Evaluation of potential co-benefits of air pollution control and climate mitigation policies for China's electricity sector

Wei, Xinyang; Tong, Qing; Magill, Iain; Vithayasrichareon, Peerapat; Betz, Regina

doi:10.1016/j.eneco.2020.104917

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-21489

Publication type:	Article in scientific journal
Type of review:	Peer review (publication)
Title:	Evaluation of potential co-benefits of air pollution control and climate mitigation policies for China's electricity sector
Authors:	Wei, Xinyang Tong, Qing Magill, Iain Vithayasrichareon, Peerapat Betz, Regina
et. al:	No
DOI:	10.1016/j.eneco.2020.104917 10.21256/zhaw-21489
Published in:	Energy Economics
Volume(Issue):	92
Issue:	104917
Issue Date:	Oct-2020
Publisher / Ed. Institution:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0140-9883 1873-6181
Language:	English
Subjects:	Air pollution; China; Co-benefits; Electricity sector
Subject (DDC):	363: Environmental and security problems
Abstract:	Since the rapid industrialisation, local air pollution has become one of China's most important environmental issues. In consequence, increasingly stringent air pollution control policies have been established by the Chinese government. These policies will inevitably affect China's future electric power investment given the key contribution of this sector to air pollution. This sector is also a key contributor to China’s greenhouse gas emissions and hence climate policy efforts. We present a study exploring what impacts of potential interactions and combinations of different policy efforts for local air pollutant control and carbon mitigation have on China's future electricity generation mix. The study utilises a novel generation portfolio model that explicitly incorporates key uncertainties in future technology costs and different policy approaches including carbon pricing and air emissions control. The findings highlight that China can achieve significant reductions for both greenhouse gas and local air pollutant emissions through a combination of climate change and air pollution control policies. Furthermore, there are potentially significant co-benefits from the perspectives of both air pollutant control and carbon mitigation and, notably, that the co-benefit from a sufficient carbon pricing policy to air pollution emission reductions is much stronger than that from stringent air pollutant control policies to carbon mitigation. Specifically, in order to achieve substantial local air pollution and greenhouse gas mitigation from China's electricity sector, it is necessary to close coal-fired power plants rather than merely seeking to clean their air pollution emissions up.
URI:	https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/21489
Fulltext version:	Accepted version
License (according to publishing contract):	CC BY-NC-ND 4.0: Attribution - Non commercial - No derivatives 4.0 International
Restricted until:	2022-09-04
Departement:	School of Management and Law
Organisational Unit:	Center for Energy and Environment (CEE)
Appears in collections:	Publikationen School of Management and Law

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Wei, X., Tong, Q., Magill, I., Vithayasrichareon, P., & Betz, R. (2020). Evaluation of potential co-benefits of air pollution control and climate mitigation policies for China’s electricity sector. Energy Economics, 92(104917). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2020.104917

Wei, X. et al. (2020) ‘Evaluation of potential co-benefits of air pollution control and climate mitigation policies for China’s electricity sector’, Energy Economics, 92(104917). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2020.104917.

X. Wei, Q. Tong, I. Magill, P. Vithayasrichareon, and R. Betz, “Evaluation of potential co-benefits of air pollution control and climate mitigation policies for China’s electricity sector,” Energy Economics, vol. 92, no. 104917, Oct. 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.eneco.2020.104917.

WEI, Xinyang, Qing TONG, Iain MAGILL, Peerapat VITHAYASRICHAREON und Regina BETZ, 2020. Evaluation of potential co-benefits of air pollution control and climate mitigation policies for China’s electricity sector. Energy Economics. Oktober 2020. Bd. 92, Nr. 104917. DOI 10.1016/j.eneco.2020.104917

Wei, Xinyang, Qing Tong, Iain Magill, Peerapat Vithayasrichareon, and Regina Betz. 2020. “Evaluation of Potential Co-Benefits of Air Pollution Control and Climate Mitigation Policies for China’s Electricity Sector.” Energy Economics 92 (104917). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2020.104917.

Wei, Xinyang, et al. “Evaluation of Potential Co-Benefits of Air Pollution Control and Climate Mitigation Policies for China’s Electricity Sector.” Energy Economics, vol. 92, no. 104917, Oct. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2020.104917.