Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139.
Department of Economics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309;
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Jul 3;115(27):7004-7009. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1800605115. Epub 2018 Jun 18.
We evaluate the impact of China's new air pollution standards on sulfur dioxide (SO) 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 SO reported by CEMS declined by 13.9%. Second, on average the ratios of the declines of SO 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.
我们通过将来自煤电厂的连续排放监测系统（CEMS）的新数据与卫星测量进行比较，评估中国新的空气污染标准对二氧化硫（SO）排放的影响。首先，我们表明，在 2014 年 7 月实施更严格的排放标准的最后期限之后，CEMS 报告的烟囱浓度下降了 13.9%。其次，平均而言，卫星数据和 CEMS 数据中 SO 测量值下降的比例约为 0.5。然而，两种数据源之间的一致性程度因政策严格程度而异，在面临最严格新限制的关键地区，一致性较弱。第三，大型工厂比小型（典型）热电联产工厂更早地达到合规要求。为了实现持续的空气质量改善，我们的结果表明需要加强对排放数据质量和监测实践的审查，并制定明确的长期目标。
