Texas has some of the worst air quality in the country due to emissions from oil refineries and vehicles. Two proposed solutions are to enforce clean air laws on refineries like ExxonMobil, which broke laws over 4,000 times, and require vehicles to use after-market emissions devices like the H2Hypod, which converts vehicles into hybrids to reduce emissions by up to 30%. Stricter regulations on refineries and commercial fleets could improve air quality and public health in Texas.

1. Cleaning Up
Texas Air
WENDY LILE
OCTOBER 19, 2014
SCIN140
PROFESSOR JOHN ROOU

2. “The majority of air toxics come
from manmade sources, such as
factory smokestack emissions and
motor vehicle exhaust.”
- Environmental Protection Agency, 2012

3. Texas air quality is some of the worst in the country. In their
2014 State of the Air report, American Lung Association ranked
Houston-The Woodlands 6th and Dallas-Fort Worth 8th out of
277 metropolitan areas in the country for the worst ozone
pollution. We are the biggest carbon dioxide producer and we
also fail to meet standards set by the EPA for annual particle
pollution.
ExxonMobil in Baytown, Texas
Largest oil refinery and chemical plant in America and broke
clean air laws more than 4,000 times in 5 years.
Downtown Houston, Texas
Our two main issues are
refinery pollution and
vehicle emissions, but Texas
is not doing enough about
them. The following are
some feasible solutions.

4. Solution 1:
Enforcing the Clean Air Act on oil refineries
“Federal regulations thus need to be updated to take into account the current
state of knowledge on how industrial flares work in practice, and on how they
can be operated far more efficiently than they are. You also need to set a hard
cap on flaring to ban routine emissions.”
“Stationary monitors are few and far between, and they are simply not capable
of reliably detecting plumes of pollution from relatively short-lived upset
events or from specific point sources of emissions. Only fence line monitors
can reliably do that.”
“Only stricter federal emission requirements will force companies like Exxon to
prioritize pollution reduction over profits.”
– Luke Metzger, Environment Texas

5. Costs
The only costs of implementing
this strategy is the time that it
takes to file the lawsuits and go
through extensive litigation with
each refinery. Since the ultimate
goal is to update federal
regulations for refinery pollution,
these costs should only be
temporary.
Lyondell Basell in La Porte, Texas

6. Benefits
• The new standards will cut oil refinery emissions up to 98% and
remove 5,600 tons of harmful chemicals from our Texas air each
year and 33,000 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
• In reducing their toxic emissions, refineries would be improving
the overall public health of the surrounding communities.
• Incorporating the new standards, including the addition of
numerous fence-line monitors, will create new jobs for the
community.
• Toxic emissions, such as benzene, toluene and xylene, would be
reduced by approximately 1,800 tons.

7. Solution 2:
H2Hypod, an after-market vehicle emissions control device
Click here to learn more about the H2Hypod
If these devices were a
requirement for
commercial fleets, or
even just a temporary
option of EPA
compliance and second
only to true hybrid
vehicles, we could cut
greenhouse gases and
reduce some of our
dependence on oil.

8. H2Hypod
How it works
The H2Hypod transforms any type of regular
vehicle into a hybrid by splitting distilled
water into hydrogen and oxygen (H2O2) by
electrolysis.
H2Hypod is connected to the air intake and
the electrical system to inject the H2O2 just
before the air filter where it combines with
incoming air and fuel mixture flowing into
the engine.

9. Costs
Implementing the H2Hypod
Even though the devices come with a decent price for what they are worth,
their use is only voluntary for the general public.
The main cost of implementing a requirement for such a device for our
commercial Texas drivers would be the work that goes into convincing
state agencies of their worth. This includes the time needed for testing,
analyses, and reports.
The EPA and other state environment groups, such as Environment Texas,
could push for emission control devices to be required by law for vehicles,
just as they do for refineries.

10. Costs
Pricing

11. Costs
Pricing

12. Benefits
• More miles to the gallon
• Less fuel consumption and reduced fuel costs
• More efficient fuel burning lowers emissions up to 30%
• Streamlined combustion creates a cleaner engine so it runs smoother
• Reduces “disruptive harmonics to chassis and operator”
• Produces better torque
• H2Hypod has different models for every type of vehicle ranging from small
engines, such as motorcycles and generators, to farm equipment and semi
trucks
Click here for fuel economy test results, engine performance test results, and testimonials.

13. With both of these solutions in place, the state of
Texas could see tremendous improvements in its air
quality in just a short period of time.

14. American Lung Association (ALA). (2014). State of the Air report 2014.
Retrieved from http://www.stateoftheair.org/2014/states/texas/
montgomery-48339.html
Clker.com. (n.d.). Texas clip art [Online image].
Retrieved from http://www.clker.com/clipart-texas-star-8.html
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (2014). EPA fact sheet [PDF file]. Retrieved from
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/petrefine/20140515factsheet.pdf
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (2012). Reducing toxic air pollutants.
Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/airquality/peg_caa/toxics.html
Environment Texas. (2014). Texas clean air project. Retrieved from
http://www.environmenttexas.org/programs/txe/texas-clean-air-project
Environment Texas. (2014). Texas clean air project [Online image]. Retrieved from
http://www.environmenttexas.org/programs/txe/texas-clean-air-project
H2Hypod: How it works. (2014). How the H2Hypod works. Retrieved from
http://h2hypod-water4gas.com/how-the-h2hypod-works/
H2Hypod. (2014). H2Hypod products and pricing [Online image]. Retrieved from http://h2hypod-water4gas.
com/h2hypod-products/
H2Hypod Sales. (2014, Oct). H2Hypod: The Future Is Now [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0N51wlmZ_E
References

15. Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC). (2014, Mar 27). Houston’s
air-quality issues: Interlinking problems [Web log]. Retrieved from
http://www.harc.edu/features/Houston%E2%80%99s_air-quality_
issues_Interlinking_problems
Lashof, D. (2014, Jun 6). Cleaner and cheaper: Using the clean air act to sharply reduce carbon
pollution from existing power plants. Retrieved from http://www.nrdc.org/air/pollution-standards/
default.asp
Metzger, L. (2014). EPA proposes new rules to cut refinery pollution [Web log]. Retrieved from
http://www.environmenttexas.org/blogs/blog/txe/epa-proposes-new-rules-cut-refinery-pollution
Norsworthy, M. (2014). Texas Air Quality Has Improved in Spite of State’s Flawed Approach to
Environmental Protection [Online image]. Retrieved from
http://blogs.edf.org/texascleanairmatters/2014/06/05/texas-air-quality-has-improved-in-spite-
of-states-flawed-approach-to-environmental-protection/
Search Pictures Photos. (n.d.). Texas outline clip art [Online image]. Retrieved from
http://searchpp.com/texas-outline-clip-art/
Stevenson, C. (2013). Refinery in La Porte [Online image]. Retrieved from
https://www.flickr.com/photos/77020542@N07/10880524993/
Zhro. (2014). Zhro retrofit kit [Online image]. Retrieved from http://www.zhro.com/
References