Cost-effectiveness uncertainty may bias the decision of coal power transitions in China.

A transition away from coal power always maintains a high level of complexity as there are several overlapping considerations such as technical feasibility, economic costs, and environmental and health impacts. Here, we explore the cost-effectiveness uncertainty brought by policy implementation disturbances of different coal power phaseout and new-built strategies (i.e.

Drivers of Increasing Ozone during the Two Phases of Clean Air Actions in China 2013-2020.

In response to the severe air pollution issue, the Chinese government implemented two phases (Phase I, 2013-2017; Phase II, 2018-2020) of clean air actions since 2013, resulting in a significant decline in fine particles (PM) during 2013-2020, while the warm-season (April-September) mean maximum daily 8 h average ozone (MDA8 O) increased by 2.6 μg m yr in China during the same period. Here, we derived the drivers behind the rising O concentrations during the two phases of clean air actions by using a bottom-up emission inventory, a regional chemical transport model, and a multiple linear regression model.

Co-benefits of CO emission reduction from China's clean air actions between 2013-2020.

Climate change mitigation measures can yield substantial air quality improvements while emerging clean air measures in developing countries can also lead to CO emission mitigation co-benefits by affecting the local energy system. Here, we evaluate the effect of China's stringent clean air actions on its energy use and CO emissions from 2013-2020. We find that widespread phase-out and upgrades of outdated, polluting, and inefficient combustion facilities during clean air actions have promoted the transformation of the country's energy system.

Mapping anthropogenic emissions in China at 1 km spatial resolution and its application in air quality modeling.

New challenges are emerging in fine-scale air quality modeling in China due to a lack of high-resolution emission maps. Currently, only a few emission sources have accurate geographic locations (point sources), while a large part of sources, including industrial plants, are estimated as provincial totals (area sources) and spatially disaggregated onto grid cells based on proxies; this approach is reasonable to some extent but is highly questionable at fine spatial resolutions. Here, we compile a new comprehensive point source database that includes nearly 100,000 industrial facilities in China.

Drivers of improved PM air quality in China from 2013 to 2017.

From 2013 to 2017, with the implementation of the toughest-ever clean air policy in China, significant declines in fine particle (PM) concentrations occurred nationwide. Here we estimate the drivers of the improved PM air quality and the associated health benefits in China from 2013 to 2017 based on a measure-specific integrated evaluation approach, which combines a bottom-up emission inventory, a chemical transport model, and epidemiological exposure-response functions. The estimated national population-weighted annual mean PM concentrations decreased from 61.