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Air pollution caused by coal burning not only increases the cost of environmental pollution but also harms human health. It is urgent for China to change the practice of coal-fired central heating. Therefore, the effectiveness and sustainability of the Coal to Gas and Electricity policy have become the focus of all sectors of society. In this paper, eight cities in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region were taken as the experimental groups and the other eleven cities as the control groups. Based on the PSM-DID model and the time-varying DID model, a quasi-natural experimental analysis was conducted to evaluate the effect of the policy of coal to gas and electricity to improve air quality in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region from 2015 to 2020 and to test the sustainability of the policy. Three research conclusions are shown below: First, during the implementation of the policy, especially in 2019, the AQI index decreased significantly. Although there was a rebound thereafter, it was still lower than before. This shows that the Coal to Gas and Electricity policy has indeed improved the air quality in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei during its implementation. Second, the policy had a great impact on SO2 and PM10 but was relatively weak on PM2.5 and CO. Therefore, there is an urgent need to formulate scientific and accurate policies to control different air pollutants. Third, the time-varying DID model was used to identify the dynamic sustainability effect of the Coal to Gas and Electricity policy. The results showed that the policy had a strong impact in the initial stage, but its effect was greatly reduced at the end of the implementation or near the end, when it was far less obvious than in the initial stage of the policy. Therefore, in formulating relevant measures to reduce air pollution, it is necessary to fully consider the sustainability of the policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pollution havens create environmental inequality issues. China's recent policy of directing high-pollution firms to migrate out of its capital, Beijing, offers a case of a pollution haven that was mandated, rather than resulting from firms' responses to environmental regulation. More importantly, it leads to a question that has been less discussed in previous literature: does a pollution haven strike back? After the highly polluting enterprises moved out of Beijing to neighboring Hebei province, Hebei has been blamed for the continuing poor air quality in Beijing, based on a perception that the pollutants emitted in Hebei are being blown back to Beijing. This paper investigates the existence of a pollution haven in Hebei and quantifies the contribution of Hebei's emissions to Beijing's air quality. We find that the proportion of output values and the relative concentration of high-pollution industries in Hebei increased when the large-scale out-migration began, while the indicators in Beijing decreased. We also find higher emissions of enterprises in Hebei than their counterparts in Beijing. Together, these findings indicate the existence of a "manmade" pollution haven. Further, based on high-frequency spatial data, we combine an Autoregressive Distributed Lag model and a Spatial Autoregressive Model and decompose the factors that affect Beijing's air quality into local and regional transport of air-borne pollutants. We find a significant effect of the neighboring cities' air pollution on Beijing's air quality. This indicates that the pollution haven indeed struck back. These findings imply the importance of regional policies to control air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capturing and converting polluted gases from the air using green solvents (e.g., ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents) are very important for sustainable development and high air quality; however, these gases should be treated differently due to the fact that their concentration in air changes differently with time. Jingjinji (Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei) region is the largest and most dynamic region in northern China; Beijing (Jing) is also the capital of China. Time-dependent (2016–2020) air quality and the concentration of air pollutants of Jingjinji are very helpful for the sustainable treatment of major air pollutants by green solvents in the future. Results show that the air quality of the Jinjinji region has improved in these years. Moreover, the concentration of most of the air pollutants (e.g., PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, CO) in the air of the Jingjinji region has decreased. Nevertheless, the concentration of ozone (e.g., O3) in the air of the Jingjinji region has shown no decrease recently. This work is a meaningful guide for the utilization of green solvents for gas capture and conversion in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the impact of temporary air quality control measures on reducing pollutants during the 2022 Winter Olympics in China, utilizing real-time monitoring data from 2017 and 2022 to assess spatial and temporal variations in critical air pollutant concentrations. The results showed that concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, CO, SO2, and NO2 in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region during the Olympic Games showed a marked decrease compared to the historical period, with reductions of 36.59%, 20.35%, 33.95%, 28.90%, and 22.70%, respectively. Significant north–south spatial differences were observed in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei Province during the Olympic period. The cities of Zhangjiakou, Chengde, Qinhuangdao, Beijing, and Tangshan showed the most significant pollution reduction. Based on assessments conducted during the Olympic period, it was noted that more than 95% of the daily average concentrations of pollutants are below the maximum values set by the World Health Organization for the interim target. Our research shows that provisional regulations effectively control the emission of air pollutants, providing a solid reference and basis for ensuring air quality during major international events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many stakeholders recognize that the transport sector should be a major focus for reducing the emissions of carbon and air pollutants since it is the third largest sector for energy consumption in China. This study analyzed and projected the energy consumption and emissions of CO2 and conventional air pollutants (CO, NOX, SO2, and PM2.5) from four transport sectors (highway, waterway, railway and aviation) based on the LEAP model, compared the emission reduction potentials of different transport sectors under different scenarios in 2020-2060, and finally explored the co-reduction effect for CO2 and the four pollutants under different control measures. The results showed that the CO2 emissions from the transportation sectors in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region would increase greatly under the baseline scenario. Estimates indicate that the CO2 emissions of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province would increase by 263.72%, 225.87% and 405.43% in 2060, respectively. Under the comprehensive policy scenario, the emission reductions would be 88.78%, 76.86% and 83.20% respectively, and the maximum emission reduction rate of pollutants is expected to reach 78.73%–99.34%. The sectors with major reduction potentials for CO2 and conventional pollutants are the aviation and road transport sectors, which contribute 38.19%–99.85% of the total, respectively. The co-reduction achieved by optimizing the energy structure in the road transport and aviation sectors would be the best. The results of this study can provide a basis for the formulation of low-carbon reduction strategies for the transport sectors in the BTH region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's most critically air polluted area, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region has attracted significant attention; the regional linkage of environmental indicators in BTH has been widely studied in recent years. The city-level air pollutants and economic benefits hidden in trade activities are still poorly understood. This paper examines air pollutants and economic benefits embodied in BTH's consumption based on a city-level input-output table. Our results show that transfer flows of air pollutants and value-added between different cities lead to the unequal exchange of air pollution and economic benefits in BTH. Beijing gains more value-added (38.40%) through trade compared with its atmospheric pollutant equivalents (APE, 1.75%) induced by consumption demand in BTH. Conversely, Tangshan, Shijiazhuang, and Handan emit more air pollutants compared with the benefits they gain through trade. The results provide evidence for the establishment of compensation mechanisms between cities. • Trade between cities lead to the unequal exchange of air pollution and economic benefits in BTH. • Beijing gains a higher proportion of value added compared with its air pollutants induced by trade. • Cities in Hebei province gain lower proportions of value added compared with their air pollutants induced by trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]