Quantifying Baseline Emission Factors of Air Pollutants in China’s Regional Power Grids

Drawing lessons from the clean development mechanism (CDM), this paper developed a combined margin methodology to quantify baseline emission factors of air pollutants in China’s regional power grids. The simple average of baseline emission factors of SO₂, NO_<i>X</i>, and PM_2.5 in China’s six power grids in 2010 were respectively 1.91 kg/MWh, 1.83 kg/MWh and 0.32 kg/MWh. Several low-efficient mitigation technologies, such as low nitrogen oxide burner (LNB), were suggested to be replaced or used together with other technologies in order to virtually decrease the grid’s emission factor. The synergies between GHG and air pollution mitigation in China’s power sector was also notable. It is estimated that in 2010, that every 1% CO₂ reduction in China’s power generation sector resulted in the respective coreduction of 1.1%, 0.5%, and 0.8% of SO₂, NO_<i>X</i>, and PM_2.5. Wind is the best technology to achieve the largest amount of coabatement in most parts of China. This methodology is recommended to be used in making comprehensive air pollution control strategies and in cobenefits analysis in future CDM approval processes