Designation of acid rain and SO2 control zones and control policies in China

Abstract

China has become the largest producer of SO2 emissions in the world. Thus effective SO2 emission and acid rain controls are urgently needed. This paper designated the priority control zones for both SO2 emission and acid precipitation in China. The Control Zones were identified as an area of 1.09xl06 km2, about 11.4% of the China's territory and about 14 Million tons SO2 emissions. The Acid Rain Control Zones involved 14 provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities, with 806000 km2, about 8.4% of the national territory. The SO2 Pollution Control Zones had 290000 km2, about 3% of the national territory. The policies against SO2 emissions were also formulated based on the coal life‐cycle assessment. In the short term, it was suggested that affordable countermeasures should be taken to reduce SO2 emissions from sources, mainly including shutdown or retrofit of high‐sulfur‐coal mines, coal processing, and utilization of desulfurizing technologies in power plants. In the long term, clean coal technologies should be developed to avoid SO2 emissions from sources. The Chinese Government has accepted the designation results and the corresponding control policies.