Environmental and Health Co-Benefits of Coal Regulation under the Carbon Neutral Target: A Case Study in Anhui Province, China

Xie, Wu; Guo, Wenzhe; Shao, Wenbin; Li, Fangyi; Tang, Zhipeng

doi:10.3390/su13116498

Open AccessArticle

Environmental and Health Co-Benefits of Coal Regulation under the Carbon Neutral Target: A Case Study in Anhui Province, China

by

Wu Xie

¹,

Wenzhe Guo

¹,

Wenbin Shao

¹,

Fangyi Li

^1,*

and

Zhipeng Tang

^2,*

¹

School of Management, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China

²

Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 6498; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116498

Submission received: 3 May 2021 / Revised: 1 June 2021 / Accepted: 4 June 2021 / Published: 7 June 2021

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Development for Sustainability)

Download

Browse Figures

Versions Notes

Abstract

Coal regulation has been implemented throughout China. However, the potential benefits of pollution abatement and the co-benefits of residents’ health were rarely assessed. In this study, based on the analysis of historical coal consumption and multiple coal regulation measures in Anhui Province, China, four scenarios (Business as Usual (BU), Structure Optimization (SO), Gross Consumption Control (GC), and Comprehensive Measures (CM)) were constructed to indicate four different paths from 2020 to 2060, which is a vital period for realizing carbon neutrality. The results show that reductions of SO₂, PM₁₀, and PM_2.5 emissions in the SO scenario are higher than those in the GC scenario, while the reduction of NO_x emission is higher in the GC scenario. Compared with the BU scenario, residents’ health benefits from 2020 to 2060 are 8.3, 4.8, and 4.5 billion USD in the CM, GC, and SO scenarios, respectively, indicating that the achievements of coal regulation are significant for health promotion. Therefore, the optimization and implementation of coal regulation in the future is not only essential for the carbon neutrality target, but also a significant method to yield environmental and health co-benefits.

Keywords: energy system; coal regulation; pollution abatement; environmental benefits; health benefits

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Xie, W.; Guo, W.; Shao, W.; Li, F.; Tang, Z. Environmental and Health Co-Benefits of Coal Regulation under the Carbon Neutral Target: A Case Study in Anhui Province, China. Sustainability 2021, 13, 6498. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116498

AMA Style

Xie W, Guo W, Shao W, Li F, Tang Z. Environmental and Health Co-Benefits of Coal Regulation under the Carbon Neutral Target: A Case Study in Anhui Province, China. Sustainability. 2021; 13(11):6498. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116498

Chicago/Turabian Style

Xie, Wu, Wenzhe Guo, Wenbin Shao, Fangyi Li, and Zhipeng Tang. 2021. "Environmental and Health Co-Benefits of Coal Regulation under the Carbon Neutral Target: A Case Study in Anhui Province, China" Sustainability 13, no. 11: 6498. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116498

APA Style

Xie, W., Guo, W., Shao, W., Li, F., & Tang, Z. (2021). Environmental and Health Co-Benefits of Coal Regulation under the Carbon Neutral Target: A Case Study in Anhui Province, China. Sustainability, 13(11), 6498. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116498

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Menu

Environmental and Health Co-Benefits of Coal Regulation under the Carbon Neutral Target: A Case Study in Anhui Province, China

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI