Emissions from China

Yao H, Jingyan J, Lianggang Z, Sass RL, Fisher FM. Comparison of field measurements of CH4 emission from rice cultivation in Nanjing, China and in Texas, USA. Adv. Atmos. Sci. 2001 18 1121-1130. 

However, it is well known that various pollutants including sulfur compounds can be transported by air from country to country in the whole Asian domain and especially in North East Asia. Thus, model calculations have shown that in 1991— 1994 about 35% of oxidized sulfur species deposited in South Korea was transported from other locations, mainly from China (Sofiev, 1999). Accordingly, in spite of a national reduction in SO2 emission, the sulfur depositions are still very significant. 

The assessment of air pollution in the Central Asian region is of great significance for environmental risk estimates. Case study countries, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are located in Central Asia and have long boundaries with China, the Asian part of Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Emissions from these countries as well as the... 

Kern JS, Gong ZT, Zhang GL, Zhuo HZ, Luo GB. 1997. Spatial analysis of methane emissions from paddy soils in China and the potential for emission reduction. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 49 181-195. 

Yao H, Zhuang YB, Chen ZL. 1996. Estimation of methane emission from rice paddies in mainland China. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 10 641-649. 

Wang D, He L, Wei S, Eeng X (2006) Estimation of mercury emissions from different sources to atmosphere in Chongqing, China. Sci. Total Environment 366 722-728... 

Figure 2.10 shows the trend in S02 emissions from North America, Europe, the USSR, and Asia from 1970 to 1986 (Hameed and Dignon, 1992). While S02 emissions from North America have decreased significantly, those from Europe have remained about the same and in the USSR have increased somewhat. However, S02 emissions from Asia have increased dramatically due to the increased combustion of fossil fuels, particularly from the use of coal in China and from biomass burning in Southeast Asia (Arndt et al., 1997). For example, Fig. 2.11 shows the 1987 annual emission fluxes of S02 in Asia, where China is seen to be a major source (Akimoto and Narita, 1994). Emissions from ships are also thought to contribute significantly (e.g., Streets et al., 1997 Corbett and Fishbeck, 1997). 

Mumford, J. L., C. T. Helmes, X. Lee, J. Seidenberg, and S. Nesnow, Mouse Skin Tumorigenicity Studies of Indoor Coal and Wood Combustion Emissions from Homes of Residents in Xuan Wei, China with High Lung Cancer Mortality, Carcinogenesis, 11, 397-403 (1990). 

The dependence on oil, which is behind many current economic and climate problems, did not begin until the invention of the internal combustion engine and automobiles. In 1900, 4,192 automobiles were built. By 1968, there were 271 million cars, trucks, and buses worldwide. In 1985, the number of these vehicles had jumped to more than 484 million, and by 1996, it had reached 671 million. The number of vehicles on the roads is increasing rapidly as developing countries, particularly India and China, become wealthier. Both countries already suffer serious air pollution caused by the carbon emissions from cars and trucks, as well as the burning of coal. 

Clausen, P.A., Knudsen, H.N., Larsen, K., Kofoed-Sorensen, V., Wolkoffl P. and Wilkins, C.K. (2005) Use of gas chromatography olfactometry (GC-O) to detect unknown emissions from building products containing linseed oil. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, Indoor Air 2005, Beijing, China, Vol. II (2), pp. 2053-8. 

Cooking constitutes a source of VOCs in the indoor environment Food stuffs and fuels emit ample amounts of VOCs. For example, up to 54 hydrocarbons were identified from a study of 16 fuels/ stoves combinations that are usually used in urban and rural settings in China (Tsai et al., 2003). The worst stove/fuel VOC emitters include metal stoves with a flue/unprocessed coal powder, metal stoves with a flue/washed coal powder, brick stove with a flue/maize residue while the least emitters ofVOCs are traditional gas stove/coal gas fuel, improved brick stove with a flue/maize residue and metal coal stove with a flue/honeycomb coal briquette. Many of the compounds emitted in substantial amounts are reactive unsaturated compounds such as benzene, ethylene, acetylene, and propene. For example, up to 2856 mg of ethylene was emitted by per kg of coal powder in the metal stove. Similarly, the observation of elevated levels of benzene and toluene in a food-court in South China has been rationalized in terms of emission from liquefied petrol gas (LPG) stoves (Tang et al., 2005). Thus, cooking is an important contributor of precursors of photochemical smog. 

A preliminary investigation on dioxin emission from MSWI in China has been campaigned by Tian and Ouyang (2003). Flue gas of 15 different types of MSW incinerators was monitored. About half of the data exceeded the national standard for dioxin emissions limit (1 ng TEQ m-3 National Standard of the People s Republic of China, 2001) and the highest was at 100 ng TEQ m-3 level. However, this report did not provide precise concentrations. Total dioxin emissions to air from MSWI was estimated to be 72 ng TEQ annually in China based on the monitoring data of Tian and Ouyang (2003). Stack furnaces (with bag filters for dust removal) are the major type of MSW incinerators in China but not the major contributor to dioxin emissions. Fluid-bed furnaces accounted for 60% of the dioxin emissions from MSWI. 

Several operations for the production of iron and steel, including sinter production, coke production, and electric arc furnaces, have been identified as potential emission sources of PCDD/Fs. China is the largest producer of steel in the world. According to 2005 statistical data, the iron and steel production of China was 349 million tons. It is reasonable to assume that the iron and steel industry could be a major source of PCDD/ F emission to air in China, but data are not available for an assessment of the emissions from this source. 

Tian, H.H., Ouyang, N., 2003. Preliminary investigation on dioxins emission from MSW incinerators in China. Environ. Chem. (Chinese) 22, 255-258. 

The potential for OC pesticide enantiomers to be used for air-surface source apportionment was first suggested by Finizio, Bidleman, and Szeto [167], who found an air concentration gradient with the same enantiomer composition (EFs of 0.54 to 0.57 for a-HCH and 0.59 for heptachlor epoxide) up to 1.4 m above British Columbia agricultural soils with the same EFs (Figure 4.16). The subsequent measurements of nonracemic a- HCH, c/i-chlordane, and trara-chlordane in these soils [146] indicated that local and regional air burdens of these pesticides were influenced more by agricultural emissions than by trans-Pacific transport from China and India where these compounds are still... 

In addition to the extensive chemical reactions, forecast runs include CO tracers which are tagged with their origin. Such tracers are emitted normally over selected regions (north and south China, Japan, south Asia, northern America, Europe, and Siberia) and evolved subject to model transport schemes and normal chemical loss processes for CO. Anthropogenic surface emissions of CO are taken from the Streets et al. (2003) inventory over Asia (except China), and from the Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) (Olivier et al. 1996) over other regions. Surface CO emissions over China are taken from D. Streets,... 

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