Observed decade-long improvement of combustion efficiency in the Yangtze River Delta region in China

Jiarui Zhao; Huilin Chen; Ximeng Qi; Xuguang Chi; Mengwei Jia; Fei Jiang; Sheng Zhong; Bo Zheng; Aijun Ding

doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ad521e

Environmental Research Letters (Jan 2024)

Observed decade-long improvement of combustion efficiency in the Yangtze River Delta region in China

Jiarui Zhao,
Huilin Chen,
Ximeng Qi,
Xuguang Chi,
Mengwei Jia,
Fei Jiang,
Sheng Zhong,
Bo Zheng,
Aijun Ding

Affiliations

Jiarui Zhao: Joint International Research Laboratory of Atmospheric and Earth System Sciences, School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing, People’s Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Climate Change , Jiangsu Province, Nanjing 210023, People’s Republic of China; Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210023, People’s Republic of China
Huilin Chen: ORCiD; Joint International Research Laboratory of Atmospheric and Earth System Sciences, School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing, People’s Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Climate Change , Jiangsu Province, Nanjing 210023, People’s Republic of China; Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210023, People’s Republic of China
Ximeng Qi: Joint International Research Laboratory of Atmospheric and Earth System Sciences, School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing, People’s Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Climate Change , Jiangsu Province, Nanjing 210023, People’s Republic of China
Xuguang Chi: Joint International Research Laboratory of Atmospheric and Earth System Sciences, School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing, People’s Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Climate Change , Jiangsu Province, Nanjing 210023, People’s Republic of China
Mengwei Jia: Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science and Technology, International Institute for Earth System Science, Nanjing University , Nanjing, People’s Republic of China
Fei Jiang: Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science and Technology, International Institute for Earth System Science, Nanjing University , Nanjing, People’s Republic of China; Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application , Nanjing, People’s Republic of China; Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210023, People’s Republic of China
Sheng Zhong: Jiangsu Provincial Environmental Monitoring Center , Nanjing, Jiangsu 210019, People’s Republic of China; Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology (CICAEET) , Nanjing 210044, People’s Republic of China
Bo Zheng: ORCiD; Institute of Environment and Ecology, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University , Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China
Aijun Ding: Joint International Research Laboratory of Atmospheric and Earth System Sciences, School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing, People’s Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Climate Change , Jiangsu Province, Nanjing 210023, People’s Republic of China; Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210023, People’s Republic of China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad521e
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 19, no. 7
p. 074001

Abstract

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The ΔCO/ΔCO _2 ratio is a good indicator of the combustion efficiency of carbon-containing fuels, and can be useful to assess the combustion efficiency on a regional scale. In this study, we analyzed in-situ observations of CO _2 and CO concentrations from 2011 to 2021 at the Station for Observing Regional Processes of the Earth System (SORPES), in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region of eastern China, and calculated the ΔCO/ΔCO _2 ratio to investigate the combustion efficiency in the YRD region. Furthermore, we used a Lagrangian particle dispersion model WRF-FLEXPART to evaluate the contribution of each emission sources to the observed ΔCO/ΔCO _2 ratio. We found that the observed ΔCO/ΔCO _2 ratio showed a persistent decreasing trend of 1.0 ppb/ppm per year and decreased ∼47.9% during this period, illustrating an evident improvement in the combustion efficiency in the YRD region. The improvement of the combustion efficiency is a result of China’s Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan announced in 2013. However, the decrease of ΔCO/ΔCO _2 ratio slowed down from 1.3 ppb ppm ^−1 per year during 2011–2016 to 0.6 ppb ppm ^−1 per year during 2017–2021. The simulation results reveal that the slowdown of the decrease in the ΔCO/ΔCO _2 ratios can be explained by the slowing improvement of combustion efficiency in steel source in the industry sector. Our results verify the effectiveness of emission reduction efforts in the YRD region and highlight the necessity of long-term observations of CO _2 and CO.

Published in Environmental Research Letters

ISSN: 1748-9326 (Online)
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Technology: Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering; Geography. Anthropology. Recreation: Environmental sciences; Science: Physics
Website: https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/1748-9326

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