Increase In SO2 Emissions Research Articles

Linking ship-associated emissions and resource development in the Arctic: Trends and predictions along the Northern Sea Route

Arctic ship traffic has increased significantly due to continuous sea ice loss and resource extraction. The shipping sector is an important contributor to atmospheric emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulphur dioxide (SO2), and an increase in ship activity will lead to significant increases in these emissions. However, there is a lack of studies linking ship activities and the associated emissions with recent Arctic resource development activities. This study aims to assess the relationship between sector-specific developments (fishing, tourism, trade, oil, gas, mining, and “others”) and ship traffic, and the associated emissions from 2013 to 2023 along the Northern Sea Route (NSR), using time series analysis and linear regression. In addition, the relationships were further used to predict future ship-associated emissions by 2030, utilizing a combination of regression models and Holt-Winters’ trend and seasonal forecast. Results showed a 61% increase in distance travelled, 115% increase in NOx emissions, and 68% increase in SO2 emissions from 2013 to 2023. A strong positive linear relationship between oil and gas production and the ship-associated emissions of NOx and SO2 was found, with a coefficient of determination as high as 0.97. The oil sector emerged as the largest contributor to emissions from 2017 onward. Projections indicate that NOx and SO2 emissions will be more than doubled, reaching 12,400 and 1200 tonnes, respectively, by 2030, of which the oil sector accounts for 45 and 61% of the total emissions. This highlights the need for further emissions reduction measures, especially with expanding Arctic oil projects, in order to mitigate the environmental impact of increased resource-driven shipping along the NSR.

Association between malaria incidence and air quality: an ecological study

The study aimed to identify an association between the incidence of malaria and indicators of air pollution. A negative binomial regression model was adjusted for analysis of the study object. As a result, the matrix indicated a strong linear correlation between the predictors, that is, multicollinearity, which was measured using the Variance Inflation Factor (VIF). In the end, the variables that were suggested for the model were organic carbon (OC) and sulfur dioxide SO2, both with VIF's =5.88. It was verified that the incidence of malaria is associated with the indicator of environmental pollution SO2 and the Human Development Index (HDI). It is concluded that with the increase in SO2 emissions, the registration of new cases of malaria decreases and that the lower the HDI, the more precarious the health care and interventions against malaria, increasing the country's vulnerability and the rates of neglected tropical diseases. While it is widely known that the water´s quality affects the proliferation of mosquitoes that transmit Malaria, the effect of air quality on it is still poorly studied.

Simultaneous reduction of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide in circulating fluidized bed combustor during oxy-coal combustion

For stable carbon capture utilization and storage, highly-pure CO2 content and low pollutant emissions must be maintained throughout oxy-coal firing operation; however, studies on combining absorbent addition and oxidant staging combustion to eliminate simultaneous nitrogen oxides (NO, N2O) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) have not been reported. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of oxidant staging and limestone addition on the reductions of NO, N2O, and SO2 emissions in an oxy-circulating fluidized bed combustor at 25% and 31% input oxygen. The operating parameters considered in this study were: oxidant compositions; corresponding flow rate ratios; primary, secondary, and tertiary oxidants (PO, SO, and TO, respectively); TO supply heights; and limestone addition. The results revealed that compared to the TO supply heights, increasing TO flow rate was more effective at reducing the nitrogen oxide emissions. Under an optimal flow rate ratio (PO:SO:TO = 70:10:20) and TO height (6.4 m), NO, N2O, and SO2 emissions were ≈7.4, 4.2 and 4.1 mg MJ−1, respectively. The increase in SO2 emission caused by the application of oxidant staging could be effectively decreased by 60.6% without impacting combustion performance via limestone injection into the combustor; effectively facilitating the production of >86 vol% CO2. These findings can serve as valuable references for future designs, and the efficient operation of oxy-coal combustion plants constructed at larger scales, thereby ensuring highly-pure CO2 content and low pollutant emissions.

The Environmental Consequences of Place‐Based Policies in China: An Empirical Study Based on SO2 Emission Data

AbstractPrevious studies of place‐based policies in China have ignored their effect on pollution. Using event study and difference‐in‐differences methodologies, we investigated the consequences of place‐based policies on sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions. We first documented the increase in SO2 emissions and SO2 emission intensity in the inland region after 2003 at the provincial level. The firm‐level data for the period between 1998 and 2010 also showed that the performance of enterprises in noneastern regions in reducing SO2 emissions had worsened relatively since 2003, and this effect was particularly strong in enterprises located in central and northeast China, where urban land supply experienced significant growth after 2003. We found that, compared with environmental regulation changes, inland region‐biased economic policies after 2003 were more important in explaining the relative changes in SO2 emissions between coastal and inland regions. The policy implication is that the central government should address environmental consequences when designing place‐based economic policies.

Co-combustion of Sewage Sludge in the Coal-Fired Heating Plant

Due to greening of production of electricity and heat some owners of heating plant are changing their fuel mix from fossil fuels to biomass one. The stabilized sewage sludge is in this biomass category as well. New Czech national legislation limits are stricter in parameters of biological activity, so the owners of water treatment plant are looking for new utilization of their stabilized sludge. There are some possibilities in combustion or co-combustion of this sludge in currently heating plant. The article describes the trial test of stabilized sludge combustion on heating plant technology. The heating plant is originally designed for combustion of brown coal. The stabilized sludge was produced at the municipal wastewater treatment plant, from where it was transported to low-temperature (78 °C) drying technology, from where it was transported in granular form to the heating plant in Mladá Boleslav. The fuel mixture of trial test was in energetic ratio of 23% dried sludge and 77% brown coal. The sludge was transported into the boilers by pneumatic conveying, which is used in normal operation for conveying pelletized phytomass. The result shows an increase in SO2 emissions from the original 189.91 mg∙m-3 to 407.98 mg∙m-3 and an increase in NOx emissions from 148.45 mg∙m-3 to 181.46 mg∙m-3. There were also detected increasing NH3 emissions due to reac-tion of control system in SNCR technology od decreasing of NOx emissions. The trial test was done during full op-eration of the heating plant. During the test there was also a lower steam production, from originally 38.17 kg∙s-1 to 34.44 kg∙s-1, which is related to the lower LHV compared to the reference fuel. There were no major operation problems, except higher dustiness during unloading of sludge. Finally, the Czech legislative problems associated with the combustion of stabilized sewage sludge are mentioned. In the current system, the sludge is established as waste, which forbids the combustion of it in conventional heating plants, even though all emission legislative limits are complied with. Nowadays the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic is working on new regulation, which will determine new category of solid alternative fuels and it will be solution of this situation.

Episode 4 (2019\u20132020) Nishinoshima activity: abrupt transitions in the eruptive style observed by image datasets from multiple satellites

In December 2019, a new activity started at Nishinoshima volcano in the southern part of the Izu–Ogasawara arc, Japan. This is now referred to as Episode 4 of a series of activities that began in 2013. We analyzed the eruption sequence, including erupted volume and effusion rate, based on combined observations of thermal anomalies by Himawari-8 and topographic changes by ALOS-2. The total eruption volume during Episode 4 was ~ 132 × 106 m3, and the average effusion rate over the entire period was 0.51 × 106 m3 day−1 (5.9 m3 s−1), which was two to three times higher than that of Episode 1. Episode 4 had three stages. In Stage 1, effusive activity was dominant, and most of the lava erupted from a northeast vent at the foot of the pyroclastic cone to cover the northern half of the island. The average effusion rate was estimated to be 0.46 × 106 m3 day−1 (5.3 m3 s−1). In Stage 2, an intensive lava fountain with a high discharge rate developed, and it increased the size of the pyroclastic cone rapidly. The effusion rate temporarily reached 2.6 × 106 m3 day−1 (30 m3 s−1). Pyroclastic rocks accounted for 45–88% of the total erupted volume in this stage. Lava flows with rafted cone material were generated, and those possibly caused by intensive spatter falls on the slope were also formed. These lavas flowed down the southern half of the island. In Stage 3, continuous phreatomagmatic eruptions released ash and spread it over a wide area. The high effusion rate and the drastic change in the activity style in Episode 4 can be explained by deep volatile-rich magma being supplied to a shallower magma chamber prior to Episode 4. When the volatile-rich magma reached a shallow part of the conduit in Stage 2, fragmentation occurred due to rapid volume expansion to eject large amounts of magma and form the intensive lava fountain. Observations by satellite-borne ultraviolet–visible image sensors detected a rapid increase in SO2 emissions in response to the intensive lava-fountain activity. The less-differentiated nature of the ash fragments collected during Stage 2 may reflect the composition of the volatile-rich magma. Large-scale discolored-seawater areas appeared during the late period of Stage 1, which may have been caused by ascent of the volatile-rich magma.Graphical

Synergistic Air Pollutants and GHG Reduction Effect of Commercial Vehicle Electrification in Guangdong’s Public Service Sector

This paper aims to analyze the associated environment and climate benefits of electrification by comparing the air pollutant and CO2 emissions from the fuel cycle of battery electric commercial vehicles (BECVs) and internal combustion engine commercial vehicles (ICECVs) through a case study in Guangzhou Province. Five types of vehicles (i.e., electric buses, coaches, light-duty trucks, dump trucks, and waste haulers) used in the public service sector were selected for analysis, taking into account six development scenarios based on the prevalent ownership trends of electric vehicles and the energy system optimization process. The results reveal that an increase in commercial vehicle electrification in the public service sector will cause reductions of 19.3 × 103 tons, 0.5 × 103 tons, 9.5 × 103 tons, and 8.5 × 106 tons for NOx, PM2.5, VOCs, and CO2, respectively, from the base 2030 case (CS_II, the electrification rates of buses, coaches, light-duty trucks, dump trucks, and waste haulers will reach 100%, 26.5%, 15.4%, 24.0%, and 33.1%, and their power needs will be met by 24% coal, 18.4% gas, and 13.2% renewable power), but with a slight increase in SO2 emissions. With the further penetration of BECVs into the market, the emission reduction benefits for NOx, PM2.5, VOCs, and CO2 could be even more remarkable. Moreover, the benefit obtained from the optimization of the share of renewable energy is more noticeable for CO2 reduction than for air pollutant reduction. Prioritizing the electrification of light-duty trucks after completing bus electrification could be a potential solution for achieving ozone pollution control and lowering carbon emissions in Guangdong. In addition, these results can provide scientific support for the formulation or adjustment of advanced pollution mitigation and peaking carbon policies in Guangdong, as well as other regions of China.

The change pattern and driving factors of embodied SO2 emissions in China’s inter-provincial trade

This study analyzes the change pattern and driving factors of SO2 emissions embodied in inter-provincial trade in China during 2007–2012 based on environmentally extended input-output analysis (EEIOA) and structural decomposition analysis (SDA). The results show that: (1) SO2 emissions outsourced from highly developed coastal provinces to less developed inland provinces decreased sharply since 2007 while those from under-developed provinces like Henan and Hebei to the energy intensive provinces including Shanxi and Inner Mongolia have seen a significant increase. (2) The increased SO2 emissions induced by final demand of construction and heavy sectors in less developed provinces in central and western China have transferred to mining and energy production sectors in the northwest and northern China majorly through intermediate products trade. (3) The rising final demands for local finished and imported final products caused by investment demand are the main driver for the increase of SO2 emissions embodied in domestic imports in underdeveloped provinces in central and western China. Compared to the less developed inland provinces, the production and consumption modes of the developed coastal provinces are in transition to more favorable ways of reducing emissions embodied in domestic imports. Therefore, environment protection should center on reducing SO2 emissions transfer among less developed provinces caused by investment demands, more specifically, less developed provinces need to rationally plan the development of construction and heavy sectors. Meanwhile, provinces rich in resources and energy need to cut down SO2 emission through technical innovation.

Study on the Impact of the Export of China’s Final Use Products on Domestic SO2 Emissions

Since China’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), its export volume has achieved rapid growth. Meanwhile, the manufacturing of export products has also resulted in a large amount of SO2 emissions in China. To explore the relationship between the export of China’s final use products (ECFuP) and SO2 emissions, this paper first used the Multi-Regional Input–output (MRIO) model to study the SO2 emissions caused by ECFuP during 2003–2011. Then, this paper uses Structural Decomposition Analysis (SDA) to decompose the factors affecting SO2 emission into technical effect, structural effect and scale effect. The results showed that (1) the amounts of China’s SO2 emissions caused by the ECFuP have increased (2003–2007), declined (2007–2009), and increased again (2009–2011). (2) Scale effect is the main factor that causes the increase of SO2 emissions in China; technical effect mainly resulted in a decrease of emissions, whereas structural effect has less impact. Specifically, from 2003 to 2011, scale effect increased domestic SO2 emissions by 2.2 million tons; technical effect and structural effect reduced by 2.4 million tons and 0.5 million tons of emissions, respectively. (3) For different regions, there is a positive correlation between the consumption of the ECFuP and China’s SO2 emissions. Among them, NAFTA (accounting for 33.77%) leads to the largest SO2 emissions, and OTHER EU (5.79%) is the least. (4) From the industrial aspect, some industries with relatively small ECFuP have caused high SO2 emissions. The specific performance is as follows, among the 17 industries, Electricity, Gas and Water Supply (EGW) only occupied 0.6% of the total ECFuP, but it has the largest SO2 emissions (55%); in contrast, while Electrical and Optical Equipment (EOE) occupied 42% of the total ECFuP, its SO2 emissions only accounted for 0.2% of the total. In 2003–2011, the export trade volumes of all the industries increased, but the growth rates of less polluted industries are higher than that of heavy polluted industries. Based on the above findings, the paper also proposed some policy recommendations.

The Effect of Environmental Pollution on Labor Employment：Evidence from the Policy of Environmental Protection Accountability System

Employment is the greatest livelihood. At present, the number of unemployed people and the number of employed people increase simultaneously, so we need to seek effective ways to reduce the unemployment rate in the future. Since the employment situation is directly related to major people’s livelihood and development issues such as public income and social stability, researches on the factors influencing labor employment is growing. The existing literature studies from the perspectives of education, wages, household registration, population structure and so on. However, it pays less attention to the effect of environmental pollution on labor employment and neglects the endogeneity of environmental pollution. More importantly, the answer to this question is conducive to clarifying the employment loss effect of environmental pollution. This provides scientific basis and reference for evaluating the social cost of environmental pollution and designing optimal environmental policies. To address the endogeneity of environmental pollution, this paper uses the exogenous changes of SO2 emission between TCZ（Two Control Zones）cities and non-TCZ cities caused by the policy of the environmental protection accountability system in late 2005. Based on the panel data of 285 cities in China from 2003 to 2013, the study identifies the effect of SO2 emissions on labor employment through employing the instrumental variable method and the difference-in-differences method. The results show that: （1）1% increase in SO2 emissions is associated with a decrease of 0.3345% in labor employment on average; （2）SO2 emissions significantly decrease the labor employment in secondary and tertiary industries, but increase labor employment in primary industry; （3）The inhibition effect of SO2 emissions on employment is more significant in sub samples of high economic development and high human capital; （4）The emission reduction effect of the environmental protection accountability system has the characteristics of cyclical fluctuation”, that is, the short-term effect is obvious, while the long-term effect is disappearing. In terms of the economic cost, the annual employment loss caused by SO2 emissions exceeds 2.5 million people, and the average annual economic loss is about 54 billion Yuan. More importantly, the economic cost is rising year by year. Compared with the existing literature, the marginal contributions of this paper mainly reflect in the following aspects: （1）This paper focuses on and addresses the endogeneity of environmental pollution indicators. In line with the ideas of Chen, et al.（2018）, it uses the exogenous changes of SO2 emission between TCZ cities and non-TCZ cities caused by the policy of the environmental protection accountability system in late 2005. Taking this as a breakthrough point, we further observe the impact of the exogenous changes on labor employment.（2）This paper provides evidence for the effect of environmental pollution on labor employment in developing countries, especially enriches the existing research in China. In general, the existing literature about the effects of environmental pollution on physical health, individual productivity and labor supply mostly focuses on developed countries. Although there are also studies on developing countries, such as Bangladesh, Mexico and Peru, the relevant studies are relatively scarce. Considering the differences in environmental risks and medical conditions among countries, and the fact that 92% of pollution-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, the empirical conclusions of developed countries are not necessarily suitable for developing countries, which further highlights the need to seek evidence from developing countries.（3）This paper estimates the economic and social cost of environmental pollution, which has strong practical significance. Accurate identification of the social welfare effect of environmental pollution is crucial to the design of the optimal environmental policy. Too high or too low estimation will lead to too strict or too loose environmental policy intensity, which is not conducive to economic development. In view of this, this paper provides new evidence for the cost-benefit assessment of the environmental policy from the perspective of labor employment, and provides reference for the central government to make decisions on the strength of the environmental policy.

Spatial Correlation, Influencing Factors and Environmental Supervision on Mechanism Construction of Atmospheric Pollution: An Empirical Study on SO2 Emissions in China

In order to study the present situation regarding SO2 emissions in China, problems are identified and countermeasures and suggestions are put forward. This paper analyzes spatial correlation, influencing factors and regulatory tools of air pollution in 30 provinces on the Chinese mainland from 2006–2015. The results of exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) show that SO2 emissions have obvious positive spatial correlations, and atmospheric pollution in China shows obvious spatial overflow effects and spatial agglomeration characteristics. On this basis, the present study analyzes the impact of seven socioeconomical (SE) factors and seven policy tools on air pollution by constructing a STIRPAT model and a spatial econometric model. We found that population pressure, affluence, energy consumption (EC), industrial development level (ID), urbanization level (UL) and the degree of marketization can significantly promote the increase of SO2 emissions, but technology and governmental supervision of the environment have significant inhibitory effects. The reason why China’s air pollution is curbed at present is because the government has adopted a large number of powerful command-controlled supervision measures, to a large extent. Air pollution treatment is like a government-led “political movement”. The effect of the market is relatively weak and public force has not been effectively exerted. In the future, a comprehensive use of a variety of regulation tools is needed, as well as encouraging the public to participate, strengthening the supervision of third parties and building a diversified and all-encompassing supervision mechanism.

SO2 Emission Characteristics of Bituminous Coal, Lignite, and Its Blends with Cedar Nut Shells under O2/N2 and O2/CO2 Combustion Environments in a Bubbling Fluidized Bed

ABSTRACTA complex analysis of the influence of various atmospheres on SO2 emission is presented by comparing two types of coal under the following conditions: combusted alone and mixed with biomass. The results are correlated with the content of pyrite, sulfate and organic sulfur in both coal types. SO2 emission in different atmospheres was compared separately for each coal type, reporting it in percentage of emission in the air for the same mass of coal sample. We found a strong dependence of SO2 emission on the combustion atmosphere in case of bituminous coal, whereas we found a weak dependence in case of lignite. Combustion of bituminous coal in oxygen enhanced atmosphere resulted in a high increase in SO2 emission. A significant reduction in the emission of SO2 was obtained by combusting either bituminous coal alone in O2/CO2 atmosphere or in a blend with biomass in O2/N2 or O2/CO2 atmospheres.

Extended database of SO2 column densities over Pakistan by exploiting satellite observations

Increasing levels of atmospheric SO2 is a major threat and is now widely included in health risk assessment studies. An annual estimation of SO2 has been conducted for both anthropogenic and natural activities at country level. Satellite observations of atmospheric sulfur dioxide (SO2) are obtained over Pakistan during the time span of 2005–2016. The data was acquired from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) onboard NASA's Aura satellite. DOAS (Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy) based algorithm was utilized to retrieve SO2 column densities. In addition to spatio-temporal analysis of SO2 column, seasonal cycles over major areas of Pakistan are evaluated and discussed. Year 2007, 2011 exhibited anomalous high levels of SO2 attributed to trans-boundary volcanic plumes observed in Pakistan. SO2 plumes were caused by Dallafilla and Nabro volcanic eruption and spread over East African, the Middle Eastern and South Asian regions. A temporal increase of about 78% was observed in anthropogenic SO2 levels for a period of 2005–2016 across Pakistan. Further, the relative change was maximum in Khyber Pakhtoon Khwa (KPK region 46%) followed by Punjab (38%), Sindh (28%) and Baluchistan (18%), respectively. The economic prosperity in recent years resulted in increased demand for energy by both the industrial and domestic sector, and consequent increase in SO2 emissions in Pakistan.

Investigation of a granule structure that focused on reducing NOx emissions in sintering process

The pressure to reduce NOx emissions in iron ore sintering process is enlarging increasingly. The paper proposed a sintering granulation method to reduce NOx emissions. The main character of the method was to wrap all fuel on the surface of the pellet, and also increased the contact between iron ore and fluxes. The sinter-pot test results showed that NOx emissions of the method reduced by 19.9% and sinter quality improved, while SO2 emissions increased by 17.7% compared with that of the conventional method. The increase in the reducing atmosphere of the sinter bed and the development of calcium ferrite in sinter were the main causes of NOx emissions reduction and the improvement of the sinter quality. In addition, the promotion of the combustion of fuel resulted in the increase in SO2 emissions. The improvement of the sinter quality and the control of the sintering flue gas pollutants can also be realized through adjusting the distribution of fuel, fluxes and iron ore in the pellet reasonably.

Wintertime nitrate formation during haze days in the Guanzhong basin, China: A case study

In this study, the formation of nitrate aerosol from 16 to 24 December 2015 in the Guanzhong basin, China is simulated using the WRF-Chem model. The predicted near-surface O3, NO2, and fine particulate matters (PM2.5) in the basin and inorganic aerosols and nitrous acid (HONO) in Xi'an are generally in good agreement with the observations. Sensitivity studies show that the heterogeneous HONO sources play an appreciable role in the nitrate formation in the basin, contributing 9.2% of nitrate mass concentrations during heavy haze days. Nitrate formation is also affected by sulfate due to their competition for ammonia, particularly in urban areas. A 50% decrease in SO2 emissions enhances the nitrate concentration by 6.2% during heavy haze days on average in the basin, and a 50% increase in SO2 emission reduces the nitrate concentration by 9.7%. The roles of HONO and sulfate competition in nitrate formation are strongly modulated by ammonia. Agricultural emissions predominate the nitrate level in the basin (93.5%), but the non-agricultural sources cannot substantially influence nitrate formation (3.7%–14.6%). Reducing agricultural emission is an effective control strategy to mitigate nitrate pollution in the basin.

Spatio-temporal variations in SO2 and NO2 emissions caused by heating over the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region constrained by an adaptive nudging method with OMI data

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region in China suffers from heavy air pollution, especially in heating period. SO2 and NO2 are two of the key primary gaseous pollutants emitted by coal burning. The increase in air pollution caused by heating in the south-central part of the BTH region is higher than that in the northern part. And the distribution of SO2 and NO2 increment has significant differences. In this work, SO2 and NO2 emissions over the BTH region are determined using an adaptive “nudging” constrained method and a variational processing technique based on Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) satellite data and surface measurement data collected in 2015. The application of the method can provide reliable, up-to-date and high-resolution mapping of sources of SO2 and NO2 emissions. These SO2 and NO2 emissions reflect the spatial differences in point and area sources in urban agglomerations and rural areas under different meteorological conditions during the non-heating and heating seasons. The intensity and influence of SO2 and NO2 emissions, particularly those of SO2, are significantly greater during the heating season than those during the non-heating season. Winter increases in SO2 emissions in the northern areas of the BTH region are larger than those in the southern part. In addition, significant increases in SO2 emissions occur mainly in suburban and rural areas, while those of NO2 emissions mainly occur in urban agglomerations. In the major urban areas, where coal has been replaced by natural gas or electric power for heating, winter heating causes much smaller increases in SO2 emissions than in other areas. The large amounts of bulk coal consumption in the suburban and rural areas could cause significant regional air pollution. Clear increases in SO2 and NO2 emissions in winter occur along a belt from southern Beijing to Langfang, Baoding, Shijiazhuang and Xingtai, which is consistent with a special “quasi-steady” air pollutant transport belt in the region. All above results show that the adaptive “nudging” constrained emission method could be an effective tool for air pollution control during certain seasons.

The health costs of the industrial leap forward in China: Evidence from the sulfur dioxide emissions of coal-fired power stations

In this study, we attempt to empirically test the effects of air pollution on public health in China. Using three-stage least squares (3SLS) to solve the potential endogeneity problem in sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions, we find that air pollution has significant negative effects on public health. Specifically, a 1% increase in SO2 emissions is found to lead to 0.067 and 0.004 more deaths per 100,000 population due to respiratory diseases and lung cancer, respectively. In terms of absolute magnitude, every one million ton increase in SO2 emissions results in 0.735 and 0.052 extra deaths due to respiratory diseases and lung cancer per 100,000 population, respectively. Moreover, SO2 emissions result in 230,000 extra deaths every year and the related economic costs over the study period amount to RMB 8.179 billion.

Contribution of demand shifts to industrial SO2 emissions in a transition economy: Evidence from China

For the past 20 years, sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions control has been a goal in China whose economy has been characterized as fast growing and in enormous transition. As a prerequisite for effective future SO2 emissions control, a detailed investigation is needed to uncover and assess the contributions to changes in SO2 emissions of key underlying drivers associated with China’s evolving demand structure. Using structural decomposition analysis (SDA), considering industrial characteristics and sector interactions, this study identifies the underlying drivers behind China’s demand structure shifts as well as their contributions to changes in industrial SO2 emissions. The results show that the change in total final demand was the largest driver of the increase in SO2 emissions, resulting in an increase of 36.64 million tons (Mt) SO2 emissions during the time period 1997 to 2012. From the final demand perspective, the change in capital formation was the largest contributor, resulting in an increase of 16.78 Mt SO2 emissions, and accounting for 45% of the increase due to final demand shifts. The construction industry was the primary trigger of industrial SO2 emissions growth caused by shifts in final demand, with an induced amount (impact on other industries) of SO2 emissions of 10.14 Mt. The key drivers capturing shifts in final demand were mainly capital formation in the construction industry, capital formation and exports in technology-intensive industries, and consumption in the services industries. The recommendation is that to control industrial SO2 emissions, China should depend first on its economic transition that includes technology improvements and industry structure optimization for both final demand and production.

Response of Power Plant Emissions to Ambient Temperature in the Eastern United States.

Past studies have established strong connections between meteorology and air quality, via chemistry, transport, and natural emissions. A less understood linkage between weather and air quality is the temperature-dependence of emissions from electricity generating units (EGUs), associated with high electricity demand to support building cooling on hot days. This study quantifies the relationship between ambient surface temperatures and EGU air emissions (CO2, SO2, and NOX) using historical data. We find that EGUs in the Eastern U.S. region from 2007 to 2012 exhibited a 3.87% ± 0.41% increase in electricity generation per °C increase during summer months. This is associated with a 3.35%/°C ± 0.50%/°C increase in SO2 emissions, a 3.60%/°C ± 0.49%/°C increase in NOX emissions, and a 3.32%/°C ± 0.36%/°C increase in CO2 emissions. Sensitivities vary by year and by pollutant, with SO2 both the highest sensitivity (5.04% in 2012) and lowest sensitivity (2.19% in 2007) in terms of a regional average. Texas displays 2007-2012 sensitivities of 2.34%/°C ± 0.28%/°C for generation, 0.91%/°C ± 0.25%/°C for SO2 emissions, 2.15%/°C ± 0.29%/°C for NOX emissions, and 1.78%/°C ± 0.22%/°C for CO2 emissions. These results suggest demand-side and supply side technological improvements and fuel choice could play an important role in cost-effective reduction of carbon emissions and air pollution.

Assessment of regional acidifying pollutants in the Athabasca oil sands area under different emission scenarios

Acid deposition is a potential environmental impact of oil sands development in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) in Northeastern Alberta. An acid deposition management framework has been established to manage this issue. This framework includes an acid deposition modelling and time-to-effect impact assessment component that was recently implemented for four acidifying emissions cases using the Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. Predicted gross Potential Acid Input (PAI) deposition in the AOSR increases from the historical to existing case with further increases predicted in two future cases due to the projected increase in NOx emissions. On average the total predicted PAI deposition in the AOSR is approximately 40% sulphur deposition and 60% nitrogen deposition. Sulphur deposition decreases by 7% from the historical to existing cases due to the reductions in SO2 emissions that have occurred in the AOSR but increases by 5% from the existing to future case 1 and by 8% from existing to future case 2 even though continued AOSR SO2 emission decreases were modelled. This is likely the result of the deposition reduction associated with a single large reduction in SO2 emissions from one facility's main stack being offset elsewhere in the AOSR by deposition increases due to small increases in SO2 emissions from several in situ sources with shorter stacks. Average nitrogen deposition over the AOSR increases by 10% from the historical to existing case and then further increases by 10.6% from the existing case to future case 1 and by 12.3% from the existing case to future case 2. The increasing relevance of NOx emissions over SO2 emissions in the AOSR suggests that a robust treatment of nitrogen chemistry such as in CMAQ is required for conducting deposition assessments in the region. The modelling results provide information that can be used to inform oil sands emission management priorities in the context of acid deposition and nitrogen eutrophication impact minimization.