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Co-control of carbon dioxide and air pollutant emissions in China from a cost-effective perspective

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Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

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 “free-ride” 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.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (71690243 and 51861135102) and Ministry of Science and Technology (2018YFC1509006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center of Contemporary Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Lining Wang, Han Chen & Wenying Chen

  2. CNPC Economics & Technology Research Institute, CNPC, Beijing, 100724, China

    Lining Wang

  3. Institute of Energy, Environment and Economy, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Han Chen & Wenying Chen

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  1. Lining Wang
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  2. Han Chen
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Correspondence to Wenying Chen.

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Appendix

Appendix

Table 2 Key EOP control technologies
Full size table
Table 3 Emissions factors for different EOP control technologies
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Table 4 Data sources of GDP growth rate assumptions
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Wang, L., Chen, H. & Chen, W. Co-control of carbon dioxide and air pollutant emissions in China from a cost-effective perspective. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change 25, 1177–1197 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-019-09872-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-019-09872-7

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