Impact of energy structure adjustment on air quality: a case study in Beijing, China

doi:10.1007/s11783-011-0357-8

Front Envir Sci Eng Chin

0, Vol.

Issue () : 378-390 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-011-0357-8

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Impact of energy structure adjustment on air quality: a case study in Beijing, China

Bin ZHAO, Jiayu XU(

), Jiming HAO

School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

Download: PDF(745 KB) HTML
Export: BibTeX | EndNote | Reference Manager | ProCite | RefWorks

Abstract

Energy consumption is a major cause of air pollution in Beijing, and the adjustment of the energy structure is of strategic importance to the reduction of carbon intensity and the improvement of air quality. In this paper, we explored the future trend of energy structure adjustment in Beijing till 2020, designed five energy scenarios focusing on the fuel substitution in power plants and heating sectors, established emission inventories, and utilized the Mesoscale Modeling System Generation 5 (MM5) and the Models-3/Community Multiscale Air Quality Model (CMAQ) to evaluate the impact of these measures on air quality. By implementing this systematic energy structure adjustment, the emissions of PM₁₀, PM_2.5, SO₂, NO_x, and non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) will decrease distinctly by 34.0%, 53.2%, 78.3%, 47.0%, and 30.6% respectively in the most coal-intensive scenario of 2020 compared with 2005. Correspondingly, MM5-Models-3/CMAQ simulations indicate significant reduction in the concentrations of major pollutants, implying that energy structure adjustment can play an important role in improving Beijing’s air quality. By fuel substitution for power plants and heating boilers, PM₁₀, PM_2.5, SO₂, NO_x, and NMVOCs will be reduced further, but slightly by 1.7%, 4.5%, 11.4%, 13.5%, and 8.8% respectively in the least coal-intensive scenario. The air quality impacts of different scenarios in 2020 resemble each other, indicating that the potential of air quality improvement due to structure adjustment in power plants and heating sectors is limited. However, the CO₂ emission is 10.0% lower in the least coal-intensive scenario than in the most coal-intensive one, contributing to Beijing’s ambition to build a low carbon city. Except for energy structure adjustment, it is necessary to take further measures to ensure the attainment of air quality standards.

Keywords Beijing energy structure adjustment air quality Community Multiscale Air Quality Model (CMAQ) scenario

Corresponding Author(s): XU Jiayu,Email:jiayu-xu@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn

Issue Date: 05 September 2011

Cite this article:

Jiming HAO,Bin ZHAO,Jiayu XU. Impact of energy structure adjustment on air quality: a case study in Beijing, China[J]. Front Envir Sci Eng Chin, 0, (): 378-390.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-011-0357-8
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y0/V/I/378

Tab.1 Projection of future GDP, electricity generation, and heat supply area

Tab.2 Major assumptions of the energy scenarios

Tab.3 Emission factors for some key sources in 2005

Tab.4 Emission factors for some key sources in 2020

Fig.1 Energy consumption in 2005 and the 5 scenarios in 2020: (a) total energy, (b) coal, and (c) natural gas

Fig.2 Emissions of major air pollutants and CO in 2005 and the 5 scenarios in 2020: (a) PM, (b) PM, (c) SO, (d) NO, (e) NMVOCs, and (f) CO

Fig.3 Comparison of simulated daily PM concentrations and observed data (API) in the urban area of Beijing in (a) January, (b) April, (c) July, and (d) October

Fig.4 Comparison of simulated daytime mean O concentrations and observed data in the urban area of Beijing in July

Tab.5 Urban/suburb average concentrations of major pollutants in 2005 and 2020

Fig.5

Fig.6 Spatial distributions of the monthly-mean concentrations of major pollutants in January/July in 2005, 2020A and 2020E scenarios (all values are monthly-mean concentrations except for O, which are monthly-mean of daily maximum concentrations; the units of concentrations are μg·m)

1	Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics. Beijing Statistical Yearbook 2010 . Beijing: China Statistics Press, 2010 (in Chinese)
2	Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics. Beijing Statistical Yearbook 2001 . Beijing: China Statistics Press, 2001 (in Chinese)
3	Wang S X, Zhao M, Xing J, Wu Y, Zhou Y, Lei Y, He K B, Fu L X, Hao J M. Quantifying the air pollutants emission reduction during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Environmental Science & Technology , 2010, 44(7): 2490–2496 doi: 10.1021/es9028167 pmid:20222727
4	Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau. Beijing Air Quality Bulletin. http://www.bjee.org.cn/cn/index.php (accessed: January13, 2011)
5	Hao J M, Wang L T. Improving urban air quality in China: Beijing case study. Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association , 2005, 55(9): 1298–1305 pmid:16259425
6	Streets D G, Fu J S, Jang C J, Hao J M, He K B, Tang X Y, Zhang Y H, Wang Z F, Li Z P, Zhang Q. Air quality during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Atmospheric Environment , 2007, 41(3): 480–492 doi: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2006.08.046
7	He K B, Yang F M, Ma Y L, Zhang Q, Yao X H, Chan C K, Cadle S, Chan T, Mulawa P. The characteristics of PM2.5 in Beijing, China. Atmospheric Environment , 2001, 35(29): 4959–4970 doi: 10.1016/S1352-2310(01)00301-6
8	Chan C Y, Xu X D, Li Y S, Wong K H, Ding G A, Chan L Y, Cheng X H. Characteristics of vertical profiles and sources of PM2.5, PM10 and carbonaceous species in Beijing. Atmospheric Environment , 2005, 39(28): 5113–5124 doi: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2005.05.009
9	Zheng M, Salmon L G, Schauer J J, Zeng L M, Kiang C S, Zhang Y H, Cass G R. Seasonal trends in PM_2.5 source contributions in Beijing, China. Atmospheric Environment , 2005, 39(22): 3967–3976 doi: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2005.03.036
10	Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau. Comprehensive air pollution control measures in Beijing(1-16 stages). http://www.bjepb.gov.cn/bjhb/publish/portal0/tab151/ (accessed: January15, 2011)
11	Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau.Beijing Environmental Bulletin 2000-2010 . http://www.bjepb.gov.cn (accessed: January13, 2011)
12	Liu C L. Evolution mechanisms of CO₂ emissions in Beijing city during the period 1997-2007. Resources Science , 2010, 32(2): 235–241 (in Chinese)
13	National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). China's National Climate Change Program . 2007 (in Chinese)
14	Qian J, Yu L Z. Study on contribution of CO₂ emissions from fossil fuel in Shanghai. Shanghai Environmental Sciences , 2003(11): 836–840 (in Chinese)
15	Liu F. Application of environmental management on energy saving and green house gas reduction in Beijing. In: Proceedings of the 2010 International Conference on Management and Service Science (MASS 2010) 2010, Wuhan, China. Piscataway, NJ, USA: IEEE , 2005, 1–6
16	Wu J S, Zhang Y J. Olympic Games promote the reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases in Beijing. Energy Policy , 2008, 36(9): 3422–3426 doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2008.05.029
17	Wu J S, Liu F. Impact of the Olympic Games on the reduction of greenhouse gases emission in Beijing. Research on Economics and Management , 2008(10): 70–74 (in Chinese)
18	Tong D W, Xiao X J. Science-technology to mitigate carbon emissions in Beijing — based on carbon emissions from energy field and interrelated plan. In: Proceedings of the 12th Annual Conference of China Association for Science and Technology 2010, Fuzhou, China. 1–9 (in Chinese)
19	The State Council of the People’s Republic of China. The state council executive meeting sets the GHGs (Greenhouse Gas) reduction target of China . http://www.gov.cn/ldhd/2009-11/26/content_1474016.htm (accessed: January12, 2011)
20	The State Council of the People’s Republic of China. The Outline of the “Twelfth Five-year Plan” for National Economic & Social Development of the People’s Republic of China. 2011 (in Chinese)
21	Beijing Municipal Government. The Overall Plan of Beijing (2004-2020) . 2005 (in Chinese)
22	National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). National Natural Gas Utilization Policy . 2007 (in Chinese)
23	Mao X Q, Guo X R, Chang Y G, Peng Y D. Improving air quality in large cities by substituting natural gas for coal in China: changing idea and incentive policy implications. Energy Policy , 2005, 33(3): 307–318 doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2003.08.002
24	Jiang S A. Discussion on natural gas utilization. Chemical Engineering of Oil & Gas , 1993, 22(4): 203–208 (in Chinese)
25	Song W C. Development strategy of natural gas for 21 century in China. Natural Gas Industry , 1999, 19(4): 23–27 (in Chinese)
26	General Office of Beijing Municipal Government. Some Suggestions About the Construction of a Safe, High-effective and Low-carbon Urban Heat Supply System in Beijing. 2010 (in Chinese)
27	Hu X Q. Investing 30 billion CHY, Beijing will rely on natural gas for heat supply in 5 years. http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2010-10/26/c_12702794.htm (accessed: January16, 2011).
28	Zheng X Y. Beijing starts building four huge combined heat and power plants (CHP). http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2010-08/06/c_12417932.htm (accessed: January16, 2011).
29	Tsinghua University. Environmental Impact Evaluation of the Transportation Development Plan of Beijing. 2007 (in Chinese)
30	Tsinghua University. Study on the Possible Measures to Ensure the Air Quality During the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. 2007 (in Chinese)
31	Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center. Study on the Air Pollution Status and Emission Sources in Beijing, report of the project “Study on Beijing air quality improvement strategies”. 2006 (in Chinese)
32	Tsinghua University. Study on the Plan for the Control of Coal Smoke Pollution in Beijing during the Eleventh Five-year Plan. 2007 (in Chinese)
33	Tsinghua University. Effective Assessment of the Air Pollution Control Measures Before and During the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. 2008 (in Chinese)
34	Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau. Emission Standard of Air Pollutants for Boilers. 2007 (in Chinese)
35	Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau. Emission Standards of Air Pollutants for Metallurgical Industry, Building Materials Industry and Other Industrial Furnaces. 2004 (in Chinese)
36	Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau. Emission Standards of Air Pollutants for Petroleum Refining and Petrochemicals Manufacturing Industry. 2007 (in Chinese)
37	Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau. Integrated Emission Standards of Air Pollutants. 2007 (in Chinese)
38	Eggleston H S, Buendia L, Miwa K, Ngara T, Tanabe K. IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories.Hayama, Japan: Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), 2006
39	Streets D G, Bond T C, Carmichael G R, Fernandes S D, Fu Q, He D, Klimont Z, Nelson S M, Tsai N Y, Wang M Q, Woo J H, Yarber K F. An inventory of gaseous and primary aerosol emissions in Asia in the year 2000. Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres , 2003, 108(D21) doi: 10.1029/2002jd003093
40	Streets D G, Zhang Q, Wang L T, He K B, Hao J M, Wu Y, Tang Y H, Carmichael G R. Revisiting China’s CO emissions after the Transport and Chemical Evolution over the Pacific (TRACE-P) mission: Synthesis of inventories, atmospheric modeling, and observations. Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres , 2006, 111(D14) doi: 10.1029/2006jd007118
41	Zhang Q, Streets D G, He K B, Klimont Z. Major components of China’s anthropogenic primary particulate emissions. Environmental Research Letters , 2007, 2(4) doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/2/4/045027
42	Zhang Q, Streets D G, He K, Wang Y, Richter A, Burrows J P, Uno I, Jang C J, Chen D, Yao Z, Lei Y. NOx emission trends for China, 1995-2004: The view from the ground and the view from space. Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres , 2007, 112(D22) doi: 10.1029/2007jd008684
43	Zhang Q, Streets D G, Carmichael G R, He K B, Huo H, Kannari A, Klimont Z, Park I S, Reddy S, Fu J S, Chen D, Duan L, Lei Y, Wang L T, Yao Z L. Asian emissions in 2006 for the NASA INTEX-B mission. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics , 2009, 9(14): 5131–5153 doi: 10.5194/acp-9-5131-2009
44	GEIA steering committee, Global Emissions Inventory Activity (GEIA). http://www.geiacenter.org/ (accessed: January15, 2011).
45	Wang L T, Hao J M, He K B, Wang S X, Li J H, Zhang Q, Streets D G, Fu J S, Jang C J, Takekawa H, Chatani S. A modeling study of coarse particulate matter pollution in Beijing: regional source contributions and control implications for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association , 2008, 58(8): 1057–1069 doi: 10.3155/1047-3289.58.8.1057 pmid:18720655
46	Zhao X J, Zhang X L, Xu X F, Xu J, Meng W, Pu W W. Seasonal and diurnal variations of ambient PM2.5 concentration in urban and rural environments in Beijing. Atmospheric Environment , 2009, 43(18): 2893–2900 doi: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2009.03.009
47	Yu Y, Schleicher N, Norra S, Fricker M, Dietze V, Kaminski U, Cen K A, Stüben D. Dynamics and origin of PM2.5 during a three-year sampling period in Beijing, China. Journal of Environmental Monitoring , 2011, 13(2): 334–346 doi: 10.1039/c0em00467g pmid:21180709
48	Wang Y, Hao J, McElroy M B, Munger J W, Ma H, Chen D, Nielsen C P. Ozone air quality during the 2008 Beijing Olympics: effectiveness of emission restrictions. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics , 2009, 9(14): 5237–5251 doi: 10.5194/acp-9-5237-2009
49	Xing J, Wang S X, Jang C, Zhu Y, Hao J M. Nonlinear response of ozone to precursor emission changes in China: a modeling study using response surface methodology. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussion , 2010, 10(12): 29809–29851 doi: 10.5194/acpd-10-29809-2010

[1]	Qiyue Wu, Yun Geng, Xinyuan Wang, Dongsheng Wang, ChangKyoo Yoo, Hongbin Liu. A novel deep learning framework with variational auto-encoder for indoor air quality prediction[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2024, 18(1): 8-.
[2]	Chenglin Cai, Juexiu Li, Yi He, Jinping Jia. Target the neglected VOCs emission from iron and steel industry in China for air quality improvement[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2023, 17(8): 95-.
[3]	Hengrui Tao, Jia Xing, Gaofeng Pan, Jonathan Pleim, Limei Ran, Shuxiao Wang, Xing Chang, Guojing Li, Fei Chen, Junhua Li. Impact of anthropogenic heat emissions on meteorological parameters and air quality in Beijing using a high-resolution model simulation[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2022, 16(4): 44-.
[4]	Yulu Qiu, Zhiqiang Ma, Weili Lin, Weijun Quan, Weiwei Pu, Yingruo Li, Liyan Zhou, Qingfeng Shi. A study of peroxyacetyl nitrate at a rural site in Beijing based on continuous observations from 2015 to 2019 and the WRF-Chem model[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2020, 14(4): 71-.
[5]	Yilei Lu, Yunqing Huang, Siyu Zeng, Can Wang. Scenario-based assessment and multi-objective optimization of urban development plan with carrying capacity of water system[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2020, 14(2): 21-.
[6]	Cong Liu, Yinping Zhang. Relations between indoor and outdoor PM_2.5 and constituent concentrations[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2019, 13(1): 5-.
[7]	Te Xu, Haifeng Jia, Zheng Wang, Xuhui Mao, Changqing Xu. SWMM-based methodology for block-scale LID-BMPs planning based on site-scale multi-objective optimization: a case study in Tianjin[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2017, 11(4): 1-.
[8]	Christian GEORGE, Anne BEELDENS, Fotios BARMPAS, Jean-François DOUSSIN, Giuseppe MANGANELLI, Hartmut HERRMANN, Jörg KLEFFMANN, Abdelwahid MELLOUKI. Impact of photocatalytic remediation of pollutants on urban air quality[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2016, 10(5): 2-.
[9]	Liu YANG,Ye WU,Jiaqi LI,Shaojie SONG,Xuan ZHENG,Jiming HAO. Mass concentrations and temporal profiles of PM₁₀, PM_2.5 and PM₁ near major urban roads in Beijing[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2015, 9(4): 675-684.
[10]	Fangfang ZHANG, Huiquan LI, Bo CHEN, Xue GUAN, Yi ZHANG. Vanadium metabolism investigation using substance flow and scenario analysis[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2014, 8(2): 256-266.
[11]	Can DONG, Lingxiao YANG, Chao YAN, Qi YUAN, Yangchun YU, Wenxing WANG. Particle size distributions, PM_2.5 concentrations and water-soluble inorganic ions in different public indoor environments: a case study in Jinan, China[J]. Front Envir Sci Eng, 2013, 7(1): 55-65.
[12]	Liu YANG, Ye WU, Jerry M. DAVIS, Jiming HAO. Estimating the effects of meteorology on PM_2.5 reduction during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China[J]. Front Envir Sci Eng Chin, 2011, 5(3): 331-341.
[13]	Haifeng JIA, Shuo WANG, Mingjie WEI, Yansong ZHANG. Scenario analysis of water pollution control in the typical peri-urban river using a coupled hydrodynamic-water quality model[J]. Front Envir Sci Eng Chin, 2011, 5(2): 255-265.
[14]	JIA Haifeng, WEI Wei, XIN Kunlun. Hydraulic model for multi-sources reclaimed water pipe network based on EPANET and its applications in Beijing, China[J]. Front.Environ.Sci.Eng., 2008, 2(1): 57-62.
[15]	LI Lin, HAO Jiming, HU Jingnan. Analysis and prediction of the influence of energy utilization on air quality in Beijing[J]. Front.Environ.Sci.Eng., 2007, 1(3): 339-344.

Viewed

Full text

Abstract

Cited

Shared

Discussed