Dynamic responses of SO ₂ pollution to China’s environmental inspections

Abstract

We evaluate the effect of rotating inspections carried out by China’s central government in 2016 to 2017 in response to the country’s air pollution crisis on the environmental performance of targeted cities and coal power plants. Using a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) design, we find that during one-month inspections concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) at coal power plants in targeted cities are on average lower by 25 to 52% compared to not-yet-inspected cities but revert by 54 to 62% on average once scrutiny ends. Following inspections, SO 2 pollution increases more quickly at state-owned plants accountable to the central government, compared to state-owned plants accountable to the local (city or below) government. Our results suggest that for most plants SO 2 concentration changes during inspections may have been due primarily to the operation of end-of-pipe SO 2 removal devices, while following inspections local state-owned plants may have reduced output.

Characterizing multi-pollutant emission impacts of sulfur reduction strategies from coal power plants

“…We identify a total of 5830 coal-fired EGUs in 72 countries from the Global Coal Plant Tracker, with substitution for US EGUs using the CAMPD. We then apply the reported application rates of FGD from previous studies [2,10,[17][18][19][20], only for China (92.9%), India (5%), Japan (98%), the US (86%), and Germany (100%). For most countries where no EGU-level control information reports, we assign a percentage FGD application rate (both a high and low estimate) to each country based on the capacity and economic development (see supplementary table S4.1 for details), supplemented by a grided SO 2 emission map with a global coal-fired EGUs map [53,54].…”

“…The remaining coal EGUs, where FGD is not feasible or not cost-effective to install, are likely to be phased out due to tightening emission regulations and increasing operation costs [16]. In China, over 92.9% of coal plants have been equipped with FGD as of 2020 [17,18]. In Japan, 98% of the coal plants have installed FGD as of 2014.…”

Evaluating net life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions intensities from gas and coal at varying methane leakage rates

“…In China, with the world's largest fleet of SO 2 scrubbers, between 2006 and 2009, the share of the coal power capacity with scrubbers increased from 10% to 71% [33]. By 2017 in China, one study found that ∼80% of the plants in their sample had SO 2 scrubbers installed [34]. However, this study found that the effectiveness of SO 2 removal (scrubber efficiency) varies at coal power plants at the low end from 25%-54% versus 52%-62% at the high end, depending on government oversight [34].…”

“…By 2017 in China, one study found that ∼80% of the plants in their sample had SO 2 scrubbers installed [34]. However, this study found that the effectiveness of SO 2 removal (scrubber efficiency) varies at coal power plants at the low end from 25%-54% versus 52%-62% at the high end, depending on government oversight [34]. In the US, scrubber efficiency is reported between 85% to 95%, with newer designs capable of achieving 98% [32].…”