Abstract

In recent years, haze pollution has become more and more serious in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD). However, the impact mechanism of socio-economic factors on primary particulate matter (PM) emissions remains unclear. Based on the provincial primary PM emission data in the YRD from 1995 to 2014, this paper used Slope, Theil index, and Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology (STIAPAT) models to quantitatively identify the regional differences of primary PM emissions and explore the key influencing factors. The results showed that primary fine particulate matter (PM2.5), inhalable particulate (PM10), and total suspended particulate (TSP) emissions all featured an upward trend of fluctuation over the study period. The regional differences in primary TSP emissions in the YRD region was gradually shrinking and the regional differences of primary PM2.5 and PM10 emissions presented a rising trend of fluctuation. The estimated coefficient of population size, energy structure, and fixed assets investment (FAI) were all significantly positive at the level of 1%. The negative effect of economic growth on energy PM emissions was significant under the level of 1%. The increase of foreign direct investment (FDI) had different effects on primary PM2.5, PM10, and TSP emissions. In addition, the influence of energy intensity on primary PM emission from energy consumption are mainly negative but not significant even under the level of 10%. These conclusions have guiding significance for the formulation of PM emission reduction policy without affecting YRD’s economic development.

Highlights

  • The Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region is the economic zone with the fastest economic development, the largest scale, and the greatest development potential in China [1]

  • The primary PM2.5, PM10, total suspended particulate (TSP) emissions in the YRD region all showed an overall increasing trend, their Slope is 0.40, 3.08, and 11.16, respectively, which indicated that the primary TSP emission had the fastest growth

  • The estimated coefficient of foreign direct investment (FDI) is significantly positive for primary PM2.5 emissions under the level α = 0.1, whereas the impact of FDI on primary PM10 and TSP emissions were all statistically not significant even under the level α = 0.1

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Summary

Introduction

The Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region is the economic zone with the fastest economic development, the largest scale, and the greatest development potential in China [1]. It is one of the regions with the largest energy consumption and intensive pollutant emission. In 2014, 86 million people in YRD region were exposed to haze pollution for more than 100 days [8]. Particulate matter (PM) is currently one of the most important air pollutants in China. Over 1.25 million premature deaths per year on average are caused by long-term exposure to polluted air in China, accounting for about 40% of the world’s premature deaths [17]

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