Abstract
We decompose factors affecting China’s energy-related air pollutant (NOx, PM2.5, and SO2) emission changes into different effects using structural decomposition analysis (SDA). We find that, from 2005 to 2012, investment increased NOx, PM2.5, and SO2 emissions by 14.04, 7.82 and 15.59 Mt respectively, and consumption increased these emissions by 11.09, 7.98, and 12.09 Mt respectively. Export and import slightly increased the emissions on the whole, but the rate of the increase has slowed down, possibly reflecting the shift in China’s foreign trade structure. Energy intensity largely reduced NOx, PM2.5, and SO2 emissions by 12.49, 14.33 and 23.06 Mt respectively, followed by emission efficiency that reduces these emissions by 4.57, 9.08, and 17.25 Mt respectively. Input-output efficiency slightly reduces the emissions. At sectoral and sub-sectoral levels, consumption is a great driving factor in agriculture and commerce, whereas investment is a great driving factor in transport, construction, and some industrial subsectors such as iron and steel, nonferrous metals, building materials, coking, and power and heating supply. Energy intensity increases emissions in transport, chemical products and manufacturing, but decreases emissions in all other sectors and subsectors. Some policies arising from our study results are discussed.
Highlights
Air pollution has a negative impact on economic development, and harms human health [1], so air pollution has attracted more and more attention worldwide
The contribution of this paper compared with structural decomposition analysis (SDA) studies such as Su and Ang [6] and Wang et al [5], is that a non-competitive economy-energy-air pollutant emissions input-output table was constructed, and the SDA method was extended to investigate the impacts of the effects on air pollutant emission changes
Zhang et al analyzed drivers of fossil fuel use and air pollutant emissions in Beijing during 1997–2010 from both bottom-up and top-down perspectives, based on the SDA method, and the results showed that the key energy-intensive industrial sectors directly caused the variations in Beijing’s air pollution, and population growth was the largest driver of energy consumption and air pollutant emissions [61]
Summary
Air pollution has a negative impact on economic development, and harms human health [1], so air pollution has attracted more and more attention worldwide. Some measures were taken to reduce air pollutants during the periods of the 2014 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting and 2016 military parade, such as private car restrictions and the closure of high emission factories in Beijing and surrounding cities, and the implementation of these measures achieved “APEC blue” and “parade blue” effects in a short term, the costs of these measures were huge, and the relative policy lacked continuity. In this regard, China has released a series of legal documents, such as “Action Plan for Air Pollution Prevention and Control”, in which the government commits to reduce the PM10 (particulate matter with diameter not greater than than 10 um) and PM2.5 (particulate matter with diameter not greater than than 2.5 μm) concentrations for the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, Yangtze River Delta, and Pearl River Delta [2,5]. This paper mainly aims to resolve the key driving and inhibitory factors for primary air pollutant (NOx, PM2.5, and SO2) emissions in China during 2005–2012, and put forward policy for the control of these emissions, which is very significant in the aspects of theoretical basis and policy reference for air pollutant emission abatement
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