Fossil fuel CO2 traced by radiocarbon in fifteen Chinese cities

Weijian Zhou; Zhenchuan Niu; Shugang Wu; Xiaohu Xiong; Yaoyao Hou; Peng Wang; Tian Feng; Peng Cheng; Hua Du; Xuefeng Lu; Zhisheng An; G S Burr; Yizhi Zhu

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138639

Fossil fuel CO₂ traced by radiocarbon in fifteen Chinese cities

Sci Total Environ. 2020 Aug 10:729:138639. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138639. Epub 2020 Apr 15.

Authors

Weijian Zhou¹, Zhenchuan Niu², Shugang Wu³, Xiaohu Xiong³, Yaoyao Hou³, Peng Wang³, Tian Feng³, Peng Cheng⁴, Hua Du³, Xuefeng Lu³, Zhisheng An⁵, G S Burr³, Yizhi Zhu³

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, CAS Center for Excellence in Quaternary Science and Global Change, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710061, China; Open Studio for Oceanic-Continental Climate and Environment Changes, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266061, China; Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Technology and Application, Joint Xi'an AMS Center between IEECAS and Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China. Electronic address: weijian@loess.llqg.ac.cn.
² State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, CAS Center for Excellence in Quaternary Science and Global Change, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710061, China; Open Studio for Oceanic-Continental Climate and Environment Changes, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266061, China; Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Technology and Application, Joint Xi'an AMS Center between IEECAS and Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, CAS Center for Excellence in Quaternary Science and Global Change, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710061, China; Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Technology and Application, Joint Xi'an AMS Center between IEECAS and Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, CAS Center for Excellence in Quaternary Science and Global Change, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710061, China; Interdisciplinary Research Center of Earth Science Frontier, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, CAS Center for Excellence in Quaternary Science and Global Change, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710061, China; Open Studio for Oceanic-Continental Climate and Environment Changes, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266061, China; Interdisciplinary Research Center of Earth Science Frontier, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.

PMID: 32361429
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138639

Abstract

China is an important fossil fuel CO₂ (CO_2ff) emitter and the international community is thus concerned with quantifying reductions in Chinese carbon emissions in the recent past. Compared to traditional statistical method, radiocarbon (¹⁴C) offers a different approach to quantify atmospheric CO₂ derived from fossil fuel emissions. Here, we carry out a multi-year (2011-2016) CO_2ff tracing by ¹⁴C in Xi'an, and a three-year (2014-2016) CO_2ff tracing in 15 Chinese cities. The Xi'an results show that average CO_2ff concentrations fell 35.9 ± 6.6% from 2014- 2016, compared to 2011-2013, and the timing of this decrease coincides with the implementation of nationwide carbon reduction measures in China, known as the Action Plan on Prevention and Control of Air Pollution. A WRF-Chem forward modeling simulation reveals that the CO_2ff in Xi'an is mainly derived from local sources, and a source apportionment combined stable-carbon isotope showed that the CO_2ff in this city is dominated by coal combustion (72.6 ± 10.4%). Strong CO_2ff differences are found between January and July in most Chinese cities. High CO_2ff concentrations often correspond to severe haze episodes and there are generally positive correlations between CO_2ff and fine particulate (PM_2.5) concentrations. Our study provides scientific data to understand the effects of CO_2ff reduction strategies in China that can be applied to other countries as well.

Keywords: Carbon reduction; Cities; Fossil fuel CO(2); PM(2.5); Radiocarbon.