Consumption- and Income-Based Sectoral Emissions of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in China from 2002 to 2017

Abstract

China is the largest emitter of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the world. Because of their negative influences on human health, the characteristics and potential driving forces of PAH emissions should be evaluated to establish effective mitigation strategies for different economic sectors. This study is the first to quantify the embodied and enabled PAH emissions of 108 sectors in China in 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017. The results show that the total sectoral emissions increased by 92% (from 28.0 to 53.7 kt) from 2002 to 2012 and decreased to 53.0 kt in 2017. The eight aggregated sectors had different characteristics according to their production-, consumption-, and income-based emissions. Both the embodied and enabled emission flows increased (from 13.8 to 29.2 kt and from 11.3 to 20.5 kt, respectively) with time. The influences of the major final demands and primary inputs reversed from increasing to decreasing emissions over time. In particular, the primary input structure had a stronger impact on decreasing emissions than the final demand structure. The results revealed that different mitigation policies should be applied to different sectors and that adjusting primary input behaviors might be a relatively efficient method to reduce PAH emissions.

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in China: Will Decoupling of Their Emissions and Socioeconomic Growth Emerge?

“…However, due to the differences in energy structures and policies, some countries like China may not have followed this emission trend (Figure 1 2017. Their results indicated that the total emissions increased from 2002 to 2012 (Li et al, 2021) which is consistent with the present study. While the emissions decreased from 2012 to 2017, and during this period inflection point of decoupling was not clear (Li et al, 2021).…”

“…Their results indicated that the total emissions increased from 2002 to 2012 (Li et al, 2021) which is consistent with the present study. While the emissions decreased from 2012 to 2017, and during this period inflection point of decoupling was not clear (Li et al, 2021).…”

“…Over 1b suggests that the proportions of PAHs emissions from domestic coal to total PAHs emissions were 73.2% (1980-1988), 57.4% (1989-2000), 33.8% (2001-2015), and 23.4% (2016-2020). Thus, emissions from domestic coal decreased, presumably due to the adjustment in China's energy policy such as stepwise replacement of domestic coal with renewable energy (Li et al, 2021). However, the proportions of coking coal and aluminum production showed an increased trend from 9.5% to 41.6% and from 0.3% to 13.7%, respectively, during the period 1980-2020.…”

Global trade drives transboundary transfer of the health impacts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emissions

“…Changes in production structure and efficiency gains caused the decline in CO 2 emissions embodied in exports 23 . Primary input and final demand structures had strong impacts on PAH emissions 24 . In addition, environmental factors mainly influence the atmospheric transportation of pollution, especially for PAHs, which tend to be particle-band.…”

Global Trends and Drivers in Consumption- and Income-Based Emissions of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

“…The ubiquitous presence of PAHs in the atmosphere is dominated by the unavoidable byproducts of petrogenic and pyrogenic processes, which are strongly associated with various economic sectors. , Over the last few decades, globalization and international trade have connected worldwide economic sectors and have boosted global economic growth. However, international trade affects global air pollution and transport by redistributing emissions related to the production of goods and services and by potentially altering the total amount of global emissions.…”