Air pollution terrain nexus: A review considering energy generation and consumption

Air pollution caused by energy generation and consumption is both a global as well as localised issue. It contributes to global warming along with degradation in human health, ecosystem health, local and global sustainable development. About 75% of the global GHG emissions, 66% of NOx emissions and most of the PM emissions are from energy sectors. Energy sectors have also been reported as the main contributors (90%) of SO2 emission in China. Among various influential factors (like energy utilisation, the intensity of economic activities, climatic conditions), the terrain is one of the key elements for the formation and dispersion of air pollution. The relationship between air pollution and terrain requires to be more deeply studied. The main contributions of this review include: 1) Summarising the main sources and types of air pollutants as well as the emission characteristics of different sector groups; 2) Proposing the mechanism of air pollution terrain nexus; 3) Reviewing modelling and experiments approaches for air pollution terrain nexus simulation; 4) Highlighting the existing limitations and challenges. This review provides a better understanding of the air pollution terrain nexus. It can contribute to mitigating the air pollution problems.