Top

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change

Published in:

21-06-2019 | Original Article

Co-control of carbon dioxide and air pollutant emissions in China from a cost-effective perspective

Authors: Lining Wang, Han Chen, Wenying Chen

Published in: Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change | Issue 7/2020

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config

AI-assisted search

Off

Abstract

With increases in the economy and standards of living, energy consumption has grown significantly in China, which has resulted in serious local air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Because both carbon dioxide (CO₂) and air pollutant emissions mainly stem from fossil energy use, a co-control strategy is simulated and compared with single control in China, using an integrated assessment model (Global Change Assessment Model-Tsinghua University (GCAM-TU)) in this paper. We find that end-of-pipe (EOP) control measures play an important role in reducing air pollution in the near future, but in the long run, optimizing the energy system is an effective way to control both emissions. Reducing air pollutant might take a “free-ride” of decarbonizing the energy system. Compared with a single control of air pollutants, a co-control strategy is likely to reduce the requirement of EOP control measures. The result guides the Chinese government to consider a systemic and scientific plan for decarbonizing the energy system and co-controlling CO₂ and air pollutant, in order to avoid duplicate investments in infrastructure and lockup effect. The solution could be extended to many other developing countries, such as India and Africa, which is helpful to realize the goals of United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Agenda.

next article Can a low-carbon development path achieve win-win development: evidence from China’s low-carbon pilot policy

Available only for authorised users

Allen MR, Frame DJ, Huntingford C, Jones CD, Lowe JA, Meinshausen M (2009) Warming caused by cumulative carbon emissions towards the trillionth tonne. Nature 458(7242):1163–1166

Chang, Y., 2007. Discussion on desulfurization process and its elements of selected process in coal burning power plant. J Meteorol Environ (5), 57–61 (in Chinese)

Chen W, Yin X, Zhang H (2016) Towards low carbon development in China: a comparison of national and global models. Clim Chang 136(1):95–108

Clarke L, Edmonds J, Krey V, Richels R, Rose S, Tavoni M (2008) International climate policy architectures: overview of the EMF22 international scenarios. Energ Econ 31(1):S64–S81

Clarke L, Kim SH, Edmonds JA, Dooley JJ (2009) CO₂ emissions mitigation and technological advance: an updated analysis of advanced technology scenarios. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Washington, DC

Clarke L, Krey V, Weyant J, Chaturvedi V (2012) Regional energy system variation in global models: results from the Asian modeling exercise scenarios. Energ. Econ. 34(2):S293–S305

Dong, H., Dai, H., Dong, L., Fujita, T., Geng, Y., Klimont, Z., Inoue, T., Bunya, S., Fujii, M., Masui, T., 2015. Pursuing air pollutant co-benefits of CO₂ mitigation in China: a provincial leveled analysis. Appl. Energ.144, 165–174.GCAM wiki, 2016. Available at: http://jgcri.github.io/gcam-doc/

Duan H, Mo J, Fan Y, Wang S (2018a) Achieving China’s energy and climate policy targets in 2030 under multiple uncertainties. Energy Econ 70:45–60

Duan H, Zhang G, Wang S, Fan Y (2018b) Robust climate change research: a review on multi-model analysis. Environ Res Lett 14:033001

Grubb M, Fu S, Spencer T et al (2015) A review of Chinese CO2 emission projections to 2030: the role of economic structure and policy. Clim. Policy S1:S7–S39

Guo J, Zhang YJ, Zhang KB (2018) The key sectors for energy conservation and carbon emissions reduction in China: evidence from the input-output method. J Clean Prod 179:180–190

Han Y, Li X, Liu YJ, Gao ZP, Cai B (2016) Low-NOx combustion technical reconstruction on 330 MW Boiler. Inner Mongolia Electric Power 34(05):63–66 79 (in Chinese)

Huang L, Miu M, Chen M, Qin C (2011) Comparison between limestone - gypsum and ammonia wet flue gas desulphurization technologies. Elec Power Tech and Environ Protection 27(5):26–28 (in Chinese)

IEA (International Energy Agency) (2016) Energy and air pollution: WEO 2016 special report. Available at: htpps://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/airpollution. Accessed 02 March 2017

IIASA (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis) (2014) GAINS (greenhouse gas and air pollution interactions and synergies China model. Available at: http://gains.iiasa.ac.at/models/. Accessed 02 May 2015)

Institute of Economics Research of Renmin University (2016) Analysis and predictions of macroeconomic development of China (in Chinese). China Renmin University Press, Beijing

Jia X, Xin G, Qian Y, Qian Y (2015) Sectoral co-control of air pollutants: case of a chlor-alkali/polyvinyl chloride sector in China. J Clean Prod 112(2):1667–1675

Jiang P, Chen Y, Geng Y, Dong W, Xue B, Xu B, Li W (2013) Analysis of the co-benefits of climate change mitigation and air pollution reduction in China. J Clean Prod 58:130–137

Li ST, He JW (2010) In Computable general equilibrium model of China and its applications. Economic and Scientific Press: Beijing, China (in Chinese)

Li X, Qiao Y, Shi L (2016) The aggregate effect of air pollution regulation on CO₂ mitigation in China’s manufacturing industry: an econometric analysis. J Clean Prod 142:976–984

Li P, Lou F, Wang HW (2017) Analysis and forecast of China’s total economy and its structure from 2016–2035 (in Chinese). Eng Sci 19(1):13–20

Ma D, Chen W, Xiang Y, Wang L (2015) Quantifying the co-benefits of decarbonisation in China’s steel sector: an integrated assessment approach. Appl Energ 162:1225–1237

Mao X, Zeng A, Hu T, Zhou J, Xing Y, Liu S (2013) Co-control of local air pollutants and CO₂ in the Chinese iron and steel industry. Environ Sci Technol 47(21):12002–12010

Mao XQ, Zeng A, Hu T, Xing YK, Zhou J, Liu ZY (2014) Co-control of local air pollutants and CO₂ from the Chinese coal-fired power industry. J Clean Prod 67(6):220–227

Matthews HD, Gillett NP, Stott PA, Zickfeld K (2009) The proportionality of global warming to cumulative carbon emissions. Nature 459(7248):829–832

Meinshausen M, Jeffery L, Guetschow J, Robiou du Pont Y, Rogelj J, Schaeffer M, Höhne N, den Elzen M, Oberthür S, Meinshausen N (2015) National post-2020 greenhouse gas targets and diversity-aware leadership. Nat Clim Chang 5:1098–1106

MEP (Ministry of Environmental Protection) (2016) The interim report on the implementation of the action plan for air pollution prevention and control. Available at: http://www.zhb.gov.cn/xxgk/hjyw/201607/t20160706_357205.shtml (In Chinese)

Ministry of Environmental Protection (2015) China statistical yearbook on environment 2015. China Statistics Press, Beijing

Mitsubishi Research Institute (2017) Medium and long-term global economic outlook (2017–2030). Available at https://www.mri.co.jp/english/news/uploadfiles/enr20181002pec.pdf

Nam KM, Waugh CJ, Paltsev S, Reilly JM, Karplus VJ (2014) Synergy between pollution and carbon emissions control: comparing China and the United States. Energ. Econ. 46(C):186–201

Pan X, Chen W, Clarke LE, Wang L, Liu G (2017) China’s energy system transformation towards the 2 °C goal: implications of different effort-sharing principles. Energ Policy 103:116–126

Peng W, Yang J, Wagner F, Mauzerall DL (2017) Substantial air quality and climate co-benefits achievable now with sectoral mitigation strategies in China. Sci Total Environ 598:1076–1084

Radu OB, Berg MVD, Klimont Z, Deetman S, Janssens-Maenhout G, Muntean M (2016) Exploring synergies between climate and air quality policies using long-term global and regional emission scenarios. Atmos Environ 140:577–591

Rao S, Pachauri S, Dentener F, Kinney P, Klimont Z, Riahi K, Wolfgang S (2013) Better air for better health: forging synergies in policies for energy access, climate change and air pollution. Global Environ Chang 23(5):1122–1130

Sang R, Wu L, Xie J (2004) Research on the mechanism of formation and control of NOx emission for 600MW coal-fired boiler. Zhejiang Electric Power 5:4–8 (in Chinese)

Song M, Cui L (2016) Economic evaluation of Chinese electricity price marketization based on dynamic computational general equilibrium model. Comput Ind Eng 101:614–628

The State Council (2013) Action plan of air pollution prevention and control. Available at: http://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2013-09/12/content_2486773.htm. (In Chinese)

The State Council (2017) Population development plan 2016–2030. Available at: http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2017-01/25/content_5163309.htm. (In Chinese)

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (2015) Adoption of the Paris Agreement (1/CP.21). United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Paris

Wang Y (2008) Summary of current status and development of flue gas desulphurisation process in heat engine plants. S P& Related Engineering 6:4-7 (in Chinese)

Wang Z, Wang Y (2005) Technology of NOx out of flue-gas in power plant. Jilin Electric Power 6:1–5 (in Chinese)

Wang L, Patel PL, Yu S, Liu B, Mcleod J, Clarke LE, Chen W (2016) Win–win strategies to promote air pollutant control policies and non-fossil energy target regulation in China. Appl Energ 163:244–253

Wang L, Chen W, Zhang H, Ma D (2017) Dynamic equity carbon permit allocation scheme to limit global warming to two degrees. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change 22(4):609–628

Wang L, Chen W, Pan X, Li N, Wang H, Li D, Chen H (2018) Scale and benefit of global carbon markets under the 2 °C goal: integrated modeling and an effort-sharing platform. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change 23:1207–1223. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-018-9781-4CrossRef

World Bank (2017) World development indicators, international financial statistics of the IMF, projected real gross domestic product (GDP) and growth rates of GDP for baseline countries/regions. 2010–2030

Wu Q, He X, Zhu T, Yang C (2010) Current situation and development of flue gas desulfurization in coal-fired enterprise of China. Clean Coal Technology 16(2):80–83 in Chinese

Wu D, Ma X, Zhang S (2018) Integrating synergistic effects of air pollution control technologies: more cost-effective approach in the coal-fired sector in China. J Clean Prod 199:1035–1042

Xu Y, Guan D (2008) On flue-gas desulphurisation technique and desulphurization processing selection for coal-fired power plant. Northeast Electric Power Technology 6:7–11 (in Chinese)

Yang H (2007) Study on clean production measure of coal washing. Shandong University, Shandong (in Chinese)

Yang X, Teng F (2018) Air quality benefit of China’s mitigation target to peak its emission by 2030. Clim Pol 18(1):99–110

Zhang YJ, Zhang KB (2018) The linkage of CO₂ emissions for China, EU, and USA: evidence from the regional and sectoral analyses. Environ Sci Pollut R 25(20):20179–20192

Zhang YJ, Bian XJ, Tan W (2018) The linkages of sectoral carbon dioxide emission caused by household consumption in China: evidence from the hypothetical extraction method. Empir Econ 54(4):1743–1775

Zhou N, Lynn P, Dai Y et al (2019) A roadmap for China to peak carbon dioxide emissions and achieve a 20% share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy by 2030. Appl Energ 239:793–819

Title: Co-control of carbon dioxide and air pollutant emissions in China from a cost-effective perspective
Authors: Lining Wang
Han Chen
Wenying Chen
Publication date: 21-06-2019
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Published in: Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change / Issue 7/2020
Print ISSN: 1381-2386
Electronic ISSN: 1573-1596
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-019-09872-7

Springer Professional

Abstract

Please log in to get access to your license.

Other articles of this Issue 7/2020

Technology-side carbon abatement cost curves for China’s power generation sector

Green innovation efficiency across China’s 30 provinces: estimate, comparison, and convergence

Uncovering impact factors of carbon emissions from transportation sector: evidence from China’s Yangtze River Delta Area

Combining STRIPAT model and gated recurrent unit for forecasting nature gas consumption of China

Multi-round auctions in an emissions trading system considering firm bidding strategies and government regulations

Evaluation of cooperative mitigation: captured carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery