Abstract. China is facing the challenge of synergistic reduction of
air pollutants and CO2 emissions. However, the studies on its
historical progress and future priorities are insufficient. This study
compiled China's emission inventory of air pollutants and CO2 from 2005
to 2021 (ABaCAS-EI v2.0 dataset) based on a unified emission-source
framework by considering the influences of activity level, technology
evolution, and emission control policies. The characteristics of air
pollutants and CO2 emissions were comprehensively analyzed from
multiple dimensions such as time, space, sector, and synergies between air
pollutants and CO2 emissions. Mitigation policies have decoupled the
emissions of air pollutants and CO2 with economic development in China
since 2013. In the context of growing activity levels, energy structure
adjustment and energy and material saving reduced the average annual
increase rate of CO2 emissions by 7 % after 2011. Based on this,
end-of-pipe control contributed 51 %–98 % of air pollutant emission
reductions after 2013. Industrial boilers and residential fossil fuel
combustion sectors in seven provinces (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Jilin,
Henan, Sichuan, and Qinghai) achieved emission reductions in both air
pollutants and CO2 during 2013–2021. The declining trends in both the
sectoral and regional emission ratios of air pollutants to CO2
indicated that the potential for synergistic emission reduction in China
declined from 2013 to 2021. The emission ratios in 2021 showed that
residential fossil fuel combustion, iron and steel industry, and
transportation exhibited relatively higher co-benefits of SO2,
PM2.5, NOx, and VOC emission reductions when CO2 emissions were
reduced. Most cities with a higher potential to synergistically reduce NOx,
VOC, and CO2 emissions were within the Yangtze River Economic Belt,
while those with a higher potential to co-control SO2 and CO2, and
PM2.5 and CO2 were in southern and northeast China, respectively.
Further deconstruction of the sectoral emissions in 2021 suggested future
reduction measures: for example, controlling coal consumption in the energy
field; promoting innovative technologies with low air pollutant emission
intensities and coal-saving measures in the iron and steel industry;
combining coal and carbonate replacement technologies with separated
particle control measures in the cement industry; and controlling light-duty
passenger vehicles, heavy-duty trucks, agricultural machinery, and inland
water transport in the transportation sector. Our dataset and findings
provide insights into the co-control of air pollutants and CO2
emissions in the future in China and other countries with the same demand.
Our ABaCAS-EI v2.0 dataset can be accessed from
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.21777005.v1 (S. Li et al., 2022) by
species, sector, and province.