Facility-Level Emissions and Synergistic Control of Energy-Related Air Pollutants and Carbon Dioxide in China

Boilers involve ∼60% of primary energy consumption
in China
and emit more air pollutants and CO2 than any other infrastructures.
Here, we established a nationwide, facility-level emission data set
considering over 185,000 active boilers in China by fusing multiple
data sources and jointly using various technical means. The emission
uncertainties and spatial allocations were significantly improved.
We found that coal-fired power plant boilers were not the most emission-intensive
boilers with regard to SO2, NOx, PM, and mercury but emitted the highest CO2. However,
biomass- and municipal waste-fired combustion, regarded as zero-carbon
technologies, emitted a large fraction of SO2, NOx, and PM. Future biomass or municipal waste mixing
in coal-fired power plant boilers can make full use of the advantages
of zero-carbon fuel and the pollution control devices of coal-fired
power plants. We identified small-size boilers, medium-size boilers
using circulating fluidized bed boilers, and large-size boilers located
in China’s coal mine bases as the main high emitters. Future
focuses on high-emitter control can substantially mitigate the emissions
of SO2 by 66%, NOx by 49%,
PM by 90%, mercury by 51%, and CO2 by 46% at the most.
Our study sheds light on other countries wishing to reduce their energy-related
emissions and thus the related impacts on humans, ecosystems, and
climates.

锅炉在中国占据约60%的初级能源消耗，并比其他任何基础设施排放更多的空气污染物和二氧化碳。本研究通过融合多种数据源，联合运用多种技术手段，构建了一个涵盖中国超过18.5万台活跃锅炉的全国性、设施级排放数据集，显著提升了排放不确定性和空间分配的精确性。研究发现，尽管燃煤电厂锅炉在二氧化硫、氮氧化物、颗粒物和汞排放方面并非最为密集，但二氧化碳排放量却最高。然而，生物质和城市垃圾燃烧，作为零碳技术，却排放了大量的二氧化硫、氮氧化物和颗粒物。未来在燃煤电厂锅炉中混合生物质或城市垃圾，能够充分利用零碳燃料的优势以及燃煤电厂的污染控制装置。我们确定了小型锅炉、使用循环流化床锅炉的中型锅炉以及位于中国煤矿基地的大型锅炉为主要的高排放源。未来对高排放源的管控将有效降低二氧化硫排放量66%、氮氧化物排放量49%、颗粒物排放量90%、汞排放量51%以及二氧化碳排放量46%。本研究为其他希望降低其能源相关排放，进而减轻对人类、生态系统和气候影响的国家提供了有益的启示。