Substantial differences in source contributions to carbon emissions and health damage necessitate balanced synergistic control plans in China

Yilin Chen (), Huizhong Shen, Guofeng Shen, Jianmin Ma, Yafang Cheng, Armistead G. Russell, Shunliu Zhao, Amir Hakami and Shu Tao
Additional contact information
Yilin Chen: Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School
Huizhong Shen: Southern University of Science and Technology
Guofeng Shen: Peking University
Jianmin Ma: Peking University
Yafang Cheng: Max Planck Institute for Chemistry
Armistead G. Russell: Georgia Institute of Technology
Shunliu Zhao: Carleton University
Amir Hakami: Carleton University
Shu Tao: Southern University of Science and Technology

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract China’s strategy to concurrently address climate change and air pollution mitigation is hindered by a lack of comprehensive information on source contributions to health damage and carbon emissions. Here we show notable discrepancies between source contributions to CO2 emissions and fine particulate matter (PM2.5)-related mortality by using adjoint emission sensitivity modeling to attribute premature mortality in 2017 to 53 sector and fuel/process combinations with high spatial resolution. Our findings reveal that monetized PM2.5 health damage exceeds climate impacts in over half of the analyzed subsectors. In addition to coal-fired energy generators and industrial boilers, the combined health and climate costs from energy-intensive processes, diesel-powered vehicles, domestic coal combustion, and agricultural activities exceed 100 billion US dollars, with health-related costs predominating. This research highlights the critical need to integrate the social costs of health damage with climate impacts to develop more balanced mitigation strategies toward these dual goals, particularly during fuel transition and industrial structure upgrading.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50327-8

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