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Energy Futures and Urban Air Pollution PDF

387 Pages·2008·3.46 MB·English
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Committee on Energy Futures and Air Pollution in Urban China and the United States Development, Security and Cooperation Policy and Global Affairs In collaboration with THE NATIoNAl ACADEmIES PrESS Washington, D.C. www.nap.edu THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20001 NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. This study was supported by funding from the National Academies. Any opinions, fndings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily refect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project. Suggested citation: National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council. 2008. Energy Futures and Urban Air Pollution Challenges for China and the United States. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press. International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-11140-9 International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-11140-4 Additional copies of this report are available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, N.W., Lockbox 285, Washington, D.C. 20055; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313 (in the Washington metropolitan area); Internet, http://www.nap.edu Copyright 2008 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonproft, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientifc and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientifc and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examina- tion of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scien- tifc and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council. www.national-academies.org COMMITTEE ON ENERGY FUTURES AND AIR POLLUTION IN URBAN CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES U.S. Committee John WATSON, Chair, Desert Research Institute, Nevada Dave ALLEN, University of Texas at Austin, Texas Roger BEZDEK, Management Information Services, Inc., Washington, D.C. Judith CHOW, Desert Research Institute, Nevada Bart CROES, California Air Resources Board, California Glen DAIGGER, CH2M Hill, Inc., Colorado David HAWKINS, Natural Resources Defense Council, Washington, D.C. Philip HOPKE, Clarkson University, New York Jana MILFORD, University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado Armistead RUSSELL, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Jitendra J. SHAH, The World Bank, Washington, D.C. Michael WALSH, Consultant, Virginia Staff Jack FRITZ, Senior Program Offcer, National Academy of Engineering (through April 2006) Lance DAVIS, Executive Offcer, National Academy of Engineering Proctor REID, Director, Program Offce, National Academy of Engineering John BORIGHT, Executive Director, International Affairs, National Research Council Derek VOLLMER, Program Associate, Policy and Global Affairs, National Research Council Chinese Committee ZHAO Zhongxian, Chair, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing AN Zhisheng, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an CAI Ruixian, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing CAO Junji, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an FAN Weitang, China National Coal Association, Beijing HE Fei, Peking University, Beijing JIN Hongguang, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing TANG Xiaoyan, Peking University, Beijing WANG Fosong, Academic Divisions, Chinese Academy of Sciences WANG Yingshi, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing XU Xuchang, Tsinghua University, Beijing YAN Luguang, Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences YOU Changfu, Tsinghua University, Beijing YU Zhufeng, China Coal Research Institute, Beijing i Preface In relation to studies and understanding of broad energy and pollution man- agement issues, the U.S. National Academies have had an on-going program of cooperation with the Chinese Academies (Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering) for a number of years. Joint study activities date to the late 1990s and led to the publication in 2000 of Cooperation in the Energy Futures of China and the United States. This volume was the frst exami- nation of the broad energy questions facing both nations at the turn of the new millennium. The Energy Futures study was followed in 2003 with a study publication titled Personal Cars and China, which sought to provide insight to the Chinese government in the inevitable development of a private car feet. And, in the fall of 2003, the Chinese and U.S. Academies organized an informal workshop in Beijing to review progress made to date in China in managing urban airsheds. This resulted in a proceedings publication titled Urbanization, Energy, and Air Pollution in China; The Challenges Ahead, published in 2004. As time has evolved it has become abundantly clear that the United States and China are inextricably intertwined through global competition for scarce energy resources and their disproportionate impact on the globe’s environmental health. These realities reinforce the need for the United States and Chinese Academies to continue to work closely together on a frequent and more intensive basis. An underlying assumption is that China can beneft from assimilating U.S. lessons learned from a longer history of dealing with the interplay between air pollution and energy production and usage. Moreover, as both countries focus on energy independence, there are signifcant opportunities to learn from one another and to cooperate on issues of mutual interest. ii iii PREFACE It is against this backdrop that the current study was developed. Following the 2003 workshop which frst explored the role of urbanization in China’s energy use and air pollution, it was concluded that a full-scale consensus study should be carried out to compare the United States and Chinese experiences. Both countries’ respective Academies established committees comprised of leading experts in the felds of energy and air quality to jointly carry out this task. Specifcally, this study was to compare strategies for the management of airsheds in similar locales, namely ones located in highly industrial, coal-rich areas, as exemplifed by Pittsburgh and Huainan, and others located in more modern, coastal/port and car- o riented areas, as exemplifed by Los Angeles and Dalian. It was anticipated that a comparative analysis focusing at the local level should reveal how national and regional (state/provincial) policies affect local economies and their populations. Visits to all four cities by the U.S. and Chinese committee members were organized to learn as much as possible about the experiences of each city. The teams met with city government offcials, local university and research personnel, and with key private-sector actors. The teams toured local industrial plants, power plants, research laboratories, transportation control centers, and air quality moni- toring facilities. In order to understand local policy and compliance aspects, the teams also met with local, regional, and national regulatory offcials. This report has been prepared on the basis of those visits, as well as on the basis of the pro- fessional expertise of the U.S. and Chinese committee members and the trove of data available on worldwide energy resources and consumption and environmental regimes and challenges in the United States and China. This study could not examine in detail the related and increasingly signifcant issue of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and global climate change. We do, however, attempt to highlight the fact that this will be a central issue, perhaps the issue, in discussions of energy and air pollution in the future. We also give attention to opportunities to mitigate GHG emissions and some of the strategies that cities are able to and are already employing. This is an area where continued cooperation between the U.S. and Chinese Academies will be particularly use- ful. Similarly, we did not focus on the impacts of long-range pollution transport, but we acknowledge that this is an important global issue, and one that links our two countries. As the goals and priorities of both countries evolve with respect to energy and air pollution, it is clear that there will be a number of different strategies avail- able, though certainly no magic bullets. This large and diverse bilateral effort was designed to represent the different (and sometimes competing) viewpoints that might support these various strategies; throughout the process, each side learned valuable lessons from the other and came away with a better understanding of the circumstances unique to each country. We hope that the resultant report is of value to policy and decision makers not only in China but also in the United States, and that the lessons learned may be instructive to other countries currently experienc- PREFACE ix ing rapid urbanization. We were honored to serve as chairs of these distinguished committees, and we compliment the U.S. and Chinese committee members for their efforts throughout this study process. John G. Watson Zhao Zhongxian National Academy of Engineering Chinese Academy of Sciences National Research Council

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