Abstract
China is now facing great challenges resulting from climate change and air pollution, driven by the processes of industrialization and urbanization. Greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions produced by the coal-fired power industry represent approximately 70% of the total emissions in China’s industrial sector. In this study, 39 coal-fired power plants built in China between 2014 and 2015 were analyzed in regards to the co-effects oncarbon dioxide and air pollutant emissions generated directly and indirectly by end-of-pipe measures of pollution control. After completing the quantitative analysis with input data from 83units of power plants, we found that co-effects were positive only for air pollutant reductions through the implementation of desulfurization, denitrification, and dedusting measures, but co-effects were negative for carbon dioxide production because of the corresponding electricity use and chemical reactions that led to the increases in carbon dioxide emissions. We also performed an assessment of the synergistic coefficients to better understand the degree of co-effects. It will be important for researchers to take a comprehensive view of China’s coal-fired power plants and look for solutions that can maximize positive co-effects and achieve overall co-benefits of reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants.
Highlights
China, surpassing the United States, is the largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter in the world [1,2]
The focus of this study was on the end-of-pipe pollution reduction measures employed by these power plants and the corresponding co-effects on local air pollutant and GHG emissions
The electricity used in the process of reducing target pollutants was the reason for the generation of more CO2. These findings indicate that air pollution reduction measures can have negative synergistic effects on CO2 emissions in the sample power plants
Summary
China, surpassing the United States, is the largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter in the world [1,2]. GHG emissions are mainly associated with human activities [3]. The impacts of GDP increase, urbanization processes, population growth, and energy consumption have important relationships with carbon emissions [4,5], but some studies state that population growth has been statistically insignificant for China [6,7]. Fossil fuel combustion produced the most CO2 emissions (90%), and has simultaneously caused serious environmental issues in China [8]. China has been suffering from heavy air pollution in recent years, especially in the northern and eastern urban areas, including the Beijing-Tianjing-Hebei region and the Yangtze River Delta region [9,10]. China is facing tremendous pressure to dually mitigate GHG emissions and air pollutant emissions [11].Co-control measures for improving air quality and mitigating GHG emissions have been a focal point for China and other countries [12,13]
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