B O O K R E V I E W S

The Price of Power: Electric Utilities and the Environment, The Council on Economic Priorities, 456 Greenwich Street, New York, New York, 1972.

This book is divided into two sections. The first is a scholarly analysis of the environmental effects of electric power generation and of the technology for mitigating those effects. It is well organized and should be a valuable reference, especially for citizens who must evaluate the environmental impact statements for proposed power plants.

The second part of the book focuses on fifteen electric power companies, which together produce about one fourth of the electricity consumed in the United States. The environmental control efforts of these companies are rated as adequate or inadequate and the authors do not hesitate to let the chips fall where they may. The criteria for judging abatement effort are arbitrary. Any plant burning coal with a S content in excess of 1 ~ gets an 'X ' for inadequate control of SO2. This is despite the fact that in Part I it is noted that most of the available low S coal is located in the western states and that long run economic efficiency might best be served by allocating resources to the development and eventual installation of desulfurization processes rather than to the interim mining and transportation of remote coal reserves. The 1 ~ sulfur content is applied to fuel oil as well, even though we are told in Part I that the availability of low S fuel oil must await the completion of oil desulfurization facilities in U.S. and Caribbean refineries.

For coal burning units, an adequacy rating for particulate control requires 98 % or better control efficiency. This criterion is applied to all plants, although it is noted in the first part of the book that installation costs for electrostatic precipitators can be much higher in one plant than another. The authors are remiss in failing to use benefit/cost theory to define adequate control effort. Only infrequently do they acknowledge that pollution abatement may yield more benefit in one location than another and they have left it entirely to the reader to calculate the marginal costs of abatement. I have gained some insight by doing the latter. The study provides estimates of the total equipment expenditures necessary for bringing each plant to 98 ~ collection efficiency, but not the annualized costs. I estimated depreciation, operating and capital costs as 20 ~ of the initial investment, then computed the reduction in particulate emissions that would be achieved and was then able to calculate the cost per pound of particulate abatement for each plant. For example, upgrading the electrostatic precipitators to 98 ~ at the Demopolis, Alabama plant of the Southern Company would reduce the emission rate from 1737 to 695 lb h -1 at a cost of $.05 per lb of additional particulate matter abated. Upgrading the precipitator for boiler # 1 of Southern Company's plant near Panama City, reducing emissions from 153 to 96 lb h -~, would entail a cost of $.40 per lb abated. It would seem that some observations on the human exposure to pollution from these two plants should be made before asserting that either $.05 or $.40 per lb of pollution abatement must be spent in order for the Southern Company to be environmentally responsible.

Although benefit data are sparse, the authors could have divided the various power plants into arbitrary categories based on nearness to and size of population centers and then set specific shadow prices for particulate abatement for each category. There are plants in the study where incremental particulate abatement could be achieved for $.01 per lb. It is likely that a good argument might be made that failure to abate at such a low price does represent some measure of environmental irresponsibility.

Edwardsville, Illinois ROBERT E. KOHN

North Sea Science, Edward D. Goldberg, Papers presented at the NATO Science Committee Con- ference, Aviemore, Scotland, 15-20 November 1972, The MIT Press, 1973, 500 pp., $18.95.

The North Sea is probably the most productive and heavily exploited marine region in the world.

Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 3 (1974) 123-126. AII Rights Reserved Copyright © 1974 by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht-Holland

124 BOOK REVIEWS

Comprising less than one-half percent of the area of the world ocean, it produces five percent of the world's fish catch. It functions as a waste receptacle for one of the most densely populated and highly industrialized regions in the world and serves as a water playground for this same population. Recent discoveries of gas and oil reserves under the North Sea bed are being exploited and produced. Intense exploitation of a marine environment for such a variety of purposes is certain to lead to conflicts and severe management problems. It was to this situation that the North Sea Science Con- ference addressed itself.

In the words of the editor the purposes of the Conference were " the assemblage of a scientific base to offer some direction to the management of the North Sea by the concerned nations, [and] to provide a pattern for the integration of knowledge in regional marine areas, especially those where the impingement of man threatens their resources." The Conference successfully achieved the first purpose, but failed in the second. This failure is not surprising; for a group of 70 scientists to come together for a week to lay a scientific base on a subject as complex and many-sided as this and then integrate the information into a coherent whole is an unrealistic expectation.

The scientific base provided by the book encompasses the general fields of physical oceanography, geology, meteorology, biology, chemistry, living resources, and non-living resources. In the physical oceanography section, H. W. Hill's chapter on currents and water masses is a useful backdrop for the rest of the book. The chapters on mathematical models and diffusion though scholarly are quite . general and theoretical and contribute little to the reader's knowledge of how the North Sea works. The geology section is devoted entirely to sediments, namely the mud budget, sediment transport and the present distribution of sediments. D. Eisma's chapter on sediment distribution is by far the best written and most informative of this section. Eisma relates the sediment distribution to the concentration and transport of heavy metal and chlorinated hydrocarbons in tile seabed. He also touches on the hazards of mines left from World War I and II and the dangerous present-day practice of disposing of noxious chemicals in drums on the seabed.

For the meteorology section H. H. Lamb has written an outstanding chapter on ocean-atmosphere interaction on the climatic time scale. His clear synthesis of evidence of long-term (a few years to centuries) ocean-atmosphere interaction drawn from his own and other British workers as well as American and Russian work is a rare achievement in view of the complexity and controversial nature of the subject. As a balance to this general treatment, the remainder of the section is devoted to a descriptive account of the climatology of the North Sea by R. HShn and an essay by W. Klug on the transport of airborne material. Unfortunately there is no chapter on air-sea interaction or wind waves, both subjects of critical importance for fishermen and other users of the North Sea.

The biology section is disappointing in its lack of ecological approach. As pointed out by D. H. Cushing and J. H. Fraser, English workers have spent decades studying the plankton of North Sea yet have obtained only a very general picture of the regional and temporal levels and patterns of productivity. The food web is poorly understood both for itself and as a base for the exceptionally high fish production. The effects of pollution are not discernible, but this could very well be due to the lack of baseline data on productivity and the ecosystem. Actually the chapter on organic matter by H. Postma which is found in the chemistry section and the chapter in the renewable resources section on the edge of the sea as a nursery ground by P. Korringa give the reader more insight into the biology and ecology of the North Sea. Postma relates the nutrients and productivity of the North Sea and is able to show that most of the organic matter in the North Sea comes from in situ produc- tion and not from polluted rivers or direct sewage dumping. He finds a n increase in primary produc- tion and probably of fish production attributed to increased phosphorous and nitrogen input from the Rhine. However, dissolved oxygen has not been measurably reduced except in polluted river mouths and along a few shallow coasts. Korringa makes a persuasive case for the preservation and careful management of the edges of the sea which provide important nursery grounds for fish and habital for shellfish. His argument that destruction of these areas as biological habitats can damage the production base of the entire North Sea fishery is not echoed by other authors, however, who see little or no damage being done to the North Sea as a whole by present waste disposal practices or construction projects along low coasts such as the Delta Project in Holland. This chapter could well have been the keynote for the entire book.

H. A. Cole and M. J. Holden's chapter on the history of the North Sea fisheries since 1950 is a useful summary of this resource. The non-renewable resource section concludes with two interesting chapters on the kelp beds by D. Bellamy et aL and on birds of the North Sea by P. Evans.

Non-renewable resources of the North Sea now being exploited include sand and gravel which is

BOOK REVIEWS 125

being dredged at an increasing rate, but which does not appear to seriously threaten other uses, and oil and gas which is at the threshold of rapid development. As pointed out by T. F. Gaskell the en- vironmental hazards of at-sea oil and gas production are well known and measures to minimize these hazards have or are being developed. Left unanswered is the question of what degree of re- liability these measures can achieve and how strictly they will be enforced.

At the end of the book several of the Conference participants present a first attempt at constructive maps of the various types of North Sea resources. It is not surprising that this conference was the stimulus to undertake such an effort, but it is surprising that no comprehensive resource maps of this key marine region have been put together before now.

The editing of the book is adequate, but perhaps could have been more heavy handed in some of the chapters. The recommendations are conveniently placed at the front of the book, but they are not especially enlightening, their main thrust being a call for more research. The maps and charts are legible, but of uneven quality. Some lack clear captions or contain unclear legends and units. Considering the only fair technical quality of the book itself the price ($18.95) seems a bit high.

Madison, Wisconsin ROBERT A. RAGOTZKIE

Carbon Monoxide - Origin, Measurement, and Air Quality Criteria. VDI Berichte No. 180. Proceedings of the Colloquium held in Dfisseldorf, W. Germany, October 28-29, 1971. VDI-Verlag, Dfisseldorf, 1972, pp. 126, Figs. 126, Tables 33. In English. Price of German original or English D M 54.-.

The conference was attended by approximately 350 scientists, technicians, and administrators. The program consisted of an introduction, a conclusion, 20 main papers, and 10 shorter contributed papers. Roughly 85 ~ of the speakers was from W. Germany.

The report is divided as follows: Eight papers covering the methods of measuring CO emissions and concentration levels and their application to industrial, domestic, and motor vehicle sources under various conditions of geography and meteorology. (2) Seven papers covering the effects of CO on man and rats, primarily biologically oriented. (3) Five papers of which three cover psychological performance of human beings under low levels of CO and two cover the status of laws in the U.S.A. and the Republic of W. Germany on CO pollution. The contributed papers are divided with seven under heading (1) and three under heading (2).

The report contains a good general overview of the CO pollution problem and in addition, some interesting details, of which a few selected ones are cited.

(1) Measurement of CO. Five procedures are described of which three are reasonably accurate and absolute but slow, one is suitable only for high concentrations, and one (depending on infrared ab- sorption) is the only generally practical field instrument. A distinction is made between the direct measurement of CO emission from stacks, exhausts, and factories on the one hand and the much lower readings for ambient, polluted atmospheres. The term 'immission level' is used throughout the book to refer to the blended level of added CO as contrasted with the 'emission level' that refers to the actual output from sources. 'Immission' readings are always smaller than 'emission' readings.

(2) Comparison of combustion engines. If all of W. Germany were underneath a glass bell jar, the accumumulated CO from motor vehicles, allowing for an oxidation rate destroying the CO of 0.05 ~ h -1, would come to 300 ppb. If the volume instead were the world atmosphere and the source all motor vehicle in the world, the dilution would lead to only 3 ppb. Industrial safety standards set a maximum allowable level at 50 ppm for 8 h exposure (but see later), hence 160 to 16000 times greater than the vehicle figures cited. Clearly, the concern is for pockets of CO in metropolitan areas at traffic junctions and in tunnels. Further material on engines includes comparison of ordinary (Otto) engines, diesels, Wankels, gas turbines, and steam engines that may be of great interest to readers.

(3) Atmospheric mixing. While blending of CO with the atmosphere is rapid, ambient levels on the edges of highways, in tunnels, as well as in residential areas are different from those in the open countryside. Many typical areas have been studied, including lakes, with and without motor boats.

(4) Human factors. An earlier conference in 1967 set the tolerance limit at 80 ppm for a 1 h ex- posure and 16 ppm for an 8 h exposure. This is now felt to be too high. Extensive material is given on human reactions at all levels of CO, under conditions of rest and exercise. Pathology of CO exposure is given, including a statement that for heavy smokers, the CO rather than the nicotine is responsible for arteriosclerosis, the risk even for moderate smokers being higher by a factor of 3 than for non-

126 BOOK REV~WS

smokers. Psychological and neurological responses following CO exposure are also discussed. Reac- tions to CO at total pressures in excess of 1 atmosphere are treated, but combinations such as Pb and CO concurrently are not covered.

The book is a useful, updated compilation of CO as a contaminant in air.

Palo Alto, California ROBERT N. VARNEY