Carbon dioxide mitigation co-benefit analysis of energy-related measures in the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan in the Jing-Jin-Ji region of China

To improve air quality and protect public health, the State Council of China issued the National Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan (‘the Action Plan’) in 2013. Specific measures were designed in the Action Plan to reduce emissions of atmospheric pollutants, with core contents in energy related measures. Implementing these measures would potentially have significant co-benefits on carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. This study quantitatively analyzes the impacts of the different measures in the Action Plan on the emissions of major air pollutants of sulfur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxides (NO_X), particulate matter (PM) and CO₂ in the Jing-Jin-Ji (JJJ, i.e., Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) region using the Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies model (GAINS)-China model. The results show that the Action Plan in JJJ would reduce 47.3 ± 0.8% of SO₂, 32.5 ± 2.6% of NOx, 15.2 ± 0.2% of PM_2.5, and 39.9 ± 5.3% CO₂ emissions, compared to the emissions in 2012. PM_2.5 emission reduction has the highest co-benefit for CO₂ reduction in JJJ, and also in Tianjin and Hebei. In Beijing, NOx emission reduction has high co-benefit for CO₂ reduction, when considering the relative degree of co-benefit. Among the different source sectors, industrial and residential sectors are identified to be the source sectors that contribute the most to the co-benefit of CO₂ emission reduction in JJJ. The results suggest that implementing energy replacement in the industrial and residential sectors in JJJ can not only generate large amounts of air pollutants emission reduction, but also can lead to significant CO₂ emission reduction.