Evolution of China's NOx emission control strategy during 2005-2020 over coal-fired power plants: A satellite-based assessment

Since especially the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), China has made great efforts to reverse the increasing trend of NOx emissions through end-of-pipe measures. With the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) level 2 swath product of tropospheric NO2, this study explores the temporal-spatial patterns of NOx concentrations over China's coal-fired power plants from 2005 to 2020 and investigates the evolution of its control strategy. The nationwide deployment of flue-gas denitration facilities was a critical measure to mitigate NOx emissions from coal-fired power plants, while this study externally assesses the implementation gap of their operation. Our results illustrate that, besides the impacts of economic cycles, China's control strategy experienced a dramatic transformation from an ad hoc campaign style for meeting short-term temporary targets to more sustainable, technology-and governance-centered institutional arrangements for ensuring long-term fundamental solutions. Furthermore, the satellite-based assessment may provide not only ex post evaluation, but also in-time and in-dependent data for more effective and efficient environmental compliance monitoring.

Automated summary

This study uses satellite data to examine the temporal-spatial patterns of NOx concentrations from China's coal-fired power plants and investigate the evolution of its control strategy. The results show that China's control strategy has transformed from a campaign style to more sustainable, technology-and governance-centered institutional arrangements for long-term solutions.