scholarly journals Transportation Carbon Emissions from a Perspective of Sustainable Development in Major Cities of Yangtze River Delta, China

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 192
Author(s):  
Jialin Liu ◽  
Yi Zhu ◽  
Qun Zhang ◽  
Fangyan Cheng ◽  
Xi Hu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Yangtze River ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Yangtze River Delta ◽  
River Delta ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Estimation Model ◽  
Environmental Interventions ◽  
The Yrd

Since the late 1990s, the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) has experienced profound growth in economic scales and urban size. However, it is still unclear how much energy is consumed from both fossil fuel and electricity usage for transportation sectors (TCO2). We take 10 sampled cities in the YRD as examples and examine their city-level sustainable levels from 1990 to 2018. Then, we observed that SHSN (Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing) are in leading positions, followed by WCN (Wuxi, Changzhou, Ningbo) and NXH (Nantong, Xuzhou, Hefei). We found that the cumulative TCO2 in SHSN from 1990 to 2018 is the highest among groups, which is mainly due to the earlier industrialization in history. In 2018, SHSN had the highest TCO2 (623.9 × 104 t), WCN was 311.9 × 104 t, and NXH was 166.4 × 104 t. TCO2 per capita in SHSN reached its minimal (≈0.12 t) in 2018 among 29 years, while WCN and NXH shared the same levels (≈0.07 t). This could be attributed to the dense population and a series of low carbon policies announced in SHSN and WCN. NXH is still in the stage of high demands on economic-centered development. The primary source for TCO2 in the YRD is fossil fuels. The TCO2 contributed by transportation electricity usage is continually increasing, especially after 2010. This phenomenon represents that electricity can be a significant part of the YRD’s transportation sectors’ energy consumption shortly. A complex estimation model uncovers the complexity between the economy, environment, and carbon emissions in the YRD, which indicated that the decrease of TCO2 in YRD could not be regulated solely by economic or environmental interventions. This study highlighted the urgency for socio-economic adjustments from carbonized to decarbonized structures in the YRD.

scholarly journals Interpreting the <sup>13</sup>C  ∕ <sup>12</sup>C ratio of carbon dioxide in an urban airshed in the Yangtze River Delta, China

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 3385-3399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiaping Xu ◽  
Xuhui Lee ◽  
Wei Xiao ◽  
Chang Cao ◽  
Shoudong Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mole Fraction ◽  
Yangtze River ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Yangtze River Delta ◽  
River Delta ◽  
Atmospheric Co2 ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Carbon Cycles ◽  
The Yrd

Abstract. Observations of atmospheric CO2 mole fraction and the 13C ∕ 12C ratio (expressed as δ13C) in urban airsheds provide constraints on the roles of anthropogenic and natural sources and sinks in local and regional carbon cycles. In this study, we report observations of these quantities in Nanjing at hourly intervals from March 2013 to August 2015, using a laser-based optical instrument. Nanjing is the second largest city located in the highly industrialized Yangtze River Delta (YRD), eastern China. The mean CO2 mole fraction and δ13C were (439.7 ± 7.5) µmol mol−1 and (−8.48 ± 0.56) ‰ over this observational period. The peak monthly mean δ13C (−7.44 ‰, July 2013) was 0.74 ‰ higher than that observed at Mount Waliguan, a WMO (World Meteorological Organization) baseline site on the Tibetan Plateau and upwind of the YRD region. The highly 13C-enriched signal was partly attributed to the influence of cement production in the region. By applying the Miller–Tans method to nighttime and daytime observations to represent signals from the city of Nanjing and the YRD, respectively, we showed that the 13C ∕ 12C ratio of CO2 sources in the Nanjing municipality was (0.21 ± 0.53) ‰ lower than that in the YRD. Flux partitioning calculations revealed that natural ecosystems in the YRD were a negligibly small source of atmospheric CO2.

scholarly journals The influence of spatiality on shipping emissions, air quality and potential human exposure in Yangtze River Delta/Shanghai, China

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junlan Feng ◽  
Yan Zhang ◽  
Shanshan Li ◽  
Jingbo Mao ◽  
Allison P. Patton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Yangtze River ◽  
Human Exposure ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Yangtze River Delta ◽  
River Delta ◽  
Population Exposure ◽  
Inland Water ◽  
The Yrd ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and the megacity of Shanghai are host to one of the busiest port clusters in the world, the region also suffers from high levels of air pollution. The goal of this study was to estimate the contributions of shipping to emissions, air quality, and population exposure and characterize their dependence on the geographic spatiality of ship lanes from the regional scale to city scale for 2015. The WRF-CMAQ model was used to simulate the influence of coastal and inland-water shipping, in port emissions, shipping-related cargo transport on air quality and, population-weighted concentrations, a measure of human exposure. Our results showed that the impact of shipping on air quality in the YRD was attributable primarily to shipping emissions within 12 NM of shore, but emissions coming from the coastal area of 24 to 96 NM still contributed substantially to ship-related PM2.5 concentrations in YRD. The overall contribution of ships to PM2.5 concentration in YRD could reach to 4.62 μg/m3 in summer when monsoon winds transport shipping emissions onshore. In Shanghai city, inland-water going ships were major contributors (40–80 %) to the shipping impact on urban air quality. Given the proximity of inland-water ships to urban populations of Shanghai, the emissions of inland-water ships contributed more to population-weighted concentrations. These research results provide scientific evidence to inform policies for controlling future shipping emissions; in particular, stricter standards could be considered for the ships on inland rivers and other waterways close to residential regions.

scholarly journals Integrating Sustainability Assessment into Decoupling Analysis: A Focus on the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomerations

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 7872
Author(s):  
Yijia Huang ◽  
Jiaqi Zhang ◽  
Jinqun Wu
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Yangtze River ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Yangtze River Delta ◽  
River Delta ◽  
The Yangtze River ◽  
Urban Agglomerations ◽  
Decoupling Analysis ◽  
The Yrd ◽  
The Yangtze River Delta

Rapid urbanization has led to a growing number of environmental challenges in large parts of China, where the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) urban agglomerations serve as a typical example. To evaluate the relationship between environmental sustainability gaps and urbanization in 26 cities of the YRD, this study revisited the environmental sustainability assessment (ESA) by combining the metrics of environmental footprints and planetary boundaries at the city level, and then integrated the footprint-boundary ESA framework into decoupling analysis. The results demonstrated considerable spatiotemporal heterogeneity in the environmental sustainability of water use, land use, carbon emissions, nitrogen emissions, phosphorus emissions and PM2.5 emissions across the YRD cities during the study period 2007–2017. Decoupling analysis revealed a positive sign that more than half of the 26 cities had achieved the decoupling of each category of environmental sustainability gaps from urbanization since 2014, especially for nitrogen and phosphorus emissions. On the basis of ESA and decoupling analysis, all the cities were categorized into six patterns, for which the optimal pathways towards sustainable development were discussed in depth. Our study will assist policy makers in formulating more tangible and differentiated policies to achieve decoupling between environmental sustainability gaps and urbanization.

scholarly journals Integrating Ecosystem Services Supply–Demand and Spatial Relationships for Intercity Cooperation: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Delta

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 4131
Author(s):  
Wenbo Cai ◽  
Tong Wu ◽  
Wei Jiang ◽  
Wanting Peng ◽  
Yongli Cai
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Yangtze River ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Spatial Relations ◽  
Yangtze River Delta ◽  
River Delta ◽  
Spatial Relationships ◽  
Environmental Cooperation ◽  
The Yrd

Transboundary environmental problems caused by urban expansion and economic growth cannot be solved by individual cities. Successful intercity environmental cooperation relies on the clear identification and definition of the rights and obligations of each city. An Ecosystem services (ES) approach not only budgets the ES supply and demand of a city, but also defines the spatial relationships between Services Provisioning Areas (SPA) and Services Benefiting Areas (SBA). However, to date, quantitative studies integrating ES budgets and spatial relations have been scarce. This study integrates ecosystem services supply–demand budgeting with flow direction analysis to identify intercity environmental cooperation in the highly urbanized Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region of China for water-related ecosystem services (flood protection, erosion regulation and water purification). The results demonstrated that there were significant spatial mismatches in the supply and demand of three water-related ES among 16 core cities in the YRD region: five to six cities in the southern part of the region had significant service surpluses, while ten to 11 cities in the north–central part had significant service deficits. We then went on to offer definitions for Ecosystem Services Surplus City, Ecosystem Services Deficit City and Ecosystem Services Balance City, as well as Service Provisioning City, Service Benefiting City and Service Connecting City in which to categorize cities in the YRD Region. Furthermore, we identified two intercity cooperation types and two non-cooperation types. This framework can be used to promote ecological integration in highly urbanized regions to advance sustainable development.

scholarly journals Integrated studies of a regional ozone pollution synthetically affected by subtropical high and typhoon system in the Yangtze River Delta region, China

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Shu ◽  
Min Xie ◽  
Tijian Wang ◽  
Pulong Chen ◽  
Yong Han ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Yangtze River ◽  
Western Pacific Subtropical High ◽  
Yangtze River Delta ◽  
River Delta ◽  
Western Pacific ◽  
Subtropical High ◽  
The Yangtze River ◽  
Observational Analysis ◽  
The Yrd ◽  
The Yangtze River Delta

Abstract. Severe high ozone (O3) episodes usually have close relations to synoptic systems. A regional continuous O3 pollution episode is detected over the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region in China during August 7–12, 2013, in which the O3 concentrations in more than half of the cities exceeding the national air quality standard. The maximum hourly concentration of O3 reaches 167.1 ppb. By means of the observational analysis and the WRF/CMAQ numerical simulation, the characteristics and the essential impact factors of the typical regional O3 pollution is integratedly investigated. The observational analysis shows that the atmospheric subsidence dominated by Western Pacific subtropical high plays a crucial role in the formation of high-level O3. The favorable weather conditions, such as extremely high temperature, low relative humidity and weak wind speed, caused by the abnormal strong subtropical high are responsible for the trapping and the chemical production of O3 in the boundary layer. In addition, when the YRD cities at the front of Typhoon Utor, the periphery circulation of typhoon system can enhance the downward airflows and cause worse air pollution. But when the typhoon system weakens the subtropical high, the prevailing southeasterly surface wind leads to the mitigation of the O3 pollution. The Integrated Process Rate (IPR) analysis incorporated in CMAQ is applied to further illustrate the combined influence of subtropical high and typhoon system in this O3 episode. The results show that the vertical diffusion (VDIF) and the gas-phase chemistry (CHEM) are two major contributors to O3 formation. During the episode, the contributions of VDIF and CHEM to O3 maintain the high values over 10 ppb/h in Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Nanjing. On August 10–11, the cities close to the sea are apparently affected by the typhoon system, with the contribution of VDIF increasing to 28.45 ppb/h in Shanghai and 19.76 ppb/h in Hangzhou. When the YRD region is under the control of the typhoon system, the contribution values of all individual processes decrease to a low level in all cities. These results provide an insight for the O3 pollution synthetically impacted by the Western Pacific subtropical high and the tropical cyclone system.

scholarly journals Source, transport and impacts of a heavy dust event in the Yangtze River Delta, China in 2011

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 21507-21540
Author(s):  
X. Fu ◽  
S. X. Wang ◽  
Z. Cheng ◽  
J. Xing ◽  
B. Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Yangtze River ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Yangtze River Delta ◽  
River Delta ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
The Yangtze River ◽  
Dust Event ◽  
The Yrd ◽  
The Yangtze River Delta

Abstract. During 1 to 6 May 2011, a dust event was observed in the Yangtze River Delta region (YRD). The highest PM10 concentration reached over 1000 μg m−3 and the visibility was below 3 km. In this study, the Community Multi-scale Air Quality modeling system (CMAQ5.0) coupled with an in-line windblown dust model was used to simulate the formation, spatial and temporal characteristics of this dust event, and analyze its impacts on deposition and photochemistry. The threshold friction velocity for loose smooth surface in the dust model was revised based on Chinese data to improve the model performance. The comparison between predictions and observations indicates the revised model can reproduce the transport and pollution of the event. The simulation results show that the dust event was affected by formation and transport of Mongolian cyclone and cold air. Totally about 695 kt dust particles (PM10) were emitted in Xinjiang Province and Mongolia during 28 to 30 April, the dust band swept northern, eastern China and then arrived in the YRD region on 1 May 2011. The transported dust particles increased the mean surface layer concentrations of PM10 in the YRD region by 372% during 1 to 6 May and the impacts weakened from north to south due to the removal of dust particles along the path. Accompanied by high PM concentration, the dry deposition, wet deposition and total deposition of PM10 in the YRD reached 184.7 kt, 172.6 kt and 357.32 kt, respectively. These deposited particles are very harmful because of their impacts on urban environment as well as air quality and human health when resuspending in the atmosphere. Due to the impacts of mineral dust on atmospheric photolysis, the concentrations of O3 and OH were reduced by 1.5% and 3.1% in the whole China, and by 9.4% and 12.1% in the YRD region, respectively. The work of this manuscript is meaningful for understanding the dust emissions in China as well as for the application of CMAQ in Asia. It is also helpful to understand the formation mechanism and impacts of dust pollution in the YRD.

scholarly journals Measurement report: Long-term variations in carbon monoxide at a background station in China's Yangtze River Delta region

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yijing Chen ◽  
Qianli Ma ◽  
Weili Lin ◽  
Xiaobin Xu ◽  
Jie Yao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Monoxide ◽  
Yangtze River ◽  
Yangtze River Delta ◽  
River Delta ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Mixing Ratios ◽  
Significant Downward Trend ◽  
The Yrd ◽  
Long Term Variations

Abstract. This study analyzed the long-term variations in carbon monoxide (CO) mixing ratios from January 2006 to December 2017 at the Lin'an regional atmospheric background station (LAN; 30.3° N, 119.73° E, 138 m a.s.l.) in China's Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region. The CO mixing ratios were at their highest (0.69 ± 0.08 ppm) and lowest (0.54 ± 0.06 ppm) in winter and summer, respectively. The average daily variation of CO exhibited a double-peaked pattern, with peaks in the morning and evening and a valley in the afternoon. A significant downward trend of −11.3 ppb/yr of CO was observed from 2006 to 2017 at the LAN station, which was in accordance with the negative trend of the average CO mixing ratios and total column retrieved from the satellite data (the Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere, MOPITT) over the YRD region during the same period. The average annual CO mixing ratio at the LAN station in 2017 was 0.51 ± 0.04 ppm, which was significantly lower than that (0.71 ± 0.12 ppm) in 2006. The decrease in CO levels was largest in autumn (−15.7 ppb/yr), followed by summer (−11.1 ppb/yr), spring (−10.8 ppb/yr), and winter (−9.7 ppb/yr). Moreover, the CO levels under relatively polluted conditions (the annually 95th percentiles) declined even more rapidly (−22.4 ppb/yr, α = 0.05, r = −0.68) from 2006 (0.91 ppm) to 2017 (0.58 ppm) and the CO levels under clean conditions (the annually 5th percentiles) were relatively stable throughout the years. The long-term decline and short-term variations in the CO mixing ratios at the LAN station were mainly attributed to the implementation of the anthropogenic pollution control measures in the YRD region and to the events like Shanghai Expo in 2020 and Hangzhou G20 in 2016. The decreased CO level may influence atmospheric chemistry over the region. The average OH reactivity of CO at the LAN station is estimated to significantly drop from 4.1 ± 0.7 s-1 in 2006 to 3.0 ± 0.3 s-1 in 2017.

scholarly journals The Influencing Effects of Industrial Eco-Efficiency on Carbon Emissions in the Yangtze River Delta

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (23) ◽  
pp. 8169
Author(s):  
Zaijun Li ◽  
Xiang Zheng ◽  
Dongqi Sun
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Correlation ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Yangtze River ◽  
Temporal Correlation ◽  
Yangtze River Delta ◽  
River Delta ◽  
Direct And Indirect Effects ◽  
The Yangtze River ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
The Yangtze River Delta

A low-carbon economy is the most important requirement to realize high-quality integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta. Utilizing the following models: a super-efficiency slacks-based measure model, a spatio-temporal correlation model, a bivariate LISA model, a spatial econometric model, and a geographically weighted random forest model, this study measured urban industrial eco-efficiency (IEE) and then analyzed its influencing effects on carbon emission in the Yangtze River Delta from 2000 to 2017. The influencing factors included spatio-temporal correlation intensity, spatio-temporal association type, direct and indirect impacts, and local importance impacts. Findings showed that: (1) The temporal correlation intensity between IEE and scale efficiency (SE) and carbon emissions exhibited an inverted V-shaped variation trend, while the temporal correlation intensity between pure technical efficiency (PTE) and carbon emissions exhibited a W-shaped fluctuation trend. The negative spatial correlation between IEE and carbon emissions was mainly distributed in the developed cities of the delta, while the positive correlation was mainly distributed in central Anhui Province and Yancheng and Taizhou cities. The spatial correlation between PTE and carbon emissions exhibited a spatial pattern of being higher in the central part of the delta and lower in the northern and southern parts. The negative spatial correlation between SE and carbon emissions was mainly clustered in Zhejiang Province and scattered in Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, with the cities with positive correlations being concentrated around two locations: the junction of Anhui and Jiangsu provinces, and within central Jiangsu Province. (2) The direct and indirect effects of IEE on carbon emissions were significantly negative, indicating that IEE contributed to reducing carbon emissions. The direct impact of PTE on carbon emissions was also significantly negative, while its indirect effect was insignificant. Both the direct and indirect effects of SE on carbon emissions were significantly negative. (3) It was found that the positive effect of IEE was more likely to alleviate the increase in carbon emissions in northern Anhui City. Further, PTE was more conducive to reducing the increase in carbon emissions in northwestern Anhui City, southern Zhejiang City, and in other cities including Changzhou and Wuxi. Finally, it was found that SE played a relatively important role in reducing the increase in carbon emissions only in four cities: Changzhou, Suqian, Lu’an, and Wenzhou.

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