Quantifying Coal Power Plant Responses to Tighter SO₂ emissions Standards in China
We evaluate the impact of China’s new air pollution standards on sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions by comparing newly available data from Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems (CEMS) at coal power plants with satellite measures. First, we show that following the July 2014 deadline for implementing ti...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
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National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
2019
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/120598 |
| _version_ | 1826212108626296832 |
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| author | Zhang, Shuang Almond, Douglas Karplus, Valerie Jean |
| author2 | Sloan School of Management |
| author_facet | Sloan School of Management Zhang, Shuang Almond, Douglas Karplus, Valerie Jean |
| author_sort | Zhang, Shuang |
| collection | MIT |
| description | We evaluate the impact of China’s new air pollution standards on sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions by comparing newly available data from Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems (CEMS) at coal power plants with satellite measures. First, we show that following the July 2014 deadline for implementing tighter emissions standards, stack concentrations of SO2 reported by CEMS declined by 13.9%. Second, on average the ratios of the declines of SO2 measures in the satellite data and the CEMS data are about 0.5. However, the degree of correspondence between the two data sources varies by policy stringency, with weak correspondence found in key regions facing the toughest new limits. Third, large plants achieved compliance earlier than small (typically) power and heat cogeneration plants. To achieve continued air quality improvement, our results suggest a need for increased scrutiny of emissions data quality and monitoring practices and clear long-term targets. Keywords: air pollution; satellite; high-frequency monitoring; China; policy |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:16:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/120598 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:16:31Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publisher | National Academy of Sciences (U.S.) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1205982022-10-02T01:50:09Z Quantifying Coal Power Plant Responses to Tighter SO₂ emissions Standards in China Zhang, Shuang Almond, Douglas Karplus, Valerie Jean Sloan School of Management Karplus, Valerie Jean We evaluate the impact of China’s new air pollution standards on sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions by comparing newly available data from Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems (CEMS) at coal power plants with satellite measures. First, we show that following the July 2014 deadline for implementing tighter emissions standards, stack concentrations of SO2 reported by CEMS declined by 13.9%. Second, on average the ratios of the declines of SO2 measures in the satellite data and the CEMS data are about 0.5. However, the degree of correspondence between the two data sources varies by policy stringency, with weak correspondence found in key regions facing the toughest new limits. Third, large plants achieved compliance earlier than small (typically) power and heat cogeneration plants. To achieve continued air quality improvement, our results suggest a need for increased scrutiny of emissions data quality and monitoring practices and clear long-term targets. Keywords: air pollution; satellite; high-frequency monitoring; China; policy 2019-03-01T19:01:14Z 2019-03-01T19:01:14Z 2018-07 2018-01 2019-02-14T18:46:28Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0027-8424 1091-6490 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/120598 Karplus, Valerie J. et al. “Quantifying Coal Power Plant Responses to Tighter SO₂ emissions Standards in China.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115, 27 (June 2018): 7004–7009 © 2018 National Academy of Sciences http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/PNAS.1800605115 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf National Academy of Sciences (U.S.) PNAS |
| spellingShingle | Zhang, Shuang Almond, Douglas Karplus, Valerie Jean Quantifying Coal Power Plant Responses to Tighter SO₂ emissions Standards in China |
| title | Quantifying Coal Power Plant Responses to Tighter SO₂ emissions Standards in China |
| title_full | Quantifying Coal Power Plant Responses to Tighter SO₂ emissions Standards in China |
| title_fullStr | Quantifying Coal Power Plant Responses to Tighter SO₂ emissions Standards in China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quantifying Coal Power Plant Responses to Tighter SO₂ emissions Standards in China |
| title_short | Quantifying Coal Power Plant Responses to Tighter SO₂ emissions Standards in China |
| title_sort | quantifying coal power plant responses to tighter so₂ emissions standards in china |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/120598 |
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