Quantifying the rural residential energy transition in China from 1992 to 2012 through a representative national survey

Tao, Shu; Ru, Muye; Du, Wei; Zhu, Xi; Zhong, Qirui; Li, B. G.; Shen, Guofeng; Pan, Xuelian; Meng, Wenjun; Chen, Y. L.; Shen, Huizhong; Lin, Nan; Su, Shu; Zhuo, Shaojie; Huang, Tianbo; Xu, Yi; Yun, Xiao; Liu, J. F.; Wang, X. L.; Liu, W. X.; Cheng, Hefa; Zhu, Dan

doi:10.1038/s41560-018-0158-4

Cited by 313 publications

(331 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Desulfurization of coal-fired power plants, introduction of electrostatic precipitators , closure of polluting power plants and increased efficiency (Guan et al 2014), have resulted in decreases in emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) and PM 2.5 (Lu et al 2010, Klimont et al 2013, Van Der A et al 2017. Shifts towards cleaner fuels and electricity for cooking and heating in rural areas has contributed to reduced residential PM 2.5 emissions (Tao et al 2018). Regulation of nitrogen oxides (NO x ) has resulted in installation of NO x filtering systems on power plants, phasing out heavily polluting factories and new emission standards for vehicles .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Substantial changes in air pollution across China during 2015–2017

Silver

Reddington

Arnold

et al. 2018

Environ. Res. Lett.

183

123

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China's rapid industrialisation and urbanisation has led to poor air quality. The Chinese government have responded by introducing policies to reduce emissions and setting ambitious targets for ambient PM 2.5 , SO 2 , NO 2 and O 3 concentrations. Previous satellite and modelling studies indicate that concentrations of these pollutants have begun to decline within the last decade. However, prior to 2012, air quality data from ground-based monitoring stations were difficult to obtain, limited to a few locations in major cities, and often unreliable. Since then, a comprehensive monitoring network, with over 1000 stations across China has been established by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE). We use a three-year (2015-2017) dataset consisting of hourly PM 2.5 , O 3 , NO 2 and SO 2 concentrations obtained from the MEE, combined with similar data from Taiwan and Hong Kong. We find that at 53% and 59% of stations, PM 2.5 and SO 2 concentrations have decreased significantly, with median rates across all stations of −3.4 and −1.9 μg m −3 year −1 respectively. At 50% of stations, O 3 maximum daily 8 h mean (MDA8) concentrations have increased significantly, with median rates across all stations of 4.6 μg m −3 year −1 . It will be important to understand the relative contribution of changing anthropogenic emissions and meteorology to the changes in air pollution reported here.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Substantial changes in air pollution across China during 2015–2017

Silver

Reddington

Arnold

et al. 2018

Environ. Res. Lett.

183

123

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“…The rapid transition from traditional fuels to LPG (liquified petroleum gas), biogas, and electricity for cooking is resulting in much lower emissions. Still, solid fuels remain a dominant energy source for heating (12,13). Although a series of actions have been taken to mediate air pollution in China since 2014, residential emissions were not the major focus until recently (2,14), when the importance of the residential sector to ambient air pollution in northern China was better recognized (2).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The rural population of the study region is currently 75.5 million, roughly 41% of the total population in the region (18). Four scenarios were developed: S1 (business as usual), no intervention involved except those driven by changes in population distribution and economic growth (12); S2 (limited effort), limited and nonspecific effort on residential emission reduction as planned in the 13th Five-Year Plan for Air Pollution Control (APCP13),…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy and air pollution benefits of household fuel policies in northern China

Meng

Zhong

Chen

et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

162

109

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In addition to many recent actions taken to reduce emissions from energy production, industry, and transportation, a new campaign substituting residential solid fuels with electricity or natural gas has been launched in Beijing, Tianjin, and 26 other municipalities in northern China, aiming at solving severe ambient air pollution in the region. Quantitative analysis shows that the campaign can accelerate residential energy transition significantly, and if the planned target can be achieved, more than 60% of households are projected to remove solid fuels by 2021, compared with fewer than 20% without the campaign. Emissions of major air pollutants will be reduced substantially. With 60% substitution realized, emission of primary PM2.5 and contribution to ambient PM2.5 concentration in 2021 are projected to be 30% and 41% of those without the campaign. With 60% substitution, average indoor PM2.5 concentrations in living rooms in winter are projected to be reduced from 209 (190 to 230) μg/m3 to 125 (99 to 150) μg/m3. The population-weighted PM2.5 concentrations can be reduced from 140 μg/m3 in 2014 to 78 μg/m3 or 61 μg/m3 in 2021 given that 60% or 100% substitution can be accomplished. Although the original focus of the campaign was to address ambient air quality, exposure reduction comes more from improved indoor air quality because ∼90% of daily exposure of the rural population is attributable to indoor air pollution. Women benefit more than men.

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“…The PKU dataset includes the three pollutants examined here (Su et al 2011, Wang et al 2012, 2014 and has been applied in a number of studies that estimate human exposure to air pollution (e.g. van der Werf et al 2010, Liu et al 2015, Tao et al 2018. The PKU inventory spans 1960-2014.…”

Section: Methodology Emission Inventoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As such, the improvement in efficiency and reduction of emissions is very sharp once cleaner fuels are adopted. Third, economies of scale impact residential emissions, where households with more members have lower emissions per capita (Ru et al 2015, Tao et al 2018. Lastly, household electrification has led to a re-categorization of an increasing fraction of residential emissions to the power sector.…”

Section: Trajectories In the Residential Sectormentioning

confidence: 99%

The long-term relationship between emissions and economic growth for SO ₂ , CO ₂ , and BC

Shindell

Seltzer

et al. 2018

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Simplified assumptions regarding the relationship between per capita income and emissions are oftentimes utilized to generate future emission scenarios in integrated assessment models (IAMs). One such relationship is an environmental Kuznets curve (EKC), where emissions first increase, then decline with income growth. However, current knowledge about this relationship lacks the specificity needed for each sector and pollutant pairing, which is important for future emission scenarios. To fill this knowledge gap, we analyze the historical relationship between per capita income and emissions of SO 2 , CO 2 , and black carbon (BC) utilizing widely-used global, country-level emission inventories for the following four sectors: power, industry, residential, and transportation. Based on a modeling setup using long-term growth rates, emissions of SO 2 from the power and industrial sectors, as well as CO 2 from the industrial and the residential sectors, largely follow an EKC pattern. Income-emission trajectories for SO 2 and CO 2 from other sectors, and those for BC from all sectors, do not show an EKC, however. Results across different global inventories were variable, indicating that uncertainties within historical emission trajectories persist. Nonetheless, these results demonstrate that long-term income-emission trajectories of air pollutants are both sector and pollutant specific. Future reference trajectories of SO 2 and BC from three IAMs show earlier estimates of turnover incomes and faster rates of emission declines when compared to historical data. Users of future emission scenarios derived using EKC assumptions should consider the underlying uncertainties in such projections in light of this historical analysis.

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Quantifying the rural residential energy transition in China from 1992 to 2012 through a representative national survey

Cited by 313 publications

References 25 publications

Substantial changes in air pollution across China during 2015–2017

Substantial changes in air pollution across China during 2015–2017

Energy and air pollution benefits of household fuel policies in northern China

The long-term relationship between emissions and economic growth for SO ₂ , CO ₂ , and BC

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Quantifying the rural residential energy transition in China from 1992 to 2012 through a representative national survey

Cited by 313 publications

References 25 publications

Substantial changes in air pollution across China during 2015–2017

Substantial changes in air pollution across China during 2015–2017

Energy and air pollution benefits of household fuel policies in northern China

The long-term relationship between emissions and economic growth for SO 2 , CO 2 , and BC

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

The long-term relationship between emissions and economic growth for SO ₂ , CO ₂ , and BC