Pollution Control In China Research Articles

Thoughts and Suggestions on Carrying out "Site Restoration +" Model in Soil Pollution Control in China

Thoughts and Suggestions on Carrying out "Site Restoration +" Model in Soil Pollution Control in China

Impact of environmental regulations on the efficient control of industrial pollution in China

The continuous progress of industrialization is a fundamental cause of China’s increasingly severe environmental pollution problem. Improving the efficiency of industrial pollution control is an inevitable choice to effectively decrease pollution emissions, thus winning the battle of pollution prevention and control. In this paper, we used the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) model to measure the provincial efficiency of industrial pollution control based on the input and output data of industrial pollution control of 29 administrative provinces in China from 2000 to 2017. On this basis, a spatial econometric model was used to explore the influence of environmental regulation intensity on the efficiency of industrial pollution control. In addition, the spatial spillover effect of pollution reduction was thoroughly examined. The results show that: (1) The efficiency of industrial pollution control in China has improved year by year, but the overall efficiency is still low, with the average value increasing from 0.165 in 2000 to 0.309 in 2017. Furthermore, there is significant regional heterogeneity with the highest efficiency level in the east and lowest efficiency level in the west. (2) By increasing the financial and material input, the efficiency of industrial pollution control has increased. However, the increase of human input has not been so helpful. (3) The global Moran’s I index is significantly greater than zero, indicating a strong spatial correlation and agglomeration in the efficiency of industrial pollution control, which is reflected in high–high agglomeration in the eastern region and low–low agglomeration in the western region. (4) Stringent environmental regulation has a positive effect on improving the efficiency of industrial pollution control. It also imposes a positive spatial spillover effect, indicating a strategic interaction and coordination of regional pollution control. In line with this, related proposals have been made to optimize the investment structure for environmental pollution control, establish a flow mechanism for the factor market, and strengthen the environmental responsibility awareness of state-owned enterprises. On this basis, we expect to provide a policy for improving the efficiency of industrial pollution control and promoting regional joint pollution control in China.

Disease Burden Attributable to PM2.5 Exposure in China from 2000 to 2016

Long-term exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) has slowly increased both the morbidity and mortality among Chinese people; becoming a leading problem for public health efforts. In this study, the exposure-response function was used to derive the spatial-temporal dynamics of disease burden attributable to PM2.5 pollution in China. It was found that the economic loss attributable to PM2.5 increased by 93% from 35 billion Chinese yuan to 536 billion Chinese yuan within the period of 16 years. Digging further, a substantiate level of regional differences was discovered with the disease burden being the most severe in East China and the least severe in Northwest China. This article can provide more insights for future air pollution control in China.

Effects of different environmental regulations and their heterogeneity on air pollution control in China

Effects of different environmental regulations and their heterogeneity on air pollution control in China

Decoupling Analysis between Economic Growth and Air Pollution in Key Regions of Air Pollution Control in China

The Chinese government has implemented a number of environmental policies to promote the continuous improvement of air quality while considering economic development. Scientific assessment of the impact of environmental policies on the relationship between air pollution and economic growth can provide a scientific basis for promoting the coordinated development of these two factors. This paper uses the Tapio decoupling theory to analyze the relationship between regional economic growth and air pollution in key regions of air pollution control in China—namely, the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region and surrounding areas (BTHS), the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), and the Pearl River Delta (PRD)—based on data of GDP and the concentrations of SO2, PM10, and NO2 for 31 provinces in China from 2000 to 2019. The results show that the SO2, PM10, and NO2 pollution in the key regions show strong and weak decoupling. The findings additionally indicate that government policies have played a significant role in improving the decoupling between air pollution and economic development. The decoupling between economic growth and SO2 and PM10 pollution in the BTHS, YRD, and PRD is better than that in other regions, while the decoupling between economic growth and NO2 pollution has not improved significantly in these regions. To improve the relationship between economic growth and air pollution, we suggest that the governments of China and other developing countries should further optimize and adjust the structure of industry, energy, and transportation; apply more stringent targets and measures in areas of serious air pollution; and strengthen mobile vehicle pollution control.

Research Progress and Prospect of Sediment Environment and Pollution Control in China in Recent 20 Years

Research Progress and Prospect of Sediment Environment and Pollution Control in China in Recent 20 Years

The effects of Intensive Supervision Mechanism on air quality improvement in China

ABSTRACT The Intensive Supervision Mechanism (hereafter referred to as ISM) is one of the most important institutional management innovations for air pollution control in China, but there is currently no consensus on the effects of the ISM on air quality improvement. In this study, a reliable quantitative model based on the Difference-in-Differences (DID) analysis was designed to evaluate the impacts of ISM on air quality (as indicated by good air quality days (hereafter referred to as GAD) and the concentrations of six major air pollutants (i.e. PM2.5, PM10, O3_8H, NO2, SO2, and CO)), in China with focuses on the implementation cities of Henan Province. To optimize the model design, six meteorological factors, five socio-economic indicators, and VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) data were also considered as alternative control variables for more comprehensive and effective results. In addition, the redundancy analysis (RDA) and Monte Carlo simulation were conducted to determine the optimal combination of those control variables which can best reflect the changes in explanatory variables. The main findings are as follows: (1) the statistical model applied in this study can well evaluate the impacts of ISM; (2) the implementation of ISM can significantly reduce the concentrations of SO2, CO, and NO2, but the improvements for PM2.5, PM10, GAD and O3_8H were not significant. (3) the potential for air quality improvement due to ISM tends to be reduced over time, and thus the positive effects of ISM at its second stage were not increased significantly compared with those observed during its first stage. In general, those results not only demonstrate the effectiveness of ISM on air quality improvement, but also provide insights into how the ISM can be optimized to gain a sustained improvement of the ambient air quality in the future. Implications: As a policy measure implemented by the Chinese government, the Intensive Supervision Mechanism (ISM) has significantly contributed to the improvement of air quality since its execution. However, the potential for air quality improvement due to ISM tends to be reduced over time, and thus the positive effects of ISM at its second stage were not increased significantly compared with those observed during its first stage. In addition, the implementation of ISM requires a large amount of financial investment, and thus has limited sustainability. Considering the increased difficulty of this policy instrument, whether to insist on the ISM warrants further analyses on its cost and effectiveness. More importantly, more targeted measures of ISM should be applied to decrease the ozone concentration in the future.

Research on the Application of Environmentally Friendly Packaging Materials in the Sustainable Development of Logistics

With the quickening of environmental pollution control in China, the concrete measures of “plastic limit” and “plastic ban” were put forward one after another. At the same time, the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Waste will be formally revised and implemented in September 2020. This fully demonstrates the importance we attach to ecological protection and sustainable development of the environment and our determination to control environmental pollution. At present, with the popularization of e-commerce, the fragmentation of consumption, the penetration of online shopping in rural areas is getting bigger and bigger, and the express delivery industry is showing explosive growth. Especially under the epidemic, consumers’ consumption behaviors and consumption patterns have changed greatly. Network consumption behavior increased significantly, carton, plastic bags and other packaging products demand increased significantly. It consumes a lot of resources, such as paper and plastic products, and also produces a lot of packaging waste. Through the analysis and comparison of several disposable plastic packaging materials in green logistics, the importance of green packaging in green logistics is discussed, which has a strong inspiration for environmental protection and the development of green logistics.

The Zhenhua Case: the emergence of civil environmental public interest litigation in China

Abstract In 2015, the All-China Environment Federation v Dezhou Jinghua Group Zhenhua Corporation Limited case was the first civil environmental public interest litigation (CEPIL) against air pollution in China. Constituting a milestone in the field of air pollution control in China, this case (i) confirms the eligibility of a non-governmental organisation (NGO) to file civil public interest litigations; (ii) discusses remedies for the ecological destruction caused by air pollution; (iii) assesses the ecological and environmental damage using the ‘virtual restoration cost’ method; and (iv) uses public apology as an innovative way for Zhenhua to assume liability. By applying and interpreting several important rules under the Environmental Protection Law of China (EPLC) for the first time, this case sets an example for future CEPILs against air pollution in China.

The river chief system and agricultural non-point source water pollution control in China

As part of their efforts to control water pollution, local governments in China introduced the river chief system, whereby a named individual undertakes responsibility for protecting a specified waterway. As one of the most prominent sources of water pollution, agricultural non-point-source (NPS) pollution is becoming increasingly serious. Determining whether the river chief system, an institutional reform in China's decentralized environmental regulation regime, is effective in alleviating NPS pollution is important for the realization of green development. The effect of the river chief system on reducing agricultural NPS pollution is explored in this study using panel data from 308 Chinese counties during the period from 2004 to 2015. The results reveal that the negative impact of manure output from animal breeding operations on surface water quality is reduced with the implementation of the river chief system. However, the river chief system is ineffective in dealing with the water pollution caused by fertilizer use. Furthermore, in the current system, cooperation among river chiefs only occurs within a province. Local governments should increase their efforts in reducing fertilizer source loads and preventing fertilizer loads from entering surface waters. In addition, the central government should improve cooperation among the river chiefs in upstream and downstream provinces.

Game Theory-Based Analysis of Local Governments’ Behavioral Dissimilation in the Third-Party Soil Pollution Control under Chinese-Style Fiscal Decentralization

The participation of a third party of the environmental service enterprise theoretically increases the level and efficiency of soil pollution control in China. However, Chinese-style fiscal decentralization may have a negative impact on the behaviors of participants, especially the local government. First, this paper conducts a positioning analysis on participants of the third-party soil pollution control in China and discusses the behavioral dissimilation of the local government under fiscal decentralization. Second, taking the government’s third-party soil pollution control as a case, a two-party game model of the central government and the local government is established around the principal-agent relationship, and a tripartite game model of the central government, the local government, and the third-party enterprise is designed around the collusion between the local government and the third-party enterprise. The results show that Chinese-style fiscal decentralization may lead to the behavioral dissimilation of local governments, that is, they may choose not to implement or passively implement the third-party control, and choose to conspire with third-party enterprises. Improving the benefits from implementing the third-party control of local governments and third-party enterprises, enhancing the central government’s supervision probability and capacity, and strengthening the central government’s punishment for behavioral dissimilation are conducive to the implementation of the third-party soil pollution control. Finally, this study puts forward policy suggestions on dividing the administrative powers between the central and local government in third-party control, building appraisal systems for the local government’s environmental protection performance, constructing environmental regulation mechanisms involving the government, market and society, and formulating the incentive and restraint policies for the participants in the third-party soil pollution control.

COVID-19-Induced Lockdowns Indicate the Short-Term Control Effect of Air Pollutant Emission in 174 Cities in China.

The contradiction between the regional imbalance and an one-size-fits-all policy is one of the biggest challenges in current air pollution control in China. With the recent implementation of first-level public health emergency response (FLPHER) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in China (a total of 77 041 confirmed cases by February 22, 2020), human activities were extremely decreased nationwide and almost all economic activities were suspended. Here, we show that this scenario represents an unprecedented "base period" to probe the short-term emission control effect of air pollution at a city level. We quantify the FLPHER-induced changes of NO2, SO2, PM2.5, and PM10 levels in 174 cities in China. A machine learning prediction model for air pollution is established by coupling a generalized additive model, random effects meta-analysis, and weather research and forecasting model with chemistry analysis. The short-term control effect under the current energy structure in each city is estimated by comparing the predicted and observed results during the FLPHER period. We found that the short-term emission control effect ranges within 53.0%-98.3% for all cities, and southern cities show a significantly stronger effect than northern cities (P < 0.01). Compared with megacities, small-medium cities show a similar control effect on NO2 and SO2 but a larger effect on PM2.5 and PM10.

Exploring the effect of producer services and manufacturing industrial co-agglomeration on the ecological environment pollution control in China

Based on the perspective of government-dominated and market-driven industrial co-agglomeration mode, the effect of producer services and manufacturing industrial co-agglomeration on the ecological environment pollution control is explored by using spatial Durbin model, and the mediating effect of technological innovation is further tested. The results show that: (1) At the national level, the government-dominated industrial co-agglomeration only significantly promotes the local ecological environment pollution control, while the market-driven industrial co-agglomeration also can promote the ecological environment pollution control in the surrounding region through its spatial spillover effect. Moreover, there is a significant inverted “U-shaped” curve relationship between the economic development level and ecological environment pollution. Additionally, the environment regulation is also conducive to promoting the ecological environment pollution control, while the industrial structure and foreign direct investment will lead to more serious ecological environment pollution; (2) In the east region, the government-dominated and market-driven industrial co-agglomeration can promote the ecological environment pollution control in the local and surrounding regions, and the promotion effect and spatial spillover effect of market-driven industrial co-agglomeration are greater. However, in the central and west regions, the government-dominated industrial co-agglomeration and market-driven industrial co-agglomeration only promote the local ecological environment pollution control. (3) Technological innovation has partial mediating effect in the impact of government-dominated and market-driven industrial co-agglomeration on the ecological environment pollution control, namely that the government-dominated and market-driven industrial co-agglomeration not only can directly promote the ecological environment pollution control, but also can indirectly promote the ecological environment pollution control through the mediating effect of technological innovation.

Comprehensive evaluation of ecological environment quality of mining area based on sustainable development indicators: a case study of Yanzhou Mining in China

In order to explore the effective method for the comprehensive evaluation of ecological environment quality of environmental pollution governance in China’s coal mining areas, based on the review of domestic and foreign research literature and the requirements and actual situation of environmental pollution control in China’s coal mining areas, this paper selects four categories of 20 evaluation indicators, including land resource, water resource, air, and sustainable development status. According to the land, surface water, air quality standards, and China’s sustainable development strategy issued by the Chinese government, and drawing on the latest research results at China and the world, taking the Yanzhou Mining in China as an example, the traditional niche model is introduced to reconstruct the spatial niche model for the case evaluation. It is found that the evaluation results of the spatial niche model lie between the evaluation results of the absolute niche model and the relative niche model. According to the evaluation results, during 2010–2018, the quality of land resources, water resources, and sustainable development in Yanzhou Mining has been upgraded from level IV to II, and the air quality has been upgraded from level IV to level III, which is still the focus of improving the ecological environment quality in Yanzhou Mining. The research findings are significant for guiding the Yanzhou Mining to improve the quality of the ecological environment and promote sustainable development. The conclusion of this paper has guiding significance for the improvement of ecological environment quality of other similar coal mining areas and provides empirical support for the government to formulate environmental pollution governance and ecological environment quality policy.

An operational monitoring method for full coverage pollution enterprises based on satellite remote sensing

Industrial enterprises are one of the main causes of air pollution in eastern China. How to monitor them efficiently is directly related to the result of air pollution control in China. However, the monitoring of enterprises now mainly relies on the ground online monitoring technology, and only for some large enterprises, some small and medium-sized enterprises will be missed which also contribute a lot to the air pollution. Based on the satellite remote sensing technology, this paper explores an operational method of monitoring the whole coverage of pollution enterprises from macro to micro, focusing on monitoring the regional pollution status results of the pollution enterprises and identifying the key monitoring objects including the small and medium-sized ones. Based on the air pollutants retrieval results of satellite remote sensing, a remote sensing high-occurrence index model of air pollution is built. By using the pollution focused grid extract method and high-resolution satellite image identification technology, the key monitoring objects of pollution enterprises can be extracted. The result of the application cases in eastern China and the typical districts show that the remote sensing high-occurrence index model can clearly reflect the comprehensive pollution status by the pollution enterprises; validation of the identification rate of the small and middle-sized enterprises can reach over 77%, which has made a great progress compared with the inspection only relying on the supervision personnel in the absence of specific objects. The method proposed in this paper can greatly improve the scientific and accurate supervision level of environmental management.

Spatial-temporal characteristics of urban air pollution in 337 Chinese cities and their influencing factors.

Urban air pollution, especially in the form of haze events, has become a serious threat to socio-economic development and public health in most developing countries. It is of great importance to assess the frequency of urban air pollution occurrence and its influencing factors. The objective of our study is to develop consistent methodologies for constructing an index system and for assessing the influencing factors of the urban air pollution occurrence based on the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework by incorporating spatial analysis, geographical detector, and geographically weighted regression models. The 27 influencing factors were selected for assessing their influences on the urban air pollution occurrence in 337 Chinese cities. The results indicate that the spatial pattern of the urban air pollution in China was mostly consistent with the Chinese population-based Hu Line. Urban air pollution frequently occurred in North China, Central China, Northeast China, and East China, and displayed strong seasonality. The influencing factors of urban air pollution were complex and diverse, varying from season to season. Influencing factor analysis also shows that the explanatory power between any two influencing factors was greater than that of a single influencing factor of the urban air pollution. Furthermore, most influencing factors had both positive and negative effects and local effects on urban air pollution. Finally, we put forward five suggestions on reducing urban air pollution occurrence, which can provide the basis and reference for the government to make policies on urban air pollution control in China.

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Surface Soil of China (2000-2020): Temporal and Spatial Distribution, Influencing Factors

With the rapid development of China's economy and society, the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) pollution of surface soil has attracted increasing attention. Based on a systematic review, this study identified 166 relevant papers (published from 2000 to 2020) dealing with the contamination of 16 PAHs in the surface soil of China and summarized the pollution level, temporal, and spatial distribution influencing factors of PAHs with statistics, spatial interpolation analysis, and source analysis methods. The results showed that the surface soil of China has been polluted by human-caused PAHs, with a median concentration of 675.70 μg·kg-1. Although the overall condition is good, some sampling points have been seriously polluted. Among the monomers of PAHs, the concentrations of fluoranthene (Fla) and pyrene (Pyr) are high, while acenaphthylene (Acy) and acenaphthene (Ace) are relatively low. During the survey period, the concentration data of surface soil PAHs are generally within the moderate pollution levels of 313.10-1070.45 μg·kg-1, while the annual changes of PAHs do not show obvious fluctuations and are less affected by oil production and consumption. Statistics and spatial interpolation results show that PAH pollution in the surface soil of China has regional characteristics, where the concentration decreases in order from northwest, north, east, northeast, southwest, and south-central China. The pollution level in most provinces is "contaminated" or "weakly contaminated." From the source analysis results, PAH pollution in surface soils in most areas of China comes from the high-temperature combustion of fossil fuels such as petroleum, biomass, and coal. Heilongjiang and some northwestern regions (e.g., Xinjiang and Tibet) were mainly represented by oil source pollution. Such results could provide a reference for soil environmental management and PAH pollution control in China.

Research on the Impact of Ecological Civilization Construction on Environmental Pollution Control in China—Based on Differential Game Theory

With environmental pollution problems becoming more and more serious, administrators need to change their original system of performance achievement evaluation and build a new performance achievement view of ecological civilization. Based on the view of achievement evaluation of ecological civilization, this research develops a continuous-time differential game of environmental pollution control between local government and enterprises by taking into consideration dynamic change in pollutants in the environment into account. By analyzing the equilibrium solution of the game, the role of the assessment mechanism of ecological civilization is explored, and countermeasures are proposed to provide a scientific basis for improving the assessment mechanism of ecological civilization in China’s environmental pollution control. The results have shown that enterprises’ equilibrium pollutants output is negatively correlated to Ecological Civilization Index. Instead, the government’s efforts to curb pollutions are positively correlated to the environmental review. With th`at, lowering enterprises’ cost of production and pollution reduction alongside imposing more severe punishment would help improve pollution management. Setting up reasonable reward-punishment system would improve local governments’ pollution management. Elsewhere, the research employs the method of numerical simulation to testify the relationship among the importance of environmental review, enterprises’ pollutant output, and government’s efforts to manage pollutions. Finally, the research also suggests necessary measures to solve environmental pollutions and introduces a numerical simulation analysis.

Equality in river pollution control in China.

Water pollution is a serious problem in China. This study focuses on equality in pollution control in the Yangtze, Yellow and Pearl. We first quantified environmental targets for nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) at the river mouth. We used the Indicator for Coastal Eutrophication Potential and the Model to Assess River Inputs of Nutrients to seAs (MARINA) to project river export of nutrients. Next, we allocated the environmental targets to sub-basins as allowable levels, based on a Gini optimization approach. We searched for minimum inequality in pollution per unit of GDP, population, basin area, and agricultural area. Our results indicate that without pollution control, the river export of nutrients in 2050 exceed allowable levels. To meet the allowable levels while striving for equality, total dissolved N and P exports from sub-basins need to be reduced by 60 to 97%. The required reductions are largest for sub-basins of the Yellow River. For P, reducing point source inputs to rivers (manure and sewage) may be enough to avoid that allowable levels are exceeded in many sub-basins. For N, more needs to be done. Some sub-basins need to reduce their pollution more than others. Equality considerations call for reducing both point (e.g. recycling manure resources on the land) and diffuse (improve nutrient use efficiencies in agriculture) sources of N in the rivers. Our study is the first to link a Gini based optimization approach with the MARINA model. It may support decision making aimed at cleaner production and at equality in pollution control.

Environmental regulation, local legislation and pollution control in China

Abstract This paper conducts a novel empirical analysis of the effect of environmental regulation on local pollution emissions by taking 84 cases of local legislation among 31 provinces in China during 1990–2009. We combine the matching methodology and difference-in-difference method to estimate the causal effect of provincial environmental legislation. Our estimation uncovers that there is no significant pollution abatement effect, however, environmental legislation helps to decrease local pollution emission only for those provinces that have stricter enforcement. Such results remain robust while considering the time lag effect, different types of pollutants, choice of different comparison groups and using of synthetic control method. Generally, our study shows the importance of the enforcement for environmental legislation in China.