Heavy Industrial Region Research Articles

Heavy industrial aggregation area's green transformation optimisation pathways exploration with synergistic reduction pursue of CO2 and gaseous pollutants

A profound green transformation of China's heavy industrial aggregation regions is required to conquer severe air pollution, and fulfill carbon peak pledge. Here, to clarify the coordinated mechanism and an optimal roadmap for the reduction of CO2 and gaseous pollutants, we integrated input-output modelling, system dynamics, and multi-objective programming to construct a CO2 and gaseous pollutants synergistic reduction model initially; investigated incentive approaches from 2020 to 2035; Hebei, with the largest steel production in China, was adopted as a demonstrative region. Results revealed that intensive dual control of efficiency and structure in energy and industry can accelerate achieving carbon peak in 2029. In optimal case, CO2 emission intensity can reach a 75.2% reduction compared to 2020, and gaseous pollutants continue decline simultaneously (SO2 and NOx can drop by 63% and 48%); and the synergistic reduction level is expected to improve. Thus, vigorously develop decoupling between economy-air pollution-carbon reduction in Hebei. As opposed to efficiency improvement, structural adjustments were demonstrated to be more effective than short-term efficiency improvements. In addition, the estimated development potential of traditional heavy industries such as steel and petrochemicals is limited, whereas the equipment manufacturing industry, closely linked to traditional industries, is expected to continue its development. Furthermore, although in the electrification process, coal consumption is still needed because of its indispensable role in the production process of heavy industries. The results can facilitate policy-making for heavy industrial aggregation areas' green transformation in shaping policies and actions with clear objectives, effective measures, and sound coordination.

Peaking Industrial CO2 Emission in a Typical Heavy Industrial Region: From Multi-Industry and Multi-Energy Type Perspectives.

Peaking industrial carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is critical for China to achieve its CO2 peaking target by 2030 since industrial sector is a major contributor to CO2 emissions. Heavy industrial regions consume plenty of fossil fuels and emit a large amount of CO2 emissions, which also have huge CO2 emissions reduction potential. It is significant to accurately forecast CO2 emission peak of industrial sector in heavy industrial regions from multi-industry and multi-energy type perspectives. This study incorporates 41 industries and 16 types of energy into the Long-Range Energy Alternatives Planning System (LEAP) model to predict the CO2 emission peak of the industrial sector in Jilin Province, a typical heavy industrial region. Four scenarios including business-as-usual scenario (BAU), energy-saving scenario (ESS), energy-saving and low-carbon scenario (ELS) and low-carbon scenario (LCS) are set for simulating the future CO2 emission trends during 2018–2050. The method of variable control is utilized to explore the degree and the direction of influencing factors of CO2 emission in four scenarios. The results indicate that the peak value of CO2 emission in the four scenarios are 165.65 million tons (Mt), 156.80 Mt, 128.16 Mt, and 114.17 Mt in 2040, 2040, 2030 and 2020, respectively. Taking ELS as an example, the larger energy-intensive industries such as ferrous metal smelting will peak CO2 emission in 2025, and low energy industries such as automobile manufacturing will continue to develop rapidly. The influence degree of the four factors is as follows: industrial added value (1.27) > industrial structure (1.19) > energy intensity of each industry (1.12) > energy consumption types of each industry (1.02). Among the four factors, industrial value added is a positive factor for CO2 emission, and the rest are inhibitory ones. The study provides a reference for developing industrial CO2 emission reduction policies from multi-industry and multi-energy type perspectives in heavy industrial regions of developing countries.

Exploring Potential Pathways toward Energy-Related Carbon Emission Reduction in Heavy Industrial Regions of China: An Input–Output Approach

It is a very urgent issue to reduce energy-related carbon emissions in China. The three northeastern provinces (Heilongjiang (HLJ), Jilin (JL), and Liaoning (LN)) are typical heavy industrial regions in China, playing an important role in the national carbon emission reduction target. In this study, we analyzed the energy consumption, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and CO2 emission intensity of each sector in the three regions, and we compared them with the national level and those of China’s most developed province Guangdong (GD). Then, based on an input–output (I–O) framework, linkage analysis of production and CO2 emission from sector–system and sector–sector dimensions was conducted. The results showed that the three regions accounted for about 1/10 of China’s energy consumption and 1/6 of China’s CO2 emissions in 2012. In addition, the level of energy structure, CO2 emission intensity, and sectoral structure lagged behind China’s average level, much lower than those for GD. According to the sectoral characteristics of each region and unified backward/forward linkages of production and CO2 emissions, we divided sectoral clusters into those whose development was to be encouraged and those whose development was to be restricted. The results of this paper could provide policy–makers with reference to exploring potential pathways toward energy-related carbon emission reduction in heavy industrial regions.

Economic‐related CO2 emissions analysis of Ordos Basin based on a refined STIRPAT model

AbstractIdentifying the impact factors of CO2 emissions is the basis of economic‐related CO2 emission analysis. In this study, we used the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology (STIRPAT) model to investigate the extent of influence of each impact factor on the CO2 emissions of Ordos Basin, a typical heavy industrial region and the largest coal production area of China. A new parameter, exhaust gas treatment costs ratio (R), was introduced into the STIRPAT model to examine the relationship between abatement investment and CO2 emissions. The impact factors that were positively associated with the CO2 emissions of Ordos Basin (and the corresponding coefficient values, from the largest to the smallest) were the population count (1.0449), property of secondary industry (0.8366), energy intensity (0.7672), GDP per capita (0.7598), property of tertiary industry (0.6978), and urbanization level (0.4641). The only negatively associated parameter was the exhaust gas treatment costs ratio, which had a coefficient value of −0.1339. In addition, the technological factors (i.e., energy intensity and exhaust gas treatment costs ratio) could be used as indicators of CO2 emission control. This study systematically investigated and discussed the impact factors of CO2 emissions in coal‐producing areas, to gain insight into the emissions’ characteristics and to lay a foundation for CO2 reduction in such regions. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Characterization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) source profiles in urban PM2.5 fugitive dust: A large-scale study for 20 Chinese cites

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in road dust (RD) and construction dust (CD) in PM2.5 were quantified in the samples collected in 20 Chinese cities. The PAHs profiles in urban PM2.5 fugitive dusts were determined and their potential health risks were evaluated. Seven geographical regions in China were identified as northwest China (NWC), the North China Plain (NCP), northeast China (NEC), central China (CC), south China (SC), southwest China (SWC), and east China (EC). The overall average concentrations of total quantified PAHs (ΣPAHs) were 23.2 ± 18.9 and 22.8 ± 29.6 μg·g−1 in RD and CD of PM2.5, indicating that severe PAHs pollution to urban fugitive dusts in China. The differences of ΣPAHs between RD and CD were minor in northern and central regions of China but much larger in southern and east regions. The ƩPAHs for RD displayed a pattern of “high in northern and low in southern”, and characterized by large abundance of high molecular weights (HMWs) PAHs, indicating that vehicle emission was the predominant pollution origin. Additionally, higher diagnostic ratios of fluoranthene/(fluoranthene + pyrene) in NCP, CC, and SWC suggest critical contributions of biomass burning and coal combustion for RD in these areas. In comparison, gasoline combustion was the major pollution source for CD PAHs in NWC, NCP, NEC, and CC, whereas industrial emissions such as cement production and iron smelting had strong impacts in the heavy industrial regions. The total benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) carcinogenic potency concentrations (BaPTEQ) for RD and CD both showed the lowest in SC (0.05 and 0.07, respectively) and the highest in NCP (10.99 and 7.67, respectively). The highest and lowest incremental life cancer risks (ILCR) were found in NCP and SC, coinciding with the spatial distributions of ambient PAHs levels. The total CD-related cancer risks for adults and children (~10−4) suggest high potential health risks in NCP, SWC, and NWC, whereas the evaluated values in EC and SC indicate virtual safety (≤10−6).

China's New Leaders: Perspectives on Geographic Trends and Realities

A senior American specialist on the geography of China examines several aspects of China's society, economy, regional organization, and geopolitical position in light of the change in the country's leadership at the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in November 2012. After a brief comparison of the incoming and retiring leadership groups in terms of backgrounds and past policy pronouncements (as well as discussing the challenge posed by corruption), the author proceeds to discuss a series of key social and regional development policies that may be subject to some degree of change under the new leadership, including hukou and the one-child policy. He then focuses on the 12th Five-Year Plan, which provides a broad outline of the new leadership's goals, and particularly its emphasis on balanced regional development (a commitment to further develop the interior of the country as well as to revitalize the old heavy industrial region, the Northeast). The author then turns to China's growing military (and particularly naval) power in connection with its increasing assertion of territorial claims in the South and East China Seas as well as ability to project naval power across the Taiwan Strait and beyond into the Pacific and Indian Ocean theaters.

Memories of Conflict and Present-Day Struggles in Europe: New Tensions between Corporatism, Class, and Social Movements

This lecture addresses the connection between the production in the present of particular memories of the past and the ability to frame present-day conflicts in ways that render certain possibilities legitimate while excluding others. Through the ethnographic material I have gathered during my career I will show how different projects of the future (personal and collective) appeal to memories of conflict that link responsibilities and generations at different scales. Taking as my object of observation the transformations in economic relations in a heavy industrial region of northwestern Spain I will trace the connections between the languages and practices of contention, the reconfigured structures of production and governance, and the production of diverse memories (and silences) of conflict. Diverse memories produce struggles framed in class terms, or struggles framed in terms of corporatist interests, or in terms of contingently defined social claims. Through this often ambivalent delimitation of conflicts between past and present, the field of possible futures gets configured and with it the spectrum of possible political action.

Mercury content in the superficial geological formations of Hungary

Among the periodic system's elements, mercury (Hg) is most liable to dispersion and, simultaneously, most liable to secondary enrichment. Consequently, mercury enrichments can occur as a result of a number of geologic as well as anthropogenic processes. If the geologic processes cease, quite extended dispersion halos can form around a former accumulation center. Hydrothermal mineralization is a typical process giving rise to mercury concentration. As a result, regional mercury impacts can occur in the floodplains of rivers flowing from the mining and heavy industrial regions of Transylvania and Slovakia. Elsewhere, mercury anomalies detectable at the intermediate scale (1:50,000) can be found in the Zemplén and Mátra Mountains and, subordinately, in the Börzsöny Mountains. Typically mercury anomalies develop above major structural lineaments as well, unless they are buried under thick young sediments. A remarkable example is the deep fault separating the Pilis and Visegrád Mountains. Another group of Hg anomalies is caused by well-known mercury contamination sources (Kazincbarcika, Balatonfûzfő), which are truly local: they cannot be detected at the scale of the given study.

A regional synergy approach to advance sustainable water use: a case study using Kwinana (Western Australia)

Australia is experiencing increasing scarcity of fresh water due to declining rainfall and increased temperatures. Water is a key focus in the Kwinana industrial area, Western Australia's major heavy industrial region, where some 30 companies consume more than 35 000 mega litres per year of fresh water. Over the past decade, significant progress has been made towards the reduction of water consumption and improvements in effluent disposal in Kwinana. Another way to advance sustainable water use is through the realisation of regional synergies. These concern the capture, recovery and reuse of water and energy byproducts from other industries in close proximity. With up to 50 existing synergies already in place, Kwinana is recognised as a world leading example; however, more synergy opportunities appear to exist. Research is being undertaken to further develop synergies in Kwinana and also to deliver a targeted and customised toolkit. This article presents the research results, to date, including an overview of the Kwinana industrial area, and examples of existing water synergies showing their sustainability benefits and success factors.

A regional synergy approach to energy recovery: The case of the Kwinana industrial area, Western Australia

Energy is a key issue in the Kwinana industrial area, Western Australia’s major heavy industrial region, where the major energy consuming industries consume upto 80 PJ/yr of energy in their processes. Over the past decade, significant progress has been made towards the reduction of energy consumption and reduction of greenhouse gases in Kwinana. One way to further advance sustainable energy use is through the realisation of regional synergies. These concern the capture, recovery and reuse of by-products, water and energy between industries in close proximity. Kwinana is recognised as a leading edge example in regional synergy development, but more synergy opportunities appear to exist. The centre for sustainable resource processing (CSRP) is undertaking research to develop new synergies in Kwinana, including energy utility synergies. As part of the research, a methodology was developed and applied to identify and evaluate the economic, technical, and environmental feasibility of collaborative energy recovery opportunities from industry flue gases in Kwinana. The trial application demonstrated the significant potential to mitigate CO 2 emissions through energy recovery from flue gases by applying technologies to convert the embedded energy into useful thermal and electric applications. This article discusses the methodology and outcomes from the trial applications, including the impact of carbon taxes, reducing costs of emerging technologies, and increasing energy prices.

Space Construction as a Mental Process: Heavy Industrial Regions in Comparative Perspective

Choosing a more general approach to heavy industrial regions the article analyses how different perceptions of heavy industrial regions emerge. The author presents a wide range of reconstructions of past and present and thereby analyses different patterns of how history has been interpreted and communicated. Leboutte concludes that identity construction of coalfields reacts to internal as well as external challenges. erefore historians are facing tensions, debates, and conflicts between the past and its representation, between reconstructed pasts and projects for the future, between mind space produced by people living in the coalfields, and perception of the coalfields from outside.

Raumbildung als ökonomischer, sozialer und mentaler Prozess

This article shortly describes recent approaches to a renewed analysis of space (“spatial turn”) in German historiography and historical geography. It is shown that a new perception of historical space already accompanied the revival of the history of industrial regions since the 1960s (Regionalgeschichte instead of Landesgeschichte). Following Simmel, a perception of historical space as condensation of communications would make it possible to distinguish different capacities to communicate within different classes of a given society. Thus, migrant societies such as the ones that evolved from economic growth in heavy industrial regions everywhere in Europe would display a rather low capacity to construct mind space and regional identity on their own, whereas in the same regions, the middle classes developed rather poorly, so that mind space construction rested on weak shoulders. It is therefore that regional identity construction within formerly heavy industrial regions sprang off from structural change and educational reform mostly in the 1960s.

Industriekultur und Raumbewusstsein in Asturien/Spanien

The article deals with the development of a spatial consciousness in the old heavy industrial region Asturias in Northern Spain. On the basis of social and cultural historical studies, qualitative research, literary sources and media representations/interpretations Holm-Detlev Kohler traces mental processes of change from industrialisation to the present structural change. Economic, political and administrative, socio-cultural and topographical conditions are confronted with concepts of self-perception and external apperceptions of the region.

A regional synergy approach to advance sustainable water use: a case study using Kwinana (Western Australia)

Australia is experiencing increasing scarcity of fresh water due to declining rainfall and increased temperatures. Water is a key focus in the Kwinana industrial area, Western Australia's major heavy industrial region, where some 30 companies consume more than 35 000 mega litres per year of fresh water. Over the past decade, significant progress has been made towards the reduction of water consumption and improvements in effluent disposal in Kwinana. Another way to advance sustainable water use is through the realisation of regional synergies. These concern the capture, recovery and reuse of water and energy byproducts from other industries in close proximity. With up to 50 existing synergies already in place, Kwinana is recognised as a world leading example; however, more synergy opportunities appear to exist. Research is being undertaken to further develop synergies in Kwinana and also to deliver a targeted and customised toolkit. This article presents the research results, to date, including an overview of the Kwinana industrial area, and examples of existing water synergies showing their sustainability benefits and success factors.

Organochlorine Pesticides in the Sediment Core of Gwangyang Bay, South Korea

The nine organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in the sediment samples taken from Gwangyang Bay, which is a heavy chemical industrial region in South Korea, are analyzed to evaluate their contaminations during the past 50 years. The vertical distributions of SigmaOCPs concentration in the sediment core were in good agreement with the temporal amount of pesticides used in South Korea except for the top sediment layer. The DDTs were predominant, their concentrations ranging from 78.0 to 202 pg/g dry wt and attributed more than 60% to SigmaOCPs in all the sediment layers. Based on the ratio of DDT metabolite compositions, the DDT contamination in the top layer might be caused from recent input. This is due to the highest residual concentration of OCPs in the top layer. Although HCB and mirex have been unregistered as pesticides in South Korea, two compounds were detectable in all of the sediment samples in the range from 0.243 to 16.7 pg/g dry wt in the study area. The emission source of HCB in the sediment core could be estimated to be due to incomplete combustion in the industrial chemical processes rather than pesticide application. Regarding horizontal distribution of SigmaOCPs, the concentration was slightly higher than for the inner bay than the outer bay. The OCPs in the sediments of Gwangyang Bay were compared with those of other countries by hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis.

Industrial Symbiosis in the Australian Minerals Industry: The Cases of Kwinana and Gladstone

SummaryThe realization of regional synergies in industrial areas with intensive minerals processing provides a significant avenue toward sustainable resource processing. This article provides an overview of past and current synergy developments in two of Australia's major heavy industrial regions, Kwinana (Western Australia) and Gladstone (Queensland), and includes a comparative review and assessment of the drivers, barriers, and trigger events for regional synergies initiatives in both areas. Kwinana and Gladstone compare favorably with well‐known international examples in terms of the current level and maturity of industry involvement and collaboration and the commitment to further explore regional resource synergies. Kwinana stands out with regard to the number, diversity, complexity, and maturity of existing synergies. Gladstone is remarkable with regard to unusually large geographic boundaries and high dominance of one industry sector. Many diverse regional synergy opportunities still appear to exist in both industrial regions (particularly in Kwinana), mostly in three broad areas: water, energy, and inorganic by‐product reuse. To enhance the further development of new regional synergies, the Centre for Sustainable Resource Processing (CSRP), a joint initiative of Australian minerals processing companies, research providers, and government agencies, has undertaken several collaborative projects. These include research to facilitate the process of identifying and evaluating potential synergy opportunities and assistance for the industries with feasibility studies and implementation of selected synergy projects in both regions. The article also reports on the progress to date from this CSRP research.

Solar activity, global surface air temperature anomaly and Pacific Decadal Oscillation signals observed in urban outskirts tree ring records from Shenyang, China

A tree ring width chronology constructed from multiple samples taken from Chinese pine trees growing in outskirts of Shenyang city in Liaoning Province (China) was studied for the first time in relation to solar activity, global surface air temperature anomalies and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. The work revealed an excellent response of urban tree growth to solar activity and global climate change, show as the time variation of the main periodicities in the Sun–Earth indices and its corresponding variation as recorded in tree rings, indicating that these urban Chinese pine are a suitable proxy for Sun–Earth system research in heavy industrial region, like Fuling Mausoleum that is located in Shenyang. Chinese pines show significant synchronous response to solar activity, in the periodic band 5–8 years, 10–16 years and 20–30 years. At the same time, the wave signal of tree growth was also affected, or even amplified by the combined effect of the PDO and GSATA with a short lag time, revealing 6, 13.2, 16.6 and 23.2 years oscillatory modes. At 20–30 years timescales, Chinese pines validated the strongest PDO and GSATA influence signal at 26 years and 20.8 years, respectively, and the 20.8 years fluctuation of GSATA may be the first cause of the tree ring 23.5 years periodic waves. Urban tree ring growth is also more sensitive to low periodicity, especially in the 2–5 years band width.

The Village in a Game Park: Local Response to the Demise of Coal Mining in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Changing economic circumstances as a result of deindustrialization and market forces dramatically affect local areas and lead to a variety of local-level responses. Economic change and the reaction to this process have received much attention in the context of the decline of old heavy industrial regions in Western Europe and North America. But deindustrialization is also occurring elsewhere, for example, in countries such as South Africa, where the decline of mining and related industries is having a severe impact on the livelihoods of individuals, households, and communities. Considerations of institutional thickness, resourcefulness, and capacities inherent within host communities contribute to an understanding of the likely potential of the development response undertaken. This article considers the situation in a once important coal-mining region in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, focusing particularly on the community of Utrecht. In the postapartheid period, unemployment in the area has escalated, at a time when greater empowerment of the historically disadvantaged black population is urgently needed. Through cooperation within the community, together with the injection of external funding and collaboration in a series of joint ventures, Utrecht is progressively rebranding itself as a center for tourism. A number of community-initiated projects are discussed, and the dynamics of the formulation and implementation of the projects are evaluated in the context of the capabilities of individuals and institutions.

Locating nearby sources of air pollution by nonparametric regression of atmospheric concentrations on wind direction

The relationship of the concentration of air pollutants to wind direction has been determined by nonparametric regression using a Gaussian kernel. The results are smooth curves with error bars that allow for the accurate determination of the wind direction where the concentration peaks, and thus, the location of nearby sources. Equations for this method and associated confidence intervals are given. A nonsubjective method is given to estimate the only adjustable parameter. A test of the method was carried out using cyclohexane data from 1997 at two sites near a heavy industrial region in Houston, Texas, USA. According to published emissions inventories, 70% of the cyclohexane emissions are from one source. Nonparametric regression correctly identified the direction of this source from each site. The location of the source determined by triangulation of these directions was <500 m from that given in the inventory. Nonparametric regression is a powerful technique that has many potential uses in air quality studies and atmospheric sciences.

The Machine as Mythology

The Machine as Mythology