Co-control of carbon dioxide and air pollutant emissions in China from a cost-effective perspective
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Co-control of carbon dioxide and air pollutant emissions in China from a cost-effective perspective Lining Wang 1,2 & Han Chen 1,3 & Wenying Chen 1,3 Received: 11 October 2018 / Accepted: 29 May 2019/ # Springer Nature B.V. 2019
Abstract With increases in the economy and standards of living, energy consumption has grown significantly in China, which has resulted in serious local air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Because both carbon dioxide (CO2) and air pollutant emissions mainly stem from fossil energy use, a co-control strategy is simulated and compared with single control in China, using an integrated assessment model (Global Change Assessment Model-Tsinghua University (GCAM-TU)) in this paper. We find that end-of-pipe (EOP) control measures play an important role in reducing air pollution in the near future, but in the long run, optimizing the energy system is an effective way to control both emissions. Reducing air pollutant might take a “freeride” of decarbonizing the energy system. Compared with a single control of air pollutants, a co-control strategy is likely to reduce the requirement of EOP control measures. The result guides the Chinese government to consider a systemic and scientific plan for decarbonizing the energy system and co-controlling CO2 and air pollutant, in order to avoid duplicate investments in infrastructure and lockup effect. The solution could be extended to many other developing countries, such as India and Africa, which is helpful to realize the goals of United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Agenda. Keywords Co-control . CO2 emissions . Air pollution . China . Integrated assessment model
* Wenying Chen [email protected]; [email protected] Lining Wang [email protected] Han Chen [email protected]
1
Research Center of Contemporary Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
2
CNPC Economics & Technology Research Institute, CNPC, Beijing 100724, China
3
Institute of Energy, Environment and Economy, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change
1 Introduction The dramatic economic growth and living standard improvements in the past two decades have led to increased energy consumption in China, especially the use of coal. This brings serious local and perhaps international environmental problems, such as air pollution, water pollution, land pollution and global climate change. Air pollution is currently one of the most important political and social issues in China. According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, only 10.8% of the major Chinese cities met the national clean air standard in 2014 (Ministry of Environmental Protection 2015). Nearly 1 million premature deaths and a 25month life expectancy reduction are attributed to outdoor pollution (IEA (International Energy Agency) 2016). At the same time, climate change is the most concerning international environmental issue. The Paris Agreement set a goal to limit the global average temperature rise to well below 2 °C
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