystyna Czaplicka-Kolarz , Adam Smoliski
5
a
6 Central Mining Institute, Department of Energy Saving and Air Protection, Pl. Gwarkow 1,
7 40-166 Katowice, Poland
b
8 Central Mining Institute, Pl. Gwarkow 1, 40-166 Katowice, Poland
9 *corresponding author e-mail: afugiel@gig.eu, tel. 48-32-2592779 fax +48-32-2592267
10
11 Abstract
12 The aim of this article is to perform an environmental impact assessment of the air
13 pollution emissions from the mining and quarrying sectors of European countries by applying
14 the life cycle assessment technique. The mining and quarrying sectors of 12 European

15 countries were assessed. The sectors include hard coal and lignite mining, crude petroleum
16 and natural gas extraction, mining of metal ores, and other service activities in the mining
17 sector. Environmental analyses consider particulate and gas emissions, including emissions of
18 CO2, CO, NOx, SOx, PM2.5, PM10, CH4, NMVOCs and NH3. Based on two life cycle impact
19 assessment methods, ReCiPe and IPCC, the mining and quarrying sectors were assessed in the
20 following impact and damage categories: greenhouse gases emission, terrestrial acidification,
21 photochemical smog and particulate matter formation, damage to human health and
22 ecosystem quality. The analyses were made with data for 2012. They showed that the highest
23 particulate and gas emission occurs in Great Britains mining and quarrying sector, and the
24 lowest occurs in Bulgarias. The environmental indices in all of the impact and damage
25 categories in the mining and quarrying sectors were the highest in Great Britain, Poland,
26 Norway and Germany. It was found that greenhouse gas emissions are quite different in this
27 sector in each country for the time horizons of 20, 100 and 500 years, which is justified by the
28 GWP factor for methane emission.
29
30
31 Keywords: mining and quarrying sector, air pollution emission, environmental impact and
32 damage categories, Europe
33
34

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35 1. Introduction
36 Mining and quarrying include such activities as the extraction of minerals occurring naturally
37 as solids (coal and ores), liquids (petroleum) and gases (natural gas). It also includes mining
38 support services, such as exploration by drilling and management of waste (Charbonnier,
39 2001). The mining and quarrying sector plays an important role in the development of
40 European countries. The industry guarantees an adequate and continuous supply of raw
41 materials for the construction, building and manufacturing sectors for the economic
42 development of the countries. Mining and quarrying activities produce essential raw materials
43 for further processing by the manufacturing industry and provide material and energy input
44 for production engineering. Recovery in manufacturing in industrialized economies has
45 increased the demand for inputs worldwide. Production in the sector depends upon the
46 availability of natural resources in a country (UNIDO, 2014). The mining and quarrying
47 sector impacts the environment with air pollution and waste disposal. Mining and quarrying
48 operations raise two types of environmental concerns: the depletion of non-renewable
49 resources and harm to the environment. The latter includes air, soil, water and noise pollution,
50 a negative impact on natural habitats, a visual impact on the landscape and effects on

51 groundwater levels (OECD, 2012). Until now, the literature has analysed ergonomics risk
52 factors by associating the perception of an employer and employees towards their workplace
53 conditions in the quarrying and mining industry (Norhidayah et al., 2015) and the perception
54 of occupational accidents in the mining and quarrying sector towards a safe and healthy
55 working environment (Abd Rahman et al., 2014). Wysokiski et al. (2014) presented
56 economic and energy efficiency of the mining and quarrying sector. Vintr et al. (2014)
57 presented environmental management systems and environmentally sustainable practices in
58 the surface mining industry in Catalonia in Spain. According to Jenkins and Yakovleva
59 (2006), mining operations have an important effect on their surroundings and on local
60 communities. The main challenge for the mining sector is to demonstrate that it contributes to
61 the welfare and well-being of the current generation without compromising the quality of life
62 of future generations (Azapagic, 2004). Evangelinos and Oku (2006) have examined the
63 corporate environmental management of mining operations and the process of gaining
64 permission to operate. Berkel (2007) has defined an eco-efficiency framework for the
65 Australian mining industry. Macedo et al. (2003) have analysed the conditions of the
66 Brazilian non-metallic small-scale mining industry in relation to environmental practices.
67 Sandoval et al. (2006) have described the potential impacts of mining on the natural
68 environment, human health, the sustainability of resources and social equity. Moran showed

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69 sustainability in the mining and minerals sectors (2014), concluding that the supply of
70 minerals and energy is critical to global society. According to Hodge (2014), Lodhia and Hess
71 (2014), and Gomes et al. (2014), the competitiveness of the mining and quarrying sector does
72 not depend only on the value added of production but also on its impact on the environment.
73 Dubiski (2013) presented the significance of mineral resources in world economy
74 development. Czaplicka-Kolarz et al. (2015) have developed a method of eco-efficiency
75 assessment for mining production processes in coal mines, which integrates the results of
76 evaluating economic and environmental aspects. The proposed method uses the results of
77 operating activities to assess the economic efficiency and the life cycle approach to assess the
78 environmental efficiency. The comprehensive method of assessing mining production
79 processes was proposed as the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) in coal mines to be used to
80 support decision making in mining companies. Burchart-Korol et al. (2014) presented an
81 algorithm developed to assess all aspects of sustainable development for hard coal mines.
82 They proposed the use of the life cycle assessment (LCA) for environmental impact
83 assessment and a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) for economic and social assessments. Durucan
84 et al. (2006) proposed a different model together with tools to perform a complex life cycle
85 assessment of mining technologies.
86
87 According to the Eurostat database, air pollutant emissions indicators in the mining and
88 quarrying sector include emissions of sulphur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), non-
89 methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), ammonia (NH3), carbon monoxide (CO),
90 carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10). These
91 emissions impact human health and the environment. The article presents the impact of air
92 pollution emissions on the environmental impact and damage categories, based on the life
93 cycle assessment method. So far, the literature has not provided analysis results for air
94 pollutant emissions from the mining and quarrying sector in European countries and their
95 impact on various damage categories, which justifies the subject of this study.
96
97 2. Methods
98
99 The purpose of this article is to present the influence of air pollution emissions from the
100 mining and quarrying sectors of European countries on environmental impact and damage
101 categories, including terrestrial acidification, photochemical smog and particulate matter
102 formation, greenhouse gases emission, damage to human health and ecosystem quality.

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103
104 The mining and quarrying sector throughout Europe is diversified in terms of the mined
105 resources, which are, in turn, associated with a diversified volume of production and impact
106 on the environment. This article presents an evaluation of the sector structure, particulate and
107 gas emission, including emissions of CO 2, CO, NOx, SOx, PM2.5, PM10, CH4, NMVOCs and
108 NH3. Data for analyses were collected from Eurostat for 2012. The environmental impact and
109 damage categories of the mining and quarrying sectors were evaluated based on two life cycle
110 impact assessment (LCIA) methods: IPCC and ReCiPe. The IPCC method was used for
111 greenhouse gas emissions assessment, whereas the ReCiPe method was used to evaluate other
112 categories. The particulate and gas emissions analysed in the study are associated with four
113 impact categories: greenhouse gas emissions, terrestrial acidification, photochemical oxidant
114 formation and particulate matter formation, as presented in Table 1. The analysed impact
115 categories are grouped into two damage categories: impact on human health and ecosystem.
116 The characterization of the environmental impact categories caused by the air pollution
117 emission identified for the mining and quarrying sector were shown in Table 2 and Table 3.
118
119 Table 1
120
121 IPCC 2013 is the successor to the IPCC 2007 method, which was developed by the
122 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC publishes global warming
123 potentials (GWPs) for 20-, 100- and 500-year time frames. These time frames are important to
124 the impact of a GHG on climate changes over time. IPCC 2013 GWP 20a contains the climate
125 change factors of the IPCC with a timeframe of 20 years. IPCC 2013 GWP 100a has a
126 timeframe of 100 years, and IPCC 2013 GWP 500a has a timeframe of 500 years. The choice
127 of IPCC methods with different time frames was justified by important differences in the
128 impact of methane emissions on greenhouse gas emissions for the individual timeframes of
129 20, 100 and 500 years. The IPCC reports that methane (CH4) is far more potent as a
130 greenhouse gas than it had previously been realized. GWP is calculated over specific time
131 intervals of 20, 100 or 500 years. GWP is expressed relative to carbon dioxide (whose GWP
132 is standardized to 1). Methane has a lifetime of 12.4 years and climate-carbon feedbacks with
133 global warming potentials of 86 kg CO2 eq per kg for 20 years, 28 kg CO2 eq per kg for 100
134 years and 8 kg CO2 eq per kg for 500 years (Burchart-Korol et al. 2016). Therefore, the
135 analysis of greenhouse gas emission for the mining and quarrying sector was performed for
136 three time frames. Table 2 presents the global warming potential according to IPCC 2013.

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137
138 Table 2
139
140 Goedkoop et al. (2013) described in detail the indices of the impact categories and damage
141 categories in the ReCiPe 2008 method. The ReCiPe Midpoint method enables the presentation
142 of environmental indices in different impact categories, while the ReCiPe Endpoint method
143 enables the grouping of impact categories into damage categories. In the analysed data,
144 ReCiPe 2008 enables the grouping of impact categories into two damage categories: impact
145 on human health and quality of ecosystem. Weighting, in accordance with the ReCiPe
146 Endpoint method, includes transforming normalized values with selected weighting and
147 aggregation coefficients of the values within an impact category and a damage category.
148 ReCiPe Endpoint H/A (Hierarchic/Average Perspective) was the method applied in the LCA.
149 The Mining and quarrying sector is associated with negative health effects. Currently, there is
150 the need to further understand the health impacts and ecosystem damage caused by gas and
151 dust emission from the mining and quarrying sector. To assess various damage and impact
152 categories, the life cycle assessment method was applied, referring to the normalized values of
153 Europe, with the weighting set to have a hierarchical perspective (Goedkoop et al., 2013).
154 Environmental impacts, which are calculated with the ReCiPe Endpoint H/A method at the
155 weighting stage, are expressed in points Pt. One point represents a one thousandth part of the
156 yearly damage to the environment caused by human activities. (Goedkoop et al., 2013). While
157 evaluating the environmental burdens of the mining and quarrying sector, all stages of the life
158 cycle assessment were followed, both the compulsory ones (classifying and characterising)
159 and the optional ones (normalising, weighting). Having followed all of the presented stages in
160 accordance with the ReCiPe 2008 method, one aggregated environmental index was obtained,
161 which included the evaluated impact categories, expressed in Pt in 2012. Table 3 presents the
162 factors of the impact categories based on the ReCiPe Midpoint (Goedkoop et al. (2013).
163
164 Table 3
165
166
167 The ReCiPe method is the successor of the methods Eco-indicator 99 and CML. The purpose
168 at the start of the development was to integrate the problem-oriented approach of CML and
169 the damage-oriented approach of Eco-indicator 99. The problem-oriented approach defines
170 the impact categories at a midpoint level. ReCiPe implements both strategies and has both

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171 midpoint and endpoint impact categories. The midpoint characterization factors are multiplied
172 by the damage factors to obtain the endpoint characterization values (Goedkoop et al. (2013).
173
174 To calculate the damage categories, the normalization and weighting factors were used
175 according to the ReCiPe Endpoint method. Normalization involves regarding the value in
176 terms of European values to show the scale of the problem. The human health damage
177 category is assessed using the concept of disability-adjusted life years (DALY). The DALY
178 of a disease is derived from human health statistics in terms of life years both lost and
179 disabled. In ReCiPe, the DALY concept is applied, including years of life lost and years of
180 life disabled, without age weighting and discounting, as a default setting for quantifying the
181 damage contributing to the human health area of protection within the LCA. According to the
182 ReCiPe Endpoint H/A (Hierarchist/Average), the normalisation factors are the following: for
183 the human health damage category, 9,38E+06 DALY/yr, and for the ecosystem damage
184 category, 8.40E+04 species/yr. The next stages of LCA after normalisation are weighting. A
185 set of indicators given in Table 4 was adopted, using weighting factors determined in
186 accordance with the method of the Endpoint Recipe.
187
188 Table 4
189
190
191 In this study, impact and damage categories are related to air pollution emissions from the
192 mining and quarrying sector. Therefore, the paper presents the results of two damage
193 categories, ecosystem and human health, which are caused by these emissions.
194
195

196
197 3. Results and discussion
198
199 In accordance with the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European
200 Community Rev. 2, the mining and quarrying sector is divided into five subsectors: hard coal
201 and lignite mining, crude petroleum and natural gas extraction, mining of metal ores, and
202 other service activities in the mining sector (Eurostat RAMON). The structure of the sector is
203 presented in Figure 1.
204

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205 Fig. 1.
206
207 The extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas sector had the highest share in Europe
208 (80%), followed by other mining and quarrying (9%), the mining of coal and lignite (3%) and
209 mining support service activities (7%). The mining of metal ores had the lowest share, at
210 merely 1%.
211 An environmental analysis of the sector was performed considering the countries with a
212 significant general share in the sector and the countries that play significant roles in given
213 subsectors. In an environmental analysis of the mining and quarrying sector, 12 countries
214 were taken into consideration: Bulgaria (BG), the Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK),
215 Germany (DE), Spain (ES), France (FR), Italy (IT), the Netherlands (NL), Poland (PL), Great
216 Britain (UK), Norway (NO) and Finland (FI). The value of production in the mining and
217 quarrying sector in the chosen 12 countries represents 98.3% of the production value in the
218 mining and quarrying sector in Europe. Figure 2 presents the value of production in the mining
219 and quarrying sector in 2012.
220
221 Fig. 2.
222
223 Norway recorded the highest share (48%) out of the European countries in terms of the
224 production value. Other leading producers were Italy (19%), Great Britain (15%) and the
225 Netherlands (6%). Table 5 presents the value of production in the given countries in 2012.
226 Other mining and quarrying sectors play an important role in each of the countries. These
227 categories are divided into quarrying of stone, sand and clay, and mining and quarrying
228 n.e.c. quarrying of stone, sand and clay includes the cat egories Quarrying of ornamental
229 and building stone, limestone, gypsum, chalk and slate and Operation of gravel and sand pits;
230 mining of clays and kaolin. Mining and quarrying n.e.c. includes the categories of Mining of
231 chemical and fertiliser minerals, Extraction of peat, Extraction of salt and Other mining and
232 quarrying n.e.c. (Figure 1)
233
234 Table 5
235
236 In Bulgaria, Mining of metal ores and Mining of coal and lignite had the highest share in the
237 mining and quarrying sector (59% and 24%, respectively). The Mining of coal and lignite
238 sector had the largest share (75%), followed by Other mining and quarrying (19%), in the

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239 Czech Republic. The Extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas sector was 88% in
240 Denmark. In Germany, the Other mining and quarrying sector was 49%, Mining of coal and
241 lignite was 23%, and the Extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas sector was 24%. The
242 Other mining and quarrying sector had the largest share in Spain (63%). In France, the Other
243 mining and quarrying sector was 86%, and Extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas was
244 14%, which in Italy was 95%, in Norway 91%, in the Netherlands 85%, and in Great Britain
245 78%. Poland was a country with a high share of coal and lignite mining (74%), while Other
246 mining and quarrying was 22%. In Finland, the Other mining and quarrying sector was 55%,
247 and Mining of metal ores was 42 %. Figure 3 presents share of significant European countries
248 in given subsectors.
249
250 Fig. 3.
251
252 Poland was a leading country in the Coal and lignite mining sector (54%), followed by
253 Germany (21%), the Czech Republic (18%), and other countries (7%). Norway had the
254 highest share in the Extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas subsector (53%), and other
255 countries were Italy (22%) and Great Britain (14%). The Netherlands had a 7% share in the
256 sector. In 2012, the mining of metal ores sector included four countries: Bulgaria (31%),
257 Spain (28%) Finland (27%) and Norway (14%). In the Other mining and quarrying sector,
258 Germany and France both had a 21% share, Great Britain had 17%, Italy 10%, Poland 7% and
259 other countries 15%. Mining support service activities was conducted with a 53% share in
260 Norway, with 28% in Great Britain, 10% in the Netherlands and 9% in other countries.
261 Data concerning particulate and gas emissions in 2012 (Eurostat database) were used to
262 analyse the environmental impact and damage categories (Table 6).
263
264 Table 6
265
266 The results of the greenhouse gas emissions based on the IPCC 2013 method are presented in
267 Figure 4. The influence of CO2 and CH4 emissions from the mining and quarrying sector on
268 greenhouse gas emissions was evaluated for the time frame of 20, 100 and 500 years
269 according to the IPCC 2013 method and is presented in Figure 5.
270
271
272 Fig.4.

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273
274 Fig.5.
275
276
277 It was found that the highest greenhouse gas emissions are for the time frame of 20 years, and
278 the highest GHG emission occurs in Poland, Great Britain, Germany and the Czech Republic,
279 which results from the highest GWP value for fossil methane emissions (86 kg CO2 eq per kg
280 for 20 years) and the lifetime of methane in the atmosphere (12.4 years). For a change in the
281 time horizon from 20 to 500 years, the GWP for methane decreases. It was found that in the
282 time frame of 500 years, GHG emission results are quite different, which affects a much
283 lower GWP for methane emission. In this time frame, the highest GHG emission occurs in
284 Great Britain, Norway, Germany and the Czech Republic. GHG emissions from the mining
285 and quarrying sector in Poland are mainly related to the emission of CH4, whereas in Great
286 Britain and Norway, the GHG emissions are mainly related to CO2 emissions, which affects
287 the different results obtained in the time frame of 20 years and 500 years.
288
289 According to the ReCiPe method for calculating the terrestrial acidification impact category,
290 the results of terrestrial acidification of the mining and quarrying sector in European countries
291 was shown, and the impact of particular air pollution on this impact category (Fig. 6).
292
293 Fig. 6.
294
295 Figure 6 shows the results of the terrestrial acidification impact category, taking into account
296 the terrestrial acidification potential for Europe (in kg SO2 equivalents / kg).
297

298 In 2012 in European countries, the mining and quarrying sector caused terrestrial acidification
299 of 120,296 Mg SO2 eq., with NOx emissions of 92,999 Mg SO2 eq (77.3% share), SOx
300 emissions of 27,007 Mg SO2 eq (22.5% share), and NH3 emissions of 291 Mg SO2 eq (0.2%

301 share). In 2012, the highest index of terrestrial acidification in the mining and quarrying
302 sector was observed in Great Britain (45,098 MgSO2 eq) and Norway (29,327Mg SO2 eq). In
303 Great Britain, it was caused by an 82.41% share of NOx emission, 17.57% share of SOx
304 emission and 0.03% share of NH3 emission (13 Mg SO2 eq). In Norways mining and
305 quarrying sector, terrestrial acidification is 97% caused by NOx emissions, 3% by SOx
306 emissions and minutely due to NH3 emissions (1 Mg SO2 eq).

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307
308 According to the ReCiPe method for calculating the photochemical oxidant formation impact
309 category, the results of the photochemical oxidant formation for the mining and quarrying
310 sector in European countries and the impact of particular air pollution that affect this impact
311 category were shown (Fig. 7).
312
313
314 Fig. 7.
315
316 The mining and quarrying sector in European countries caused the photochemical oxidant
317 formation of 344,366 Mg NMVOC eq in 2012. The index of photochemical oxidant formation
318 was mainly influenced by the emissions of NMVOC (47%) and NOx (48%). In 2012, the
319 highest index of photochemical oxidant formation in the mining and quarrying sector was
320 observed in Great Britain (161,914 Mg NMVOC eq) and Norway (88,734 Mg NMVOC eq).
321 In Great Britain, NMVOC emissions had a 57% share in the result, and NOx emissions had a
322 41% share. In Norways mining and quarrying sector, the main causes of photochemical
323 oxidant formation are 57% NOx emissions and 42% NMVOC emission.
324
325 According to the ReCiPe method for calculating the particulate matter formation impact
326 category, the results of particulate matter formation for the mining and quarrying sector in
327 European countries and the impact of particular air pollution that affect this impact category
328 were shown (Fig. 8).
329
330 Fig. 8.

331

332 The mining and quarrying sectors of European countries caused particulate matter formation
333 of 106,379 Mg PM10 eq in 2012. The emissions of PM10 made up 50%, emissions of PM2.5
334 made up 11% (11,445 Mg), emissions of NOx made up 34%, and emissions of SOx made up

335 5% of the total (52,997 Mg). The highest indices of particulate matter formation in the mining
336 and quarrying sector in 2012 were observed in Great Britain (25,613 Mg PM10 eq), Norway
337 (19,852 Mg PM10 eq), Germany (19,430 Mg PM10 eq) and France (15,895 Mg PM10 eq).
338

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339 Taking into account all air pollution emissions, the damage categories for the mining and
340 quarrying sectors of European countries were calculated. The results of the analyses are
341 shown in Table 7.
342
343 Table 7
344
345 According to ReCiPe method (Goedkoop et al. 2013) Human Health damage categories is
346 caused by emissions presented in Table 8.
347
348 Table 8
349
350 It was found that the highest human health damage category indicator occurs in Great Britain,
351 Poland, Norway and Germany which results from the highest GHG emission. In table 9 was
352 presented share of impact category for the human health damage category according to
353 ReCiPe Endpoint method. It was found that in almost all countries except France, GHG
354 emission affects human health and in France human health is caused primarily by particulate
355 matter formation. Human health damage category in the mining and quarrying sector is
356 mainly related to the CO2 and CH4 emission, which affect GHG emission.
357
358
359 Table 9
360
361
362 The emissions of CO2, methane and PM10 have the biggest influence on the environmental
363 burdens of the mining and quarrying sectors of the analysed countries. In Great Britain,
364 emissions of CO2 (67%), CH4 (16%) and NOx (10%) influence the result of aggregated
365 environmental LCA. In Poland, the result is influenced by the CH4 emissions (80%), CO2
366 emissions (10%) and particulate matter emissions (7%). In Norway, the result of the LCA is
367 influenced by CO2 emissions (77%) and NOx emissions (11%). In Germanys sector, the
368 result of the LCA is influenced by CO2 emissions (50%), CH4 emissions (28%) and
369 particulate matter emissions (16%). In the Czech Republic, the result of the LCA is mainly
370 influenced by CO2 emissions and CH4 emissions (49% and 45%, respectively).
371

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372 The biggest environmental burden in the mining and quarrying sector in 2012 was observed in
373 Great Britain. High burdens occurred also in Poland, Norway and Germany. The lowest
374 environmental burden was observed in Finland and Bulgaria.
375
376 The Pearson correlation coefficient between production volume in the sector and
377 environmental burden was computed. The similarity factor is 0.43, which means that the
378 correlation is weak. It was concluded that the environmental impact is not tightly correlated
379 with the production volume. Hence, the production volume is only partially responsible for
380 the volume of the environmental burden. The differences in the environmental burden are
381 caused by various shares of the given subsectors in a country.
382
383 Particulate and gas emissions were evaluated in the mining and quarrying sector and
384 compared to the air emissions caused by all activities defined in The Statistical Classification
385 of Economic Activities in European Community Rev. 2 in analysed countries in 2012. This
386 classification covers the following sectors (Eurostat RAMON):
387 agriculture, forestry and fishing
388 mining and quarrying
389 manufacturing
390 electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply
391 water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities
392 construction
393 wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles
394 transportation and storage
395 accommodation and food service activities
396 information and communication
397 financial and insurance activities
398 real estate activities
399 professional, scientific and technical activities
400 administrative and support service activities
401 public administration and defence; compulsory social security
402 education
403 human health and social work activities
404 arts, entertainment and recreation
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405 other service activities
406 activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods- and services-producing
407 activities of households for own use
408 activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies
409

410 Table 10 presents particulate and gas emissions resulting from economic activities in the
411 European Community in 2012. The highest CO2 emissions from economic activities in the
412 European Community were observed in Germany and Great Britain, and the highest CH4
413 emissions were observed in Great Britain and France (Table 10). Table 11 presents the share
414 of the mining and quarrying sector emissions compared with the emissions from all sectors, as
415 considered in the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European
416 Community Rev.2, in a given country.
417 Table 10

418
419
420 Table 11

421
422

423 It was concluded that the mining and quarrying sector has the biggest share in Norways CO 2

424 emissions. The share of the sector in the Czech Republic and Poland for methane emissions is

425 33.5% and 31.6%, respectively.

426
427
428
429 4. Conclusions
430 The structures of the mining and quarrying sectors of European countries in 2012 were
431 analysed. It was concluded that the crude petroleum and natural gas extraction sectors had the
432 highest shares. Norway had the highest production volume in the mining and quarrying sector.
433 Italy, Great Britain and the Netherlands were also leading producers. Poland, Germany and
434 the Czech Republic were leading countries in the coal and lignite mining sector. Norway,
435 Italy and Great Britain had the largest share in the crude petroleum and natural gas extraction

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436 sector. The mining of metal ores sector included four countries: Bulgaria, Spain, Finland and
437 Norway. Germany, France, Great Britain and Italy had the largest share in the other mining
438 and quarrying sector. Mining support service activities were conducted in Norway, Great
439 Britain and the Netherlands.
440
441 The particulate and gas emissions in the mining and quarrying sector were evaluated. The
442 highest emissions of CO2 and SOx was observed in Great Britain. The highest emission of
443 NOx was observed in Great Britain and Norway. The highest emission of NH3 occurred in
444 Germany, while the highest emission of CO was in Great Britain, Spain and Norway. The
445 highest emissions of PM2.5 occurred in Germany; high emissions of PM2.5 also occurred in
446 Great Britain, Norway and Poland. The highest emissions of PM10 were observed in Germany
447 and France. High NMVOC emissions were observed in Great Britain and Norway. The
448 highest methane emission was in Poland.
449
450 The results demonstrated that the highest greenhouse gas emissions are for the time frame of
451 20 years, and the highest GHG emission occurs in Poland, Great Britain, Germany and the
452 Czech Republic, which results from the highest GWP value for fossil methane emissions. It
453 was found that in the time frame of 500 years, GHG emission results are quite different,
454 which creates a much lower GWP for methane emissions. In this time frame, the highest GHG
455 emissions occur in Great Britain, Norway, Germany and the Czech Republic.
456
457 Based on environmental assessment of the mining and quarrying sectors of European
458 countries, with a life cycle assessment technique, the highest indices of analysed impact
459 categories - GHG emissions, terrestrial acidification, photochemical smog and particulate
460 matter formation - were observed in Great Britain, Poland, Norway and Germany. The mining
461 and quarrying sectors of these countries had the biggest influences on human health and the
462 ecosystem.
463
464
465 Acknowledgements
466 This paper was prepared within the framework of the project titled "Developing an expert
467 system to assess environmental, economic and social efficiency of coal mines in Poland" that
468 is financed by the National Centre for Research and Development within the framework of
469 the Applied Research Program.

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470
471 References
472
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Tables

Table 1. Evaluated environmental impact categories

Table 2. Global warming potential (GWP) according to IPPC 2013
Table 3. The value of factors of impact categories based on the ReCiPe Midpoint
Table 4 Indices applied at the stage of weighting in ReCiPe Endpoint H/A method for Europe
Table 5. Production value in mining and quarrying sector in Europe in 2012 in millions of
Euros
Table 6. Particulate and gas emissions resulting from the mining and quarrying sector in the
European Community in 2012. Tg
Table 7. Damage categories for mining and quarrying sector in European countries in 2012
based on ReCiPe Endpoint method, MPt.
Table 8. Air emissions and impact categories affecting damage categories.
Table 9. Share of impact category for the human health damage category according to
ReciPe Endpoint method.
Table 10. Particulate and gas emissions resulting from economic activities in the European
Community in 2012, Tg
Table 11. Percent share of particulate and gas emissions from the mining and quarrying sector
out of the countrys total emissions
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Table 1. Evaluated environmental impact categories
LCIA Impact Characterisati Abbreviat
Unit on factor Description
method category ion

Total amount of
greenhouse gases
Global produced to directly
Greenhouse and indirectly support
IPCC gas warming GWP
kg CO2 eq human activities,
potential
emissions expressed using the
reference unit, kg of
carbon dioxide

ReCiPe Terrestrial Terrestrial Expressed using the

kg SO2-Eq acidification TAP reference unit, kg of
Midpoint acidification potential sulphur dioxide
Photochemic Photochemica
Expressed using the
ReCiPe l oxidant POFP reference unit, kg of
al oxidant kg NMVOC formation non-methane volatile
Midpoint
formation potential organic compounds
Particulate Particulate
Expressed using the
ReCiPe matter PMFP reference unit, kg of
matter kg PM10-Eq formation particulate matter of
Midpoint
formation potential very small diameter,
below - 10 microns.
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Table 2. Global warming potential (GWP) according to IPPC 2013

Characterisation Substance, unit GWP20 GWP100 GWP500 Unit

factor
Global warmingCarbon dioxide, kg 1 1 1
potential Methane, kg 85 28 8 kg CO2 eq
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Table 3. The value of factors of impact categories based on the ReCiPe Midpoint (Goedkoop
et al, 2013).

Characterisation Substance, unit The value of Unit

factor factors
Terrestrial Nitrogen oxides, kg 0.56
acidification Ammonia, kg 2.45 kg SO2 eq
potential
Sulfur oxides, kg 1
NMVOC, non-methane
volatile organic compounds, 1.000
kg
Photochemical Nitrogen oxides, kg 1.000
oxidant formation
kg NMVOC
potential
Sulphur oxides, kg 0.081
Carbon monoxide, kg 0.0456

Methane, kg 0.0101

Particulates, < 10 m, kg 1
Particulate matter Nitrogen oxides, kg 0.22
formation
kg PM10 eq
potential
Sulphur oxides, kg 0.2
Particulates, < 2.5 m, kg 1
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Table 4 Indices applied at the stage of weighting in ReCiPe Endpoint H/A method for Europe
(Goedkoop et al.2013).
Damage category Weighting

Human Health 400

Ecosystems 400

Resources 200
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Table 5. Production value in mining and quarrying sector in Europe in 2012 in millions of
Euros
Mining of Extraction of Mining of Other mining Mining
coal and crude metal ores and quarrying support
lignite petroleum and service
natural gas activities

BG 365.8 119.1 891 132.8 9.7

CZ 2428.8 n/a n/a 624.1 178.4
DK 0 7382.9 0 372.8 643.5
DE 2828.9 2996.5 0 6071.3 559.1
ES 552 77.3 830 2736.1 130.9
FR 0 1004.3 n/a 6179.5 n/a
IT n/a 68280.9 n/a 3059.5 493.1
NL 0 21193.9 0 933.6 2805.5
PL 7431.3 16.9 n/a 2011.9 517.4
FI 0 0 786.2 1047.1 53.6
UK n/a 44622.7 n/a 4903.5 7880.1
NO 113.8 167754.9 396.3 1310.7 14903.8

n/a not available

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Table 6. Particulate and gas emissions resulting from the mining and quarrying sector in the
European Community in 2012. Tg (Eurostat database)

CO CO2 PM2.5 PM10 NMVOC SOx NOx NH3 CH4

BG 0.31 212.29 0.04 0.12 0.05 0.55 1.06 2.40E-03 11.76
CZ 1.99 4 273.55 0.55 0.98 1.17 3.93 5.02 1.88E-02 155.80
DK 1.18 1 777.27 0.10 0.12 3.98 0.18 7.38 4.00E-04 2.66
DE 3.74 7 839.31 2.18 14.28 0.60 5.84 8.20 5.63E-02 169.19
ES 12.17 2 519.27 0.96 2.22 5.16 4.42 10.05 1.81E-02 26.28
FR 1.58 1 001.17 1.68 12.95 0.42 1.58 4.31 3.10E-03 2.40
IT 3.71 1 588.18 0.29 0.30 3.27 0.01 4.88 1.24E-02 23.71
NL 0.56 2 403.84 0.02 0.03 7.56 0.29 5.51 5.00E-04 34.44
PL 2.80 1 763.17 1.85 7.74 9.77 1.29 2.09 1.00E-03 581.58
FI 0.08 199.71 0.04 0.12 0.02 0.19 0.27 2.00E-05 2.10E-03

UK 27.04 16 733.78 1.89 7.54 92.08 7.92 66.36 5.30E-03 157.46

NO 11.59 13 492.31 1.89 6.59 36.91 0.80 50.94 5.00E-04 28.99

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Table 7. Damage categories for mining and quarrying sector in European countries in 2012
based on ReCiPe Endpoint method, MPt.

Damage
category UK PL NO NL IT FR FI ES DK DE CZ BG

Human Health 783 561 551 108 77 124 8 134 67 483 271 18
Ecosystems 71.6 56.3 49.2 11.3 7.6 3.7 0.7 11.0 6.4 41.7 28.2 1.8
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Table 8. Air emissions and impact categories affecting damage categories.

Damage category Impact category Emission

Human Health Greenhouse gas emission CO2, CH4
Photochemical oxidant formation SOx, NMVOC, NOx, CH4, CO
Particulate matter formation NOx, PM10, PM2.5, SOx

Ecosystems Greenhouse gas emission CO2, CH4

Terrestrial acidification SOx, NOx, NH3
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Table 9. Share of impact category for the human health damage category according to
ReciPe Endpoint method.
Impact category, UK PL NO NL IT FR FI ES DK DE CZ BG
%
GHG emission 81,277 89,486 79,396 92,989 87,542 26,442 80,794 73,120 84,122 76,966 92,765 85,595
Particulate matter
formation 18,705 10,512 20,590 7,001 12,449 73,555 19,203 26,870 15,864 23,032 7,232 14,399
Photochemical
oxidant formation 0,018 0,003 0,014 0,011 0,009 0,003 0,003 0,011 0,015 0,002 0,003 0,006
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Table 10. Particulate and gas emissions resulting from economic activities in the European
Community in 2012, Tg (Eurostat database)

CO CO2 PM2.5 PM10 NMVOC SOx NOx NH3 CH4

BG 0.06 47.25 3.00E-03 0.02 0.04 0.32 0.12 0.03 0.15
CZ 0.25 90.58 0.01 0.02 0.10 0.14 0.20 0.06 0.47
DK 0.17 70.21 0.03 0.03 0.08 0.23 1.07 0.08 0.26
DE 1.62 709.25 0.09 0.19 0.66 0.87 1.75 0.53 2.25
ES 1.15 221.77 0.03 0.06 0.65 0.40 0.81 0.38 1.50
FR 1.55 238.23 0.08 0.16 0.49 0.25 0.77 0.67 2.29
IT 0.66 296.74 0.08 0.10 0.45 0.38 0.84 0.40 1.60
NL 0.26 163.49 0.01 0.03 0.10 0.07 0.45 0.11 0.70
PL 1.07 284.14 0.09 0.15 0.42 0.66 0.76 0.26 1.84
FI 0.22 48.21 0.01 0.02 0.05 0.07 0.17 0.04 0.19
UK 1.11 402.81 0.07 0.10 0.71 0.51 1.19 0.26 2.38
NO 0.09 50.18 0.02 0.03 0.10 0.04 0.26 0.03 0.19
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Table 11. Percent share of particulate and gas emissions from the mining and quarrying sector
out of the countrys total emissions
CO CO2 PM2.5 PM10 NMVOC SOx NOx NH3 CH4

BG 0.5 0.4 1.3 0.7 0.1 0.2 0.9 0.0 8.1

CZ 0.8 4.7 4.2 4.1 1.2 2.8 2.6 0.0 33.5
DK 0.7 2.5 0.4 0.4 5.0 0.1 0.7 0.0 1.0
DE 0.2 1.1 2.4 7.7 0.1 0.7 0.5 0.0 7.5
ES 1.1 1.1 2.8 3.8 0.8 1.1 1.2 0.0 1.8
FR 0.1 0.4 2.1 7.9 0.1 0.6 0.6 0.0 0.1
IT 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.7 0.0 0.6 0.0 1.5
NL 0.2 1.5 0.1 0.1 7.9 0.4 1.2 0.0 4.9
PL 0.3 0.6 2.2 5.2 2.3 0.2 0.3 0.0 31.6
FI 0.0 0.4 0.3 0.6 0.0 0.3 0.2 0.0 0.0
UK 2.4 4.2 2.8 7.4 12.9 1.6 5.6 0.0 6.6
NO 13.3 26.9 8.8 22.6 35.9 2.2 20.0 0.0 15.0
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Figures

Fig. 1. Structure of mining and quarrying sector according to the Eurostat database
Fig. 2. Production value of mining and quarrying sector in Europe in 2012.
Fig. 3. Share of European countries in mining and quarrying sectors
Fig. 4. Greenhouse gases emissions from the Mining and quarrying sector in European
countries based on IPCC 2013 method and Eurostat data.
Fig. 5. Greenhouse gas emissions caused by CO 2 and CH4 emissions from the mining and
quarrying sector based on Eurostat data and a) IPCC 2013 GWP 20a, b) IPCC 2013 GWP
100a, and c) IPCC 2013 GWP 500a.
Fig. 6. Terrestrial acidification of mining and quarrying sector in European countries in 2012.
Fig. 7. Photochemical oxidant formation of mining and quarrying sector in European
countries in 2012.
Fig. 8. Particulate matter formation of mining and quarrying sector in European countries in
2012.
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Fig. 1. Structure of mining and quarrying sector according to the Eurostat database
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BG 1518.4
CZ 3231.3
DE 12455.8
DK 8399.2
ES 4326.3
FI 1886.9
FR 7183.8
IT 71833.5
NL 24933
NO 184479.5
PL 9977.5
UK 57406.3
million Euro

Fig. 2. Production value of mining and quarrying sector in Europe in 2012.

Source: Eurostat data.
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Mining of coal and lignite Extraction of crude petroleum and

natural gas
Other Other
7% 4% IT
CZ 22%
18%
NO
PL 53%
54% N
L
DE 7
%
21% UK
14%

Mining support service Mining of metal ores

activities
Other NO
9% NL 14% BG
10% 31%
NO FI

53% 27%
UK ES
28%
28%

Other mining and quarrying

UK
Other
17%
15%
PL
7% DE
21%
IT
10
%
FR E
S
21% 9
%

Fig. 3. Share of European countries in mining and quarrying sectors

Source: Eurostat data.
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Fig. 4. Greenhouse gases emissions from the Mining and quarrying sector in European
countries based on IPCC 2013 method and Eurostat data.
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a)

b)
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c)

Fig. 5. Greenhouse gas emissions caused by CO2 and CH4 emissions from the mining and
quarrying sector based on Eurostat data and a) IPCC 2013 GWP 20a, b) IPCC 2013 GWP
100a, and c) IPCC 2013 GWP 500a.
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BG
CZ
DE
DK
ES
FI
SOx
FR
NOx
IT
NH3
NL
NO
PL
UK

0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000

Mg SO2 eq

Fig. 6. Terrestrial acidification of mining and quarrying sector in European countries in 2012.
Source: ReCiPe 2008 Midpoint calculations based on Eurostat data.
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BG
CZ
DE
DK
ES
SOx
FI
NMVOC
FR
NOx
IT
CH4
NL
CO
NO
PL
UK

0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000

Mg NMVOC eq

Fig. 7. Photochemical oxidant formation of mining and quarrying sector in European

countries in 2012.
Source: ReCiPe 2008 Midpoint calculations based on Eurostat data.
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BG
CZ
DE
DK
ES
FI NOx

PM10
FR
PM2.5
IT
SOx
NL
NO
PL
UK

0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000

Mg PM10 eq

Fig. 8. Particulate matter formation of mining and quarrying sector in European countries in
2012.
Source: ReCiPe 2008 Midpoint calculations based on Eurostat data.
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1 Highlights
2
3 This article presents the following:
4 an environmental impact assessment of the air pollution emissions from the mining
5 and quarrying sectors of European countries

6 structure of mining and quarrying sector according to the Eurostat database

7 the environmental impact and damage categories, based on the life cycle assessment
8 method
9