Fossil fuel CO2 traced by radiocarbon in fifteen Chinese cities

Zhou, Weijian; Niu, Zhenchuan; Wu, Shugang; Xiong, Xiaozhen; Hou, Yuanjun; Wang, Peng; Feng, Tian; Cheng, Peng; Du, Hu; Lu, Xuefeng; An, Zhisheng; Burr, George S.; Zhu, Yongnan

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138639

Cited by 26 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Thus, we carried out Δ 14 CO 2 measurements for air collected at Waliguan (WLG) background station (36.28°N, 100.9°E) in Qinghai Province, Qixianling Mountain (18.70°N, 109.81°E) in Hainan Province, and Taibai Mountain (33.94°N, 107.74°E) in Shaanxi Province to determine the background level. Our atmospheric background Δ 14 CO 2 values (Zhou et al 2014(Zhou et al , 2020Niu et al 2016aNiu et al , 2021Xie 2016) were generally comparable to those from the Jungfraujoch global station (Hammer and Levin 2017), and were used in our CO 2ff tracing study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…There are more than 600 cities in China. To determine comprehensive characteristic variations of urban CO 2ff in China, we carried out CO 2ff tracing studies during 2011-2016 in 15 representative Chinese cities (Zhou et al 2014(Zhou et al , 2020Niu et al 2016b;Hou et al 2020). Additionally, short-term CO 2ff studies were carried out in Beijing and Guangzhou by Xi et al (2011) and Ding et al (2013), respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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RECENT PROGRESS IN ATMOSPHERIC FOSSIL FUEL CO₂ TRENDS TRACED BY RADIOCARBON IN CHINA

Zhou

Niu

et al. 2022

Radiocarbon

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It is important to know how much of the increased atmospheric CO2 is derived from fossil fuel emissions. Here, we review the progress in atmospheric fossil fuel CO2 (CO2ff) tracing over recent years by measurement of Δ14C in Chinese cities. In this paper we make progress by expanding the analysis from some locations to more regional views, by combining observations with modeling, and by making a preliminary comparison of observation-derived CO2ff with inventory-derived CO2ff. We have obtained a general picture of Chinese urban CO2ff and characteristics of its spatio-temporal variations at different scale, and identified the corresponding influencing factors. Interestingly, we found that the weekend effect of CO2ff was less evident in Chinese cities. In addition, we observed simultaneous variations in CO2ff and PM2.5 in a winter haze event in Beijing and a simultaneous decrease in annual averages of CO2ff and PM2.5 in Xi’an based on multi-year (2011–2016) Δ14CO2 monitoring. We found that local coal combustion was the main source of CO2ff in Xi’an, which is located in the Guanzhong basin, by applying a WRF-Chem model and looking at δ13C signatures. Thus, reduction of coal consumption is a crucial target for carbon emissions reduction in China.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

RECENT PROGRESS IN ATMOSPHERIC FOSSIL FUEL CO₂ TRENDS TRACED BY RADIOCARBON IN CHINA

Zhou

Niu

et al. 2022

Radiocarbon

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“…In fact, the CO 2 excess includes fossil fuel CO 2 (CO 2 ff ) and biogenic CO 2 (CO 2 bio ) ( Levin et al, 2003 ). Former studies in Xi’an showed that in winter months, the CO 2 excess comes predominately from fossil fuel emissions ( Wang et al, 2018 ), which can account for more than 90% ( Zhou et al, 2020 ). Thus the CO 2 excess in our study mainly reflects fossil fuel CO 2 variations.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on atmospheric CO2 in Xi'an, China

Zhou

Xiong

et al. 2021

Environmental Research

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“…Therefore, ∆ 14 CO 2 can be used as a quantitative tracer for separating recently added CO 2ff from CO 2bio , which mainly includes biomass burning, as well as CO 2bio exchange through photosynthesis and respiration (e.g., Djuricin et al., 2010; Graven et al., 2018; Levin et al., 2003; Miller et al., 2012; Turnbull et al., 2009). In China, 14 C tracing studies of fossil‐fuel emissions have been conducted in several cities (e.g., Niu et al., 2016; Zhou et al., 2020); however, these studies have focused only on the CO 2ff variations and have not quantified the proportions of CO 2ff emitted by various fossil fuels. Obtaining detailed information on the emission contributions from different fossil‐fuel sources is essential for guiding decision makers regarding emission‐reduction strategies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Source Attribution of Atmospheric CO₂ Using ¹⁴C and ¹³C as Tracers in Two Chinese Megacities During Winter

et al. 2022

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Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is the dominant greenhouse gas (GHG) species not only regarding the total anthropogenic emissions but also for its climatic impact, since it contributes roughly 80% of the total radiative forcing (Folberth et al., 2015). A significant part of a country's emissions likely originates from certain key areas, and results from a few representative cities can provide robust verification of reported emissions reductions over time at national or regional scale (Mckain et al., 2012). According to the most recent census bureau data (National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, 2021), China currently has 15 megacities with more than 10 million inhabitants and is among the top CO 2 emitters globally. Hence, China has pledged to reach its peak CO 2 emissions around 2030 and make best efforts to achieve this goal earlier. Given the different energy structures and levels of economic development across the country, China has delegated emission-reduction targets to the lower administrative units (Liu Abstract Identifying the sources of atmospheric Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is an important prerequisite for developing effective mitigation strategies. Here we conducted regular observations of the atmospheric CO 2 mixing ratio and its carbon isotope compositions (i.e., Δ 14 C and δ 13 C) in Xi'an and Beijing during winter, to estimate source contributions of CO 2 emissions in Chinese megacities. The results showed that CO 2 emissions in both Xi'an and Beijing originated mainly from fossil-fuel sources, which contributed 65 ± 3% and 82 ± 2% of the total CO 2 enhancement, respectively, during the sampling period; the results also revealed a substantial biogenic CO 2 contribution during winter. We further separated the fossil-fuel sources into contributions from coal, oil and natural gas combustions. We found that coal combustion was the dominant anthropogenic source in Xi'an, accounting for 54 ± 4% of the total fossil-fuel emissions, and oil and natural gas contribute almost equally to the emissions. In contrast, emission from natural-gas combustion was the main fossil-fuel source in Beijing, accounting for more than half of the total fossil-fuel emissions, whereas, coal combustion contributed only 17 ± 10%. These top-down results are generally consistent with emission inventory when seasonal variations of emissions are considered; some differences between the two methods indicated that the inventory for Xi'an might be underestimating the emissions from oil consumption. This pilot study confirms the potential of direct verification between top-down and bottom-up methods from the perspective of source attribution.Plain Language Summary Quantifying Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) sources from cities is crucial for formulating policies and evaluating targets because cities have become the key region and basic unit for regulating emissions. Here, we take Xi'an and Beijing, two Chinese megacities, as the study case to conduct source attribution of atmospheric CO 2 based on the powerful tracer ability of dual carbon isotopes ( 14 C and 13 ...

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Fossil fuel CO2 traced by radiocarbon in fifteen Chinese cities

Cited by 26 publications

References 42 publications

RECENT PROGRESS IN ATMOSPHERIC FOSSIL FUEL CO₂ TRENDS TRACED BY RADIOCARBON IN CHINA

RECENT PROGRESS IN ATMOSPHERIC FOSSIL FUEL CO₂ TRENDS TRACED BY RADIOCARBON IN CHINA

The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on atmospheric CO2 in Xi'an, China

Source Attribution of Atmospheric CO₂ Using ¹⁴C and ¹³C as Tracers in Two Chinese Megacities During Winter

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Fossil fuel CO2 traced by radiocarbon in fifteen Chinese cities

Cited by 26 publications

References 42 publications

RECENT PROGRESS IN ATMOSPHERIC FOSSIL FUEL CO2 TRENDS TRACED BY RADIOCARBON IN CHINA

RECENT PROGRESS IN ATMOSPHERIC FOSSIL FUEL CO2 TRENDS TRACED BY RADIOCARBON IN CHINA

The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on atmospheric CO2 in Xi'an, China

Source Attribution of Atmospheric CO2 Using 14C and 13C as Tracers in Two Chinese Megacities During Winter

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

RECENT PROGRESS IN ATMOSPHERIC FOSSIL FUEL CO₂ TRENDS TRACED BY RADIOCARBON IN CHINA

RECENT PROGRESS IN ATMOSPHERIC FOSSIL FUEL CO₂ TRENDS TRACED BY RADIOCARBON IN CHINA

Source Attribution of Atmospheric CO₂ Using ¹⁴C and ¹³C as Tracers in Two Chinese Megacities During Winter