Review
Energy & Fuels
Nirvikar Singh
Summary: This paper reviews and evaluates India's energy policy in relation to its commitment to achieve the target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2070. It emphasizes the importance of green electrification, specifically through the expansion of solar power capacity. The paper also discusses policy options for advancing the target date to 2050 and examines the potential financial and growth implications.
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Saleem H. Ali
Summary: The advancement of green technologies relies on a secure supply of essential metals.
Article
Economics
Stephen P. Holland, Erin T. Mansur, Nicholas Z. Muller, Andrew J. Yates
Summary: This study provides empirical guidance to policymakers considering investments in electric urban buses, highlighting the environmental benefits and net present value calculations. Results show that the environmental benefit of using electric buses compared to diesel or CNG is positive, particularly in cities like Los Angeles.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Noah Scovronick, David Anthoff, Francis Dennig, Frank Errickson, Maddalena Ferranna, Wei Peng, Dean Spears, Fabian Wagner, Mark Budolfson
Summary: The co-benefit of air quality motivates reduced emissions and requires global cooperation to prevent runaway temperature rise under different climate policy regimes. Even in the self-interested case, air quality co-benefits may lead to high levels of mitigation in certain regions, expanding the range of possible policy outcomes.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Petros N. Vasilakos, Huizhong Shen, Qasim Mehdi, Peter Wilcoxen, Charles Driscoll, Kathy Fallon, Dallas Burtraw, Maya Domeshek, Armistead G. Russell
Summary: This study compares the air quality benefits of different future policy scenarios for controlling electricity generating units (EGU) emissions. While these policies aim to reduce CO2 emissions, they also have significant co-benefits for ozone and PM2.5. Various clean energy policies were examined to assess their time-varying costs and benefits, with a focus on achieving low or zero CO2 emissions by 2050. The forecasts show significant reductions in ozone and PM in the eastern US, and all policies result in air quality improvements.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Stephen P. Holland, Matthew J. Kotchen, Erin T. Mansur, Andrew J. Yates
Summary: This paper provides estimates of marginal CO2 emissions from US electricity generation using the most comprehensive data, showing that while average emissions have decreased, marginal emissions have increased due to a shift toward greater reliance on coal. The research also highlights that the increase in electric vehicles may be offset by the emissions from the electricity sector if not significantly transformed.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Hui Yang, An Thu Pham, Joel Reid Landry, Seth Adam Blumsack, Wei Peng
Summary: Pennsylvania plans to join RGGI in 2022, potentially reducing emissions from power plants significantly and bringing health cobenefits of around 17.7 to 40.8 billion USD. However, this emission reduction may be offset by increases in emissions from other states in PJM.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Mingyang Zhang, Zhiqiang Cheng, Chunpu Li, Nanxin Deng
Summary: This study examines the mechanism by which energy-efficiency upgrades in China's air conditioners affect urban household electricity usage using Chinese provincial-level panel data. The results show that the upgrades lead to a reverse effect, with an increase in urban household electricity usage. This reverse effect is dependent on factors such as family size and urban residents' age structure.
ENERGY AND BUILDINGS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Chandan Kumar Jha, Vartika Singh, Miodrag Stevanovic, Jan Philipp Dietrich, Aline Mosnier, Isabelle Weindl, Alexander Popp, Guido Schmidt Traub, Ranjan Kumar Ghosh, Hermann Lotze-Campen
Summary: The food and land use sector in India plays a significant role in the country's greenhouse gas emissions. This study examines different strategies to reduce emissions, such as dietary shifts, improving agricultural productivity, and protecting the environment, while ensuring food security. The findings highlight the potential to greatly reduce emissions and meet food security goals through sustainable practices.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Economics
Brian C. Prest, Alan Krupnick
Summary: This study reveals that actual emission reductions from refined coal are only about half of the required levels and only arise when certain pollution controls are installed. The policy reduces social welfare and costs are more than seven times the benefits.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
A. Sharma, K. Surana, M. George
Summary: This paper evaluates the effectiveness of renewable energy (RE) trade duties in supporting employment, particularly in manufacturing. The findings suggest that there is no evidence of increased jobs in solar and wind manufacturing after the imposition of trade duties, but downstream jobs continue to grow due to policy incentives and declining technology costs.
RENEWABLE & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Deepjyoti Das, Pradip P. Kalbar, Nagendra R. Velaga
Summary: The study highlights the importance of improving electricity grids' efficiency and minimizing transmission and distribution losses when introducing electric vehicles (EVs) to reduce carbon emissions and achieve emission targets for 2030 and 2050. The research findings show that a comprehensive approach involving both EVs and improvements in electricity grids is essential to meet the estimated targets for carbon emission reduction.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Peng Wang, Min Wang, Mi Zhou, Jianjun He, Xiangzhao Feng, Xiaolin Du, Yu Wang, Yongli Wang
Summary: This study used simulations to assess the impact of the coal-to-gas/electricity conversion project on air quality in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. It found that the project has a significant effect on improving air quality, especially in the plain area. Moreover, the effects of meteorological conditions on air quality are comparable or even larger than those of the project.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Wei Peng, Sung Eun Kim, Pallav Purohit, Johannes Urpelainen, Fabian Wagner
Summary: Political feasibility is a crucial factor in air pollution policymaking, which often influences the implementation of clean-air policies. This study evaluates the political feasibility of various clean-air policies in India based on public opinion, market, and institutional considerations, and highlights the importance of considering varying degrees of political feasibility in achieving air-pollution and climate objectives simultaneously.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Lijian Han, Weiqi Zhou, Weifeng Li, Yuguo Qian
Summary: China's air quality has improved, but challenges remain. We evaluated the impact of pollution control on air quality improvement and found significant improvements in urban air quality, particularly in cities with higher pollution levels. To ensure continuous improvement, greater financial inputs and more adaptive policies are necessary.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Hui Yang, Xinyuan Huang, Daniel M. Westervelt, Larry Horowitz, Wei Peng
Summary: Millions of premature deaths are caused by ambient particulate air pollution, and reducing fossil fuel combustion can decrease exposure to harmful particulates. However, socio-demographic factors play a dominant role in health outcomes related to air pollution globally.
NATURE SUSTAINABILITY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Hong-Dian Jiang, Pallav Purohit, Qiao-Mei Liang, Li-Jing Liu, Yu-Fei Zhang
Summary: It is crucial to consider the co-benefits of reducing air pollution when distributing carbon mitigation efforts among provinces. This study incorporated pollutant co-benefits into the carbon marginal abatement cost curves using a Chinese multi-regional computable general equilibrium model. The results showed that more developed eastern provinces face higher abatement costs compared to less developed central and western provinces, and SO2 reduction provides the highest co-benefits among the provinces.
ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Qixian Liu, Mengyuan Zhang, Pengfei Wang, Kaiyu Chen, Peng Wang, Yi Zhang, Baojun Zhang, Hongliang Zhang
Summary: Located in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Hebei province experiences severe air pollution, with five cities among the top 10 cities with the worst air quality nationwide. This study quantifies the inter- and intra-province transport of PM2.5 in 11 cities within Hebei using a source-oriented version of the CMAQ model. The results show the contributions of local and regional sources, with local sources playing a major role in most cities while inter-province transport also being significant.
Editorial Material
Environmental Sciences
Paul C. C. Stern, Thomas Dietz, Kristian S. S. Nielsen, Wei Peng, Michael P. P. Vandenbergh
Summary: Science can assist in achieving emissions targets by evaluating the feasibility of proposed initiatives and studying the adoption and implementation challenges as well as the adaptability of intended responders.
NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Yazhen Wu, Andre Deppermann, Petr Havlik, Stefan Frank, Ming Ren, Hao Zhao, Lin Ma, Chen Fang, Qi Chen, Hancheng Dai
Summary: In the process of addressing climate change, China is projected to become a major bioenergy consumer. However, this may lead to global land-use changes, food security concerns, and greenhouse gas emissions. The Global Biosphere Management Model (GLOBIOM) was used to study the effects of different bioenergy import strategies in China. The results indicate that strict biomass import regulations could result in substantial forest conversions, while open trade environments may cause significant shifts in trade flows and land-use changes in other regions. Nonetheless, an economically optimized biomass import portfolio for China has the potential to mitigate sustainability trade-offs.
Article
Thermodynamics
M. D. Shouquat Hossain, Yan Ru Fang, Teng Ma, Chen Huang, Hancheng Dai
Summary: The study evaluates the penetration of electric vehicles (EVs) and transport energy demand in achieving carbon neutrality in India. It proposes three scenarios and regionally specific climate policies to increase the share of low-carbon and net-zero vehicles. The results show that a combination of efficient technology can significantly reduce carbon emissions and air pollution, with the potential to achieve an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2070.
Review
Environmental Sciences
Anjali Sharma, Jinyu Shiwang, Anna Lee, Wei Peng
Summary: Scaling up electric vehicles (EVs) can help reduce carbon emissions and air pollution from road transport. The impacts of EV adoption on climate, air quality, and health have been well-documented. However, the spatial distribution of these impacts has not been systematically reviewed, which is crucial for ensuring a just transition.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yan Ru Fang, Xin Sun, Silu Zhang, Gang Liu, Xiaorui Liu, Peng Zhang, Yifei Kang, Hancheng Dai
Summary: Private passenger vehicles in China, a large developing country, pose a severe threat to global climate and human health due to their high emissions of CO2 and air pollutants. This study explores the optimal implementation of both electric vehicles (EVs) and high energy-efficient internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) in 31 Chinese provinces to achieve the greatest environmental and human health benefits. The results show that electrification of the passenger fleet leads to significant CO2 reduction and air quality improvement, while highly efficient ICEVs have decarbonization potential and health benefits in northern China.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Qi Qi, Shuai Wang, Hui Zhao, Sri Harsha Kota, Hongliang Zhang
Summary: This study used the WRF-CMAQ model system, the parameterized Jarvis stomatal conductance model, and the O3 flux model to simulate the changes of O3 uptake flux in rice stomata in major rice growing areas in China from 2013 to 2020. The results showed that rice yield losses due to O3 pollution exhibited an overall increasing and decreasing trend from 2013 to 2018 and 2018 to 2020, respectively. The estimated rice yield losses based on AOT40 and POD gamma indicators ranged from 3.5% to 5.9%, 1.8% to 3.5%, and 2.4% to 5.4% for single rice, double-early rice, and double-late rice during 2013-2020, respectively. The yearly rice yield losses based on AOT40 and POD gamma were 5.9-11.4 million metric tons and 8.0-28.0 million metric tons for 2013-2020, respectively. This study provides an important reference for mitigating the impact of O3 pollution and climate change on rice yield in the future.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Shuai Wang, Peng Wang, Qi Qi, Siyu Wang, Xia Meng, Haidong Kan, Shengqiang Zhu, Hongliang Zhang
Summary: This article presents a three-stage model framework based on CMAQ simulations and multisource data fusion to estimate daily PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations in China in 2015. The model performs well and shows better agreement with ground observations compared to the CMAQ simulation. These full-coverage PM datasets enable detailed analysis of PM pollution and support future epidemiological studies and health assessments.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mathijs Harmsen, Charlotte Tabak, Lena Hoeglund-Isaksson, Florian Humpenoeder, Pallav Purohit, Detlef van Vuuren
Summary: The potential for reducing non-CO2 greenhouse gases is highly uncertain, and this uncertainty has significant implications for achieving the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. A systematic estimate of the uncertainty in non-CO2 greenhouse gas mitigation reveals that reaching the global climate targets is challenging due to technical limitations and uncertainties in mitigation options.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Shuai Wang, Peng Wang, Ruhan Zhang, Xia Meng, Haidong Kan, Hongliang Zhang
Summary: A simple lightGBM model was built to estimate ground PM2.5, PM10, and PM2.5-10, and the SHAP approach was used to separate the meteorological contributions on PM concentration. The models showed good performance, with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.84 to 0.88 for PM2.5. The results confirmed the feasibility of the SHAP approach in explaining haze formation.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Tian Shao, Peng Wang, Wenxuan Yu, Yueqi Gao, Shengqiang Zhu, Yi Zhang, Donghao Hu, Baojun Zhang, Hongliang Zhang
Summary: This study used the CMAQ model to investigate air quality variations in China during the '' Clean Air Action '' Phase I and Phase II. The results show a significant reduction in PM2.5 across the country, except in summer, and a decrease in O-3 concentration, with a 3% increase found in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Emission changes played a dominant role in PM2.5 reduction, while meteorology and emissions contributed equally to O-3 reduction.
RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND RECYCLING
(2023)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Shengqiang Zhu, Jinlong Ma, Siyu Wang, Shida Sun, Peng Wang, Hongliang Zhang
Summary: China is facing severe ozone pollution despite significant reduction in particulate matter, causing harm to public health and ecosystems. Comprehensive methods including ground-level observations, satellite data, and a source-oriented chemical transport model were used to analyze ozone variations in China from 2016 to 2019. The study found a worsening trend of ozone levels in the North China Plain and Yangtze River Delta, with an annual increasing rate of 10%. Changes in ozone formation regimes and an increase in atmospheric oxidation capacity were identified as the main contributors to the elevated ozone levels.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Peng Wang, Ruhan Zhang, Shida Sun, Meng Gao, Bo Zheng, Dan Zhang, Yanli Zhang, Gregory R. Carmichael, Hongliang Zhang
Summary: Vehicle emissions are a major contributor to air pollution and its health impacts. Traffic congestion exacerbates air pollution and health burdens, especially in urban areas. A new temporal allocation approach was used to investigate the impact of traffic congestion on air quality and health burden in China, showing the need for better vehicle emission control policies and road network planning to reduce congestion and improve air quality.
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2023)