scholarly journals Energy Costs of Reducing Industrial Sulfur Dioxide Emissions in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 10726
Author(s):  
Haiying Liu ◽  
Ying Zhong ◽  
Chunhong Zhang

With increasing environmental pollution, China has instituted corresponding environmental regulations to address environmental challenges. Estimating the costs of such environmental regulations can help governments to formulate rational environmental policies. This review estimates the costs of environmental regulations based on a novel perspective of energy consumption. Using panel data for Chinese provincial regions in 2006–2015, we developed a non-parametric directional distance function and estimated different optimal energy inputs based on data envelopment analysis under two scenarios, namely, those with and without emission reduction constraints. The gap between the two groups of optimal energy inputs facilitated the estimation of the energy costs associated with reducing SO2 (sulfur dioxide) emissions in China’s industrial sectors. The results suggest that approximately 13.40 tons of standard coal were required to reduce SO2 emissions by 1 ton, highlighting the discrepancy between energy savings and emission reduction. The energy costs of SO2 emission reduction were the highest in West China (18.63), followed by those in Central and Northeast China; meanwhile, those in East China were the lowest (9.91). The large differences between the energy costs of emission reduction in different regions indicated that economically underdeveloped areas have scope for improvement with respect to energy structures and innovation in the green technology field.

Author(s):  
Junliang Yang ◽  
Haiyan Shan

The Chinese government has made some good achievements in reducing sulfur dioxide emissions through end-of-pipe treatment. However, in order to implement the stricter target of sulfur dioxide emission reduction during the 13th “Five-Year Plan” period, it is necessary to find a new solution as quickly as possible. Thus, it is of great practical significance to identify driving factors of regional sulfur dioxide emissions to formulate more reasonable emission reduction policies. In this paper, a distinctive decomposition approach, the generalized Divisia index method (GDIM), is employed to investigate the driving forces of regional industrial sulfur dioxide emissions in Jiangsu province and its three regions during 2004–2016. The contribution rates of each factor to emission changes are also assessed. The decomposition results demonstrate that: (i) the factors promoting the increase of industrial sulfur dioxide emissions are the economic scale effect, industrialization effect, and energy consumption effect, while technology effect, energy mix effect, sulfur efficiency effect, energy intensity effect, and industrial structure effect play a mitigating role in the emissions; (ii) energy consumption effect, energy mix effect, technology effect, sulfur efficiency effect, and industrial structure effect show special contributions in some cases; (iii) industrial structure effect and energy intensity effect need to be further optimized.


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 20267-20330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Lu ◽  
D. G. Streets

Abstract. China and India are the two largest anthropogenic aerosol generating countries in the world. In this study, we develop a new inventory of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and primary carbonaceous aerosol (i.e., black and organic carbon, BC and OC) emissions from these two countries for the period 1996–2010, using a technology-based methodology. Emissions from major anthropogenic sources and open biomass burning are included, and time-dependent trends in activity rates and emission factors are incorporated in the calculation. Year-specific monthly fractions for major sectors and gridded emissions at a resolution of 0.1° × 0.1° distributed by multiple year-by-year spatial proxies are also developed. In China, the interaction between economic development and environmental protection causes large temporal variations in the emission trends. From 1996 to 2000, emissions of all three species showed a decreasing trend (by 9 %–17 %) due to a slowdown in economic growth, a decline in coal use in non-power sectors, and the implementation of air pollution control measures. With the economic boom after 2000, emissions from China changed dramatically. BC and OC emissions increased by 46 % and 33 % to 1.85 Tg and 4.03 Tg in 2010. SO2 emissions first increased by 61 % to 34.0 Tg in 2006, and then decreased by 9.2 % to 30.8 Tg in 2010 due to the wide application of flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) equipment in power plants. Driven by the remarkable energy consumption growth and relatively lax emission controls, emissions from India increased by 70 %, 41 %, and 35 % to 8.81 Tg, 1.02 Tg, and 2.74 Tg in 2010 for SO2, BC, and OC, respectively. Monte Carlo simulations are used to quantify the emission uncertainties. The average 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) of SO2, BC, and OC emissions are estimated to be −16 %–17 %, −43 %–93 %, and −43 %–80 % for China, and −15 %–16 %, −41 %–87 %, and −44 %–92 % for India, respectively. Sulfur content, fuel use, and sulfur retention of hard coal and the actual FGD removal efficiency are the main contributors to the uncertainties of SO2 emissions. Biofuel combustion related parameters (i.e., technology divisions, fuel use, and emission factor determinants) are the largest source of OC uncertainties, whereas BC emissions are also sensitive to the parameters of coal combustion in the residential and industrial sectors and the coke-making process. Comparing our results with satellite observations, we find that the trends of estimated emissions in both China and India are in good agreement with the trends of aerosol optical depth (AOD) and SO2 retrievals obtained from different satellites.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Guo ◽  
Jin Li ◽  
Jinsong Kuang ◽  
Yifei Zhu ◽  
Renrui Xiao ◽  
...  

Abstract This paper investigates the effects of enterprise environmental governance under low-carbon pilot policies in China with a difference in differences (DID) design. In examining the development of these policies, we focus on exploring their effects on sulfur dioxide emissions of heavily polluting enterprises based on prefectural city- and firm-level data from 2003-2014. Overall, the policies significantly increased enterprise SO2 emissions, and the underlying reason being that investments in CO2 control crowded out investment in SO2 control in enterprises in low-carbon pilot regions. We also find that the implementation of low-carbon pilot policies resulted in greater SO2 emissions from state-owned enterprises and enterprises in western regions than from non-state-owned enterprises and those in eastern regions. It is further found that fiscal decentralization and the associated mediating effect of market segmentation promote enterprises' CO2 control and inhibit their SO2 control. This study helps us re-examine the overall environmental effects of low-carbon policies and has implications for the revision and improvement of environmental governance policies in developing countries.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ke Wu

Abstract In this paper, we used the panel smooth transition model (PSTR) to study the nonlinear relationship between sulfur dioxide emissions and economic growth in the three regions of China’s eastern, middle and western regions, based on panel data from 31 provinces and autonomous regions in China from 2005 to 2017. And calculated the elasticity of the impact of total export-import volume and urbanization rate on emissions. The empirical results indicate that economic development and sulfur dioxide emissions are positively correlated in the three regions of East, Middle and West. In the eastern region, when the economic scale is lower than the threshold value, it has a negative impact on SO2 emissions; but when it is higher than the threshold value, it has a positive impact on SO2 emissions, and the smoothing rate between the two regime is slow. The per capita GDP in the middle and western regions is weakly positively correlated with SO2 emissions. When the economic scale reaches the threshold value, its positive impact on SO2 emissions will increase, and economic development will further increase emissions.


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 9839-9864 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Lu ◽  
Q. Zhang ◽  
D. G. Streets

Abstract. China and India are the two largest anthropogenic aerosol generating countries in the world. In this study, we develop a new inventory of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and primary carbonaceous aerosol (i.e., black and organic carbon, BC and OC) emissions from these two countries for the period 1996–2010, using a technology-based methodology. Emissions from major anthropogenic sources and open biomass burning are included, and time-dependent trends in activity rates and emission factors are incorporated in the calculation. Year-specific monthly temporal distributions for major sectors and gridded emissions at a resolution of 0.1°×0.1° distributed by multiple year-by-year spatial proxies are also developed. In China, the interaction between economic development and environmental protection causes large temporal variations in the emission trends. From 1996 to 2000, emissions of all three species showed a decreasing trend (by 9 %–17 %) due to a slowdown in economic growth, a decline in coal use in non-power sectors, and the implementation of air pollution control measures. With the economic boom after 2000, emissions from China changed dramatically. BC and OC emissions increased by 46 % and 33 % to 1.85 Tg and 4.03 Tg in 2010. SO2 emissions first increased by 61 % to 34.0 Tg in 2006, and then decreased by 9.2 % to 30.8 Tg in 2010 due to the wide application of flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) equipment in power plants. Driven by the remarkable energy consumption growth and relatively lax emission controls, emissions from India increased by 70 %, 41 %, and 35 % to 8.81 Tg, 1.02 Tg, and 2.74 Tg in 2010 for SO2, BC, and OC, respectively. Monte Carlo simulations are used to quantify the emission uncertainties. The average 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) of SO2, BC, and OC emissions are estimated to be −16 %–17 %, −43 %–93 %, and −43 %–80 % for China, and −15 %–16 %, −41 %–87 %, and −44 %–92 % for India, respectively. Sulfur content, fuel use, and sulfur retention of hard coal and the actual FGD removal efficiency are the main contributors to the uncertainties of SO2 emissions. Biofuel combustion related parameters (i.e., technology divisions, fuel use, and emission factor determinants) are the largest source of OC uncertainties, whereas BC emissions are also sensitive to the parameters of coal combustion in the residential and industrial sectors and the coke-making process. Comparing our results with satellite observations, we find that the trends of estimated emissions in both China and India are in good agreement with the trends of aerosol optical depth (AOD) and SO2 retrievals obtained from different satellites.


2020 ◽  
Vol 209 ◽  
pp. 03012
Author(s):  
Vladimir Elsukov ◽  
Svetlana Latushkina

The paper considers the influence of technological factors (design of the boiler-unit, load, air excess, the number of working dust collecting systems) on the formation and reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions in boilers with liquid slag removal. Understanding of this influence can be used both at many operating heat and power sources, and in the development of new combustion technologies. The long-term experience of burning brown coals of the Kansk-Achinsk basin (KAC) at CHPP-6 in Bratsk in boilers of the BKZ-320-140 PT type is studied and analyzed. The analysis uses the results of various thermodynamic and industrial studies of the sulfur dioxide formation during the combustion of KAC, including those carried out by the authors. They identified the temperature and structural zones of the boiler unit, where the resulting reaction of the sulfur dioxide transition to calcium sulfate occurs. It was found that such a zone is the upper part of the cooling chamber, where the indicated transition occurs at temperatures of 1500 ÷ 1400 K. It was found that SO2 emissions rise with an increase in the boiler load and air excess. They also depend on the number of dust systems and their combination (determining the turbulization of combustion processes). A technological mechanism for the sulfur dioxide transition to calcium sulfate for the operation of boilers with liquid slag removal is proposed. Regime and constructive measures are proposed to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide.


2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-100
Author(s):  
Wu Yu Jia

In order to control sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions, the Chinese government in 1998 implemented the Acid Rain and Sulfur Dioxide Emission Control Zones policy (known as the Two Control Zone or TCZ policy). In a panel analysis of the impact of the TCZ policy on China`s industrial SO2 emissions, two-way fixed-effects models show that it did not significantly reduce either per capita SO2 emissions or SO2 intensity in China. The study also reveals that instead of the traditional inverted U-shaped Environmental Kuznets Curve, the relationship between income growth and sulfur pollution in China favors an N-shaped pattern. The empirical results indicate that the TCZ policy has not had a consistent, longterm impact on sulfur pollution control. This is in accord with previous studies and the actual situation in the two control zones. This paper presents two policy recommendations for improving the mitigation of SO2 pollution in China.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1781
Author(s):  
Yu-Chen Zhang ◽  
Deng-Kui Si ◽  
Bing Zhao

As the third-largest SO2 emitter in the world, China is facing mounting domestic and external pressure to tackle the increasingly serious SO2 pollution. Figuring out the convergence and persistence of sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions matters much for environmental policymakers in China. This study mainly utilizes the Fourier quantile unit root test to survey the convergence of the SO2 emissions per capita in 74 cities of China during the period of December 2014 to June 2019, by conducting five traditional unit root tests and a quantile root unit test as a comparative analysis. The empirical results indicate that the SO2 emissions per capita in 72 out of 74 cities in China are convergent in the sample period. The results also suggest that the unit root behavior of the SO2 emissions per capita in these cities is asymmetrically persistent at different quantiles. For the cities with the convergent SO2 emissions, the government should consider the asymmetric mean-reverting pattern of SO2 emissions when implementing environmental protection policies at different stages. For Hefei and Nanjing, the local governments need to enact stricter environmental protection policies to control the emission of sulfur dioxide.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meenu Kapoor ◽  
Dhriti Khandal ◽  
Ruchi Gupta ◽  
Pinklesh Arora ◽  
Geetha Seshadri ◽  
...  

Guar gum and its derivatives are highly important industrial hydrocolloids as they find applications in various industrial sectors. Guar is a polymer of high molecular weight and its aqueous solutions exhibit unique rheological properties, which has led to its wide acceptance by the industry. In certain industrial applications low molecular weight guar and its derivatives are needed, and conventionally chemical depolymerisation of guar is carried out for this purpose. Radiation processing is a novel and green technology for carrying out depolymerization and can be an ideal substitute for chemical depolymerisation technique. In order to study the effect of radiation on guar derivatives, three types of derivatives have been taken in the present study: carboxymethyl, hydroxyethyl, and methyl guar. The effect of 1–50 KGy radiation dose on the rheological behavior of these derivatives has been studied, and the results have been described in the present paper. The effect on storage and loss modulus with respect to frequency and effect on viscosity with respect to shear rate have been discussed in detail.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document