Simulation of total coal consumption control under air quality constraints based on machine vision

Coal regulation has been implemented throughout China. However, the potential benefits of pollution abatement and the co-benefits of residents’ health were rarely assessed. In this study, based on the analysis of historical coal consumption and multiple coal regulation measures in Anhui Province, China, four scenarios (Business as Usual (BU), Structure Optimization (SO), Gross Consumption Control (GC), and Comprehensive Measures (CM)) were constructed to indicate four different paths from 2020 to 2060, which is a vital period for realizing carbon neutrality. The results show that reductions of SO2, PM10, and PM2.5 emissions in the SO scenario are higher than those in the GC scenario, while the reduction of NOx emission is higher in the GC scenario. Compared with the BU scenario, residents’ health benefits from 2020 to 2060 are 8.3, 4.8, and 4.5 billion USD in the CM, GC, and SO scenarios, respectively, indicating that the achievements of coal regulation are significant for health promotion. Therefore, the optimization and implementation of coal regulation in the future is not only essential for the carbon neutrality target, but also a significant method to yield environmental and health co-benefits.

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The Spatial Correlation between Foreign Direct Investment and Air Quality in China and the Potential Channel

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13116292 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (11) ◽

pp. 6292

Author(s):

Xindi Xu ◽

Xinjun Wang

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Foreign Direct Investment ◽

Air Quality ◽

Direct Investment ◽

Technology Development ◽

Thermal Power ◽

Policy Implications ◽

Coal Consumption ◽

Ecological Construction ◽

The Impact

Due to the attention given to air pollution, the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on air quality has led to many discussions on this topic; however, there is a lack of literature discussing the correlation between FDI and air quality from a spatial perspective. In China, the discontinuity of ground monitoring data further limits research in this area. Using a new air pollution dataset, this paper constructs a dynamic panel of 259 prefecture-level Chinese cities over the period 2013–2018 and reveals that FDI on average induces the pollution halo effect in host cities but shows direct correlation with air pollution in the outer conurbation areas. Further examination supports the main findings by showing that FDI presents the same correlation with coal consumption and thermal power generation of the local and the outer conurbation areas. The heterogeneity analysis finds that the industrialization stage, ecological construction, and technology development are important moderators for FDI’s pollution effect. The findings of this paper generate potential policy implications for regional green development regarding FDI.

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Natural gas shortages during the “coal-to-gas” transition in China have caused a large redistribution of air pollution in winter 2017

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-15706 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Siwen Wang ◽

Hang Su ◽

Chuchu Chen ◽

Wei Tao ◽

David Streets ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Natural Gas ◽

Southern China ◽

Clean Energy ◽

Control Measures ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Grand Challenge ◽

Low Carbon ◽

Coal Consumption

Improving air quality is an important driving force for China&#8217;s move toward clean energy. Since 2017, the &#8220;coal-to-gas&#8221; and &#8220;coal-to-electricity&#8221; strategies have been extensively implemented in northern China, aiming at reducing dispersed coal consumption and related air pollution by promoting the use of clean and low-carbon fuels. Our analyses show that on top of meteorological influences, the effective emission mitigation measures achieved an average decrease of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations of &#8764;14% in Beijing and surrounding areas (the &#8220;2+26&#8221; pilot cities) in winter 2017 compared to the same period of 2016, where the dispersed coal control measures contributed &#8764;60% of the total PM2.5 reductions. However, the localized air quality improvement was accompanied by a contemporaneous &#8764;15% upsurge of PM2.5 concentrations over large areas in southern China. We find that the pollution transfer that resulted from a shift in emissions was of a high likelihood caused by a natural gas shortage in the south due to the coal-to-gas transition in the north. The overall shortage of natural gas greatly jeopardized the air quality benefits of the coal-to-gas strategy in winter 2017 and reflects structural challenges and potential threats in China&#8217;s clean-energy transition. Our finding highlights the importance and necessity of synergy between environmental and energy policymaking to address the grand challenge of an actionable future to achieve the cobenefits of air quality, human health, and climate.

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Impact of Income Inequality on Urban Air Quality: A Game Theoretical and Empirical Study in China

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18168546 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (16) ◽

pp. 8546

Author(s):

Feng Wang ◽

Jian Yang ◽

Joshua Shackman ◽

Xin Liu

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Income Inequality ◽

Empirical Study ◽

Environmental Pollution ◽

Environmental Protection ◽

Clean Energy ◽

Quality Data ◽

Urban Air ◽

Coal Consumption ◽

The Impact

Income inequality and environmental pollution are of great concern in China. It is important to better understand whether the narrowing of income inequality and environmental improvement contradict each other. The study aims to investigate the linkage between income inequality and environmental pollution. To illustrate the interplay between different income groups on environmental issues, we apply a mixed-strategy game. Based on the game-theoretic analytical result, the probability of residents supporting clean energy and environmental protection decreases as income inequality widens and increases as inequality narrows. This empirical study is based on the proportion of coal consumption and urban air pollution data from 113 key environmental protection cities and regions in China. The air quality data are from the National Environmental Air Quality Monitoring Network published in the China Statistical Yearbook from 2014–2018. Convincing results show that regions with higher income inequality suffer severe smog and related pollution and that economies with narrow income disparity experience significant improvements in smog and pollution control, with the expansion of the proportion of clean energy use. The results also provide no evidence of the impact of per capita income on pollution. We studied the relationship between individuals of different wealth levels within an economy, within a repeated-game setting. The finding suggests that the distribution of growth impacts pollution. Imposing higher taxes on air polluters while transferring the revenue to the lower-income group is suggested.

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Natural gas shortages during the “coal-to-gas” transition in China have caused a large redistribution of air pollution in winter 2017

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.2007513117 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 117 (49) ◽

pp. 31018-31025

Author(s):

Siwen Wang ◽

Hang Su ◽

Chuchu Chen ◽

Wei Tao ◽

David G. Streets ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Natural Gas ◽

Southern China ◽

Clean Energy ◽

Control Measures ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Low Carbon ◽

Emission Mitigation ◽

Coal Consumption

The Chinese “coal-to-gas” and “coal-to-electricity” strategies aim at reducing dispersed coal consumption and related air pollution by promoting the use of clean and low-carbon fuels in northern China. Here, we show that on top of meteorological influences, the effective emission mitigation measures achieved an average decrease of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations of ∼14% in Beijing and surrounding areas (the “2+26” pilot cities) in winter 2017 compared to the same period of 2016, where the dispersed coal control measures contributed ∼60% of the total PM2.5reductions. However, the localized air quality improvement was accompanied by a contemporaneous ∼15% upsurge of PM2.5concentrations over large areas in southern China. We find that the pollution transfer that resulted from a shift in emissions was of a high likelihood caused by a natural gas shortage in the south due to the coal-to-gas transition in the north. The overall shortage of natural gas greatly jeopardized the air quality benefits of the coal-to-gas strategy in winter 2017 and reflects structural challenges and potential threats in China’s clean-energy transition.

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Strategy on China's regional coal consumption control: A case study of Shandong province

Energy Policy ◽

10.1016/j.enpol.2017.10.035 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 112 ◽

pp. 316-327 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Yiqing Zhang ◽

Chuangeng Liu ◽

Ke Li ◽

Yong Zhou

Keyword(s):

Shandong Province ◽

Coal Consumption ◽

Consumption Control

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An Empirical Mode Decomposition for Establishing Spatiotemporal Air Quality Trends in Shandong Province, China

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su132212901 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (22) ◽

pp. 12901

Author(s):

Huisheng Wu ◽

Maogui Hu ◽

Yaping Zhang ◽

Yuan Han

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Empirical Mode Decomposition ◽

Shandong Province ◽

Analysis Method ◽

Coal Consumption ◽

Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽

Mode Decomposition ◽

Adaptive Data Analysis ◽

The Government

Air pollution is a serious problem in China, and the government has taken a series of steps to solve it. However, it is still u2nclear how the situation has improved after years of atmospheric pollution control. Shandong Province, which has the second largest population and the highest coal consumption in China, was chosen to analyze the spatiotemporal air quality trends. We obtained daily air quality index (AQI) values from 91 stations in the province from 1 January 2014, to 31 December 2019, based on an adaptive data analysis method, empirical mode decomposition (EMD). The distribution of AQI in Shandong Province was heterogeneous at both spatial and temporal scales. All the stations could be divided into four clusters whose AQI trends decreased from 75 to 53, 95 to 68, 128 to 82, and 148 to 82, respectively. The overall trend of pollution became more serious from east to west in the province. The AQI is the largest in winter, followed by spring and autumn, and the smallest index occurs in summer. There are four types of annual trends of the AQI of each city. The overall downward trend indicates that the air quality of each city was improving annually.

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Application of Electron Optics to Characterization of Particulate Pollutants

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s042482010009508x ◽

1972 ◽

Vol 30 ◽

pp. 364-365

Author(s):

J. B. Moran ◽

J. L. Miller

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Quality Standards ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Hazardous Substances ◽

Fuel Additives ◽

Ambient Air Quality ◽

Air Quality Standards ◽

Emission Standards ◽

Stationary Sources ◽

Ambient Air Quality Standards

The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970 provide the basis for a dramatic change in Federal air quality programs. The Act establishes new standards for motor vehicles and requires EPA to establish national ambient air quality standards, standards of performance for new stationary sources of pollution, and standards for stationary sources emitting hazardous substances. Further, it establishes procedures which allow states to set emission standards for existing sources in order to achieve national ambient air quality standards. The Act also permits the Administrator of EPA to register fuels and fuel additives and to regulate the use of motor vehicle fuels or fuel additives which pose a hazard to public health or welfare.National air quality standards for particulate matter have been established. Asbestos, mercury, and beryllium have been designated as hazardous air pollutants for which Federal emission standards have been proposed.

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