Evaluation of multiple air pollutant emission reductions in northern China district via resource sharing

Abstract

The inter-provincial inequalities of economic developments and air pollutant emissions revealed the need for the cross-regional emission reduction strategy in China. Resource sharing could make those provinces with low emissions intensities offer more products with production shifts and trade adjustments, which would reduce emission intensities and total emissions of the whole region. Taking eight contiguous cities/provinces in northern China district as a case, a multi-regional input–output optimization model was developed to evaluate multiple air pollutant emissions reductions via regional resource sharing. Under constraints of provincial gross domestic products and various domestic demands, the application of resource sharing increased inter-provincial trades, shifted production responsibilities to low-emitting provinces, reduced regional emission intensities, and finally resulted in multiple pollutant emission reductions. Using the latest China's multi-regional input–output data of 2012, we estimated that resource sharing would reduce emissions of fine particulate matters, inhalable particles, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds by 11%, 11%, 11%, 10% and 9%, respectively in the studied region. Those provinces which had low emission intensities and adequate production capacities should supply more products and do more for improving regional degree of synergy, especially in industry and power subsectors. The emission transfers were increased, but total emissions were declined obviously. It was indicated that there was still an urgent need of promoting the scope and level of regional cooperation. Those provincial subsectors with low emission intensities and production increases were important for achieving emission reductions of the study region. This study might be helpful to conduct regional emission mitigations with existing technologies and propose a multiple pollutant emission reductions strategy based on resource sharing.