scholarly journals Cleaning up the air: Effectiveness of air quality policy for SO<sub>2</sub> and NO<sub><i>x</i></sub> emissions in China

Author(s):  
Ronald J. van der A ◽  
Bas Mijling ◽  
Jieying Ding ◽  
Maria Elissavet Koukouli ◽  
Fei Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract. Air quality observations by satellite instruments are spatially consistent, and have a regular temporal resolution, which make them very useful in studying long-term trends in atmospheric species. To monitor air quality trends in China for the period 2005–2015 we derive SO2 columns and NOx emissions on a provincial level with an unprecedented accuracy. To put these trends into perspective they are compared with public data on energy consumption and the environmental policies of China. We distinguish the effect of air quality regulations from economic growth by comparing them relatively to fossil fuel consumption. Pollutant levels, per unit of fossil fuel, are used to assess the effectiveness of air quality regulations. We note that the desulphurisation regulations enforced in 2005–2006 only had a significant effect in the years 2008–2009 when a much stricter control of the actual use of the installations began. For national NOx emissions a distinct decreasing trend is only visible since 2012, but the emission peak year differs from province to province. Unlike SO2, emissions of NOx are highly related to traffic. Furthermore, regulations for NOx emissions are partly decided on a provincial level. The last three years show both a reduction in SO2 and NOx emissions per fossil fuel unit, since the authorities have implemented several new environmental regulations. Despite an increasing fossil fuel consumption and a growing transport sector, the effects of air quality policy in China are clearly visible. Without the air quality regulations the concentration of SO2 would be almost 3 times higher and the NO2 concentrations would be at least 30 % higher than they are today in China.

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 1775-1789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald J. van der A ◽  
Bas Mijling ◽  
Jieying Ding ◽  
Maria Elissavet Koukouli ◽  
Fei Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract. Air quality observations by satellite instruments are global and have a regular temporal resolution, which makes them very useful in studying long-term trends in atmospheric species. To monitor air quality trends in China for the period 2005–2015, we derive SO2 columns and NOx emissions on a provincial level with improved accuracy. To put these trends into perspective they are compared with public data on energy consumption and the environmental policies of China. We distinguish the effect of air quality regulations from economic growth by comparing them relatively to fossil fuel consumption. Pollutant levels, per unit of fossil fuel, are used to assess the effectiveness of air quality regulations. We note that the desulfurization regulations enforced in 2005–2006 only had a significant effect in the years 2008–2009, when a much stricter control of the actual use of the installations began. For national NOx emissions a distinct decreasing trend is only visible from 2012 onwards, but the emission peak year differs from province to province. Unlike SO2, emissions of NOx are highly related to traffic. Furthermore, regulations for NOx emissions are partly decided on a provincial level. The last 3 years show a reduction both in SO2 and NOx emissions per fossil fuel unit, since the authorities have implemented several new environmental regulations. Despite an increasing fossil fuel consumption and a growing transport sector, the effects of air quality policy in China are clearly visible. Without the air quality regulations the concentration of SO2 would be about 2.5 times higher and the NO2 concentrations would be at least 25 % higher than they are today in China.


2017 ◽  
Vol 592 ◽  
pp. 115-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myrto Gratsea ◽  
Eleni Liakakou ◽  
Nikos Mihalopoulos ◽  
Anastasios Adamopoulos ◽  
Eirini Tsilibari ◽  
...  

Tellus B ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Andres ◽  
J. S. Gregg ◽  
L. Losey ◽  
G. Marland ◽  
T. A. Boden

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7011
Author(s):  
Abdulaziz A. Alotaibi ◽  
Naif Alajlan

Numerous studies addressed the impacts of social development and economic growth on the environment. This paper presents a study about the inclusive impact of social and economic factors on the environment by analyzing the association between carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and two socioeconomic indicators, namely, Human Development Index (HDI) and Legatum Prosperity Index (LPI), under the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) framework. To this end, we developed a two-stage methodology. At first, a multivariate model was constructed that accurately explains CO2 emissions by selecting the appropriate set of control variables based on model quality statistics. The control variables include GDP per capita, urbanization, fossil fuel consumption, and trade openness. Then, quantile regression was used to empirically analyze the inclusive relationship between CO2 emissions and the socioeconomic indicators, which revealed many interesting results. First, decreasing CO2 emissions was coupled with inclusive socioeconomic development. Both LPI and HDI had a negative marginal relationship with CO2 emissions at quantiles from 0.2 to 1. Second, the EKC hypothesis was valid for G20 countries during the study period with an inflection point around quantile 0.15. Third, the fossil fuel consumption had a significant positive relation with CO2 emissions, whereas urbanization and trade openness had a negative relation during the study period. Finally, this study empirically indicates that effective policies and policy coordination on broad social, living, and economic dimensions can lead to reductions in CO2 emissions while preserving inclusive growth.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 114028 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ling Shao ◽  
Dabo Guan ◽  
Ning Zhang ◽  
Yuli Shan ◽  
G Q Chen

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (02) ◽  
pp. 113
Author(s):  
Melati Intan Kurnia ◽  
Hadi Sasana ◽  
Yustirania Septiani

<p><em>Increasing economic growth will spark against increased energy consumption. But on the other hand, increasing economic growth will also trigger the occurrence of natural damage and degradation of environmental quality derived from CO2 emissions. CO2 emissions are caused by oxidation process of fossil fuel energy. This research aims to know the causality relationship between CO2 emissions, fossil fuel consumption, electricity consumption, and economic growth in Indonesia, as well as long-term relationship between CO2 emissions, fossil fuel consumption, electricity consumption, to economic growth in Indonesia in 1990 – 2019. The used data is the secondary data that is in the form of data time series. The dependent variables of this study are economic growth, while independent variables are CO2 emissions, fossil fuel consumption, electricity consumption. The method that is used in this study is Vector Error Correction Model. The results showed that there was a one-way causality between economic growth and fossil fuel consumption, and between electricity consumption and CO2 emissions. The research also shows that on long-term CO2 emissions has a negative influence, while the consumption of fossil fuels and electricity has a positive effect on Indonesia's economic growth in 1990-2019.</em></p><p><strong><em>K</em></strong><strong><em>eywords</em></strong><em>: CO2, Energy Consumption, Economic Growth.</em></p>


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (23) ◽  
pp. 7938
Author(s):  
Roberto Fazioli ◽  
Francesca Pantaleone

The aim of this paper is to analyze the factors affecting hydrogen and Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies (“CCS”) policies, taking into consideration Fossil Fuel Consumption, Oil Reserves, the Debt/GDP Ratio, the Trilemma Index and other variables with respect to OECD countries. STATA 17 was used for the analysis. The results confirm the hypothesis that countries with high fossil fuel consumption and oil reserves are investing in blue hydrogen and CCS towards a “zero-carbon-emission” perspective. Moreover, countries with a good Debt/GDP ratio act most favorably to green policies by raising their Public Debt, because Foreign Direct Investments are negatively correlated with those kinds of policies. Future research should exploit Green Finance policy decision criteria on green and blue hydrogen.


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