Coal Consumption In China Research Articles

An investigation of the role of China's urban population on coal consumption

This paper investigates the causal relationship between urban population, real GDP, electricity production and coal consumption in China for the period 1971–2009. Using a vector autoregression framework and a modified version of the Granger (1969) causality test proposed by Toda and Yamamoto (J. Econ. 66 (1995) 225), the results suggest that there is causality running from GDP to coal consumption. The variance decomposition analysis report that urban population and coal affect electricity production variability over the forecast period. We also find that increasing urban population may negatively affect China's GDP over time. Policy measures aimed at influencing GDP could ultimately affect coal consumption.

Mitigation Potential of Mercury Emissions from Coal-Fired Power Plants in China

With the rapid increase of coal consumption in China, the mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants have drawn global attention. In this study, a literature review on the mercury content of coal in China and the mercury removal efficiencies of particulate matter, SO2, and NOx control devices was conducted thoroughly. A probabilistic emission factor model was established to develop the mercury emission inventory for coal-fired power plants in China. The best estimate for total mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants in China was 96.5 tons (P50) in 2008, with the confidence interval from 57.3 tons (P10) to 183.0 tons (P90). The synergetic mercury removal benefit from the SO2 control measures during 2005–2008 was 33.9 tons. Two energy scenarios and three pollution control scenarios were developed to forecast the future trend of mercury emissions in China. The change of the energy structure and energy saving will play an important role in the mercury emission reduction in the next 2 decades. Under the current energy consumption pattern and air pollution control policies, the mercury emissions would increase to 196 tons in 2020. The installation of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) will result in 75 tons of mercury emission reduction during 2008–2020. Under the current energy consumption pattern and extended emission controls, the mercury emission in 2030 is 47% lower than that in 2020, because of the widespread application of SCR and the application of fabric filter (FF) and mercury-specific control technologies. Further reduction can be contributed by the enhancement of mercury-specific control technologies. Through the implementation of energy policies with accelerated control technologies, the mercury emission in 2030 can be decreased by 71% from the level of 2008, which shows the significant mitigation potential of mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants in China in the future.

The Empirical Analysis of the Driving Factors of China Coal Demand

This paper tests the long-term equilibrium relations and short-term dynamic relations by applying Johansen co-integration test and VECM model among the coal demand, economic aggregate, economic structure, energy consumption efficiency, and urbanization level of china. It shows that there is a long-term equilibrium relation among above variables. Then the long-term elasticity of coal demand to other variables is given. It also shows, in the short run, the T time coal demand will affected by T-2 time economic aggregate, T-2 time urbanization level, T-1 time coal demand, and T-2 time coal demand. At last, the paper gives suggestions on how to control coal consumption in china.

Emission of Hg from Coal Consumption in China and Its Summertime Deposition Calculated by CMAQ-Hg

Mercury (Hg) emission from coal combustion in China is estimated in this study and its deposition calculated using the Models-3 Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ-Hg) modeling system with meteorological fields calculated by MM5. Three kinds of Hg speciation were included in the models: particle-bound mercury (PHg), gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) and gas oxidized mercury (RGM). Much of the Hg was released as RGM from coal combustion in China, accounting for 58.4 - 66.8% of total emissions. The large proportion of RGM in overall Hg emission also led to large Hg deposition. Based on simulations, Hg deposition originating from coal combustion reaches as high as 2 - 6 mu g m(-2) month(-1) in southwestern China (particularly Guizhou Province), the industrialized and populated regions of east central and coastal China, and Liaoning Province in the northeast.

Long-term trends of greenhouse gases in regional and background events observed during 1998–2004 at Yonagunijima located to the east of the Asian continent

We performed trend analyses using hourly data of CO, CO 2, CH 4, and O 3 from 1998 to 2004 on Yonagunijima (24°28′N, 123°01′E), which is a small island in south Japan and located close to the Asian continent. The hourly CO concentrations observed were classified as “regional events” or “background events” based on the time scale of the variations. In addition, the hourly mean CO 2, CH 4, and O 3 concentrations observed were also classified as regional or background events based on the CO events. The trends in the regional and background events in the four parameters were analyzed separately. The annual mean CO concentration in the regional event classified above on Yonagunijima was well consistent with the annual coal consumption in China. The annual mean concentrations of all parameters in the regional event were higher than those in the background event. For CO and CO 2, the mean growth rates classified as regional events were evidently larger than those classified as background events, and their concentration differences (concentration in the regional event minus that in the background event) have been increasing on Yonagunijima. As the frequency of regional events on Yonagunijima was 44%, the influence of the increase in regional events on the atmospheric environment in East Asia cannot be neglected.