Air pollutant emissions from on-road vehicles and their control in Inner Mongolia, China

Abstract

Vehicle emissions have been investigated in many developed areas; however, little attention has been paid to underdeveloped regions. This study conducts a comprehensive investigation on the vehicle emissions in Inner Mongolia, an area with low economic development in China. In 2019, total vehicle emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and inhalable particles (PM10) are 211.04, 100.83, 38.96, and 4.43 Gg, respectively. Gasoline vehicles are the main contributors of CO and VOCs, while diesel vehicles contribute more NOx and PM10. Vehicle emissions are various in different regions and times. The variations in vehicle emissions are forecasted from 2020 to 2025 under the business-as-usual scenario (BAU), controls on in-use vehicles (CIV), vehicle population constraint (VPC), public transportation improvement (PTI), new energy vehicle promotion (NEV), and integrated scenario (IS). In addition, reduction effects, cost of implementation and energy consumption are analyzed for all the scenarios. At present, the CIV and VPC are suggested to be adopted primarily in Inner Mongolia, while other policies need to be postponed according to the analysis results.