Air Pollutants and CO2 Emissions in Industrial Parks and Evaluation of Their Green Upgrade on Regional Air Quality Improvement: A Case Study of Seven Cities in Henan Province

Abstract

Although central to the promotion of regional economic development, industrial parks discharge large quantities of air pollutants and CO2, counter to the goals of air quality improvement and CO2 reductions in China. In this study, 13 industrial parks in seven cities in Henan Province were chosen to evaluate their emission of air pollutants and CO2 in 2017, their reduction potential under different green measures, and their air quality improvements under a Green Upgrade scenario. The results show that: (1) The total emissions of SO2, NOx, CO, PM10, PM2.5, VOCs and CO2 in the 13 industrial parks were 43, 39, 351, 19, 7, 18, 2 kt and 36 Mt, and would decrease by 72, 56, 19, 30, 26, 77 and 30%, respectively, under the Green Upgrade scenario. (2) The industrial process was the major source of CO, PM2.5, VOCs and NH3, whereas power plants were the largest source of SO2 and NOx, and they would be reduced by 93, 59, 94, 91, 23 and 28%, respectively, under the Green Upgrade scenario. (3) The terminal energy use sector (including industrial boilers and industrial process sources) was the main source of CO2, accounting for 75% of total CO2 emissions, and would be reduced by 76% under the Green Upgrade scenario. (4) WRF-CMAQ simulation results show that, under the Green Upgrade scenario, the concentration of PM2.5 in a transmission channel city would be improved by 1–36 μg/m3, with an annual average value of 9 μg/m3. Our results demonstrate the significant effect of the synergistic reduction in air pollutants and CO2 emissions using Green Technologies in industrial parks and the subsequent improvement in regional air quality.