Air Pollution Inequality and Its Sources in SO2 and NOX Emissions among Chinese Provinces from 2006 to 2015

Abstract

This paper investigates inequality in SO 2 and NO X emissions, by observing their extraordinary levels and uneven distribution in China during the period of the 11th and 12th Five-Year Plans (FYPs, 2006(FYPs, -2015. This provincial and regional analysis utilizing the Theil index and Kaya factors help us to find the trajectory of inequality and its primary sources. Based on our analysis, we conclude the driving factors behind emissions inequalities are as follows. There are four economic factors of per capita SO 2 emission: SO 2 emission intensity of coal consumption, coal intensity of power generation, power intensity of GDP, and per capita GDP. Additionally, there are four urban development factors of per capita NO X emission: NO X emission intensity of gasoline consumption, proportion of gasoline vehicles, vehicle use in urban population, and urbanization rate. The SO 2 emission results represent an increase of 6% in overall inequality where the inequality of power intensity of GDP is the main contributor. In terms of NO X emission, the 3% growth in total inequality is related to the high effect of NO X emission intensity of gasoline consumption. We also examine the effect of other factors affecting the trajectory of inequalities. To apply these results in practice, we compare the 11th and 12th FYPs and give some policy suggestions.

Economic Growth and Pollution Emission in China: Structural Path Analysis

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“…For the content-based recommendation, we initially build the cultivating content similarity matrix. The Euclidean distance is taken for the similarity calculation defined in Equations (4) and (5). After building the similarity matrix, we use a content-based recommended algorithm to calculate the recommended values by Equation 7.…”

“…Air pollution can directly or indirectly affect human health, causing physical discomfort, leading to disease or even death [3]. Regarding air pollution and management, current research is focused on four parts: sources [4][5][6][7][8], relationships with health [9][10][11][12], extreme events [13][14][15][16][17], and control methods [18][19][20][21][22][23]. For example, Ashbaugh [4] used statistical methods to categorize air pollution sources in the United States.…”

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“…As for air pollution and control, current research on air pollution and control is focused on four parts, as follows: sources [7][8][9][10][11][12][13], relationship with health [14][15][16][17], extreme events [18][19][20][21][22] and control methods [23][24][25][26][27][28]. For instance, Ashbaugh [7] used statistical methods to categorize air pollution sources in the United States.…”