Emission Factors and Inventories of Carbonaceous Aerosols from Residential Biomass Burning in Guizhou Province, China

Biomass combustion results in the emission of substantial amounts of carbonaceous aerosols. Here, we report the emission characteristics of organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) from biofuel combustion according to field measurements in rural households in Guizhou Province, China. The average emission factor of OC was 0.57 +/- 0.16 g kg(-1) for firewood burning, which was lower than that for crop straw burning. The average emission factor of EC was 1.1 +/- 0.63 g kg(-1) for firewood burning, which was higher than most crop straw burning, including corn (0.68 +/- 0.29 g kg(-1)), rice (0.48 +/- 0.40 g kg(-1)), and soybean (0.17 +/- 0.21 g kg(-1)). The average OC/EC ratios from crop straw burning were high, 14.2 for rice straw burning, 11.7 for soybean straw burning, 5.1 for corn straw burning, and 2.8 for pepper straw burning. The average OC/EC ratio of firewood was the lowest at 0.54. In 2019, the estimated emissions of OC and EC from residential biomass fuel combustion in Guizhou Province were 3.6 and 5.6 Gg, respectively. Firewood burning was the primary contributor to total residential biofuel OC (approximate to 81%) and EC (approximate to 97%) emissions. High-emission areas included Tongren, Qiandongnan, and Qiannan.

Automated summary

This study reports the emission characteristics of organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) from biofuel combustion based on field measurements in rural households in Guizhou Province, China. The results show that firewood burning is the primary contributor to emissions, with higher emission factors compared to crop straw burning. Furthermore, different types of crop straw burning have varying emission characteristics of OC and EC.