Effectiveness of SOx, NOx, and Primary Particulate Matter Control Strategies in the Improvement of Ambient PM Concentration in Taiwan

Abstract

The Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) measurement was employed for evaluating the effectiveness of fine particulate matter control strategies in Taiwan. There are three scenarios as follows: (I) the 2014 baseline year emission, (II) 2020 emissions reduced via the Clean Air Act (CAA), and (III) other emissions reduced stringently via the Clean Air Act. Based on the Taiwan Emission Data System (TEDs) 8.1, established in 2014, the emission of particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) was 73.5 thousand tons y−1, that of SOx was 121.3 thousand tons y−1, and that of NOx was 404.4 thousand tons y−1 in Taiwan. The CMAQ model simulation indicated that the PM2.5 concentration was 21.9 μg m−3. This could be underestimated by 24% in comparison with data from the ambient air quality monitoring stations of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (TEPA). The results of the simulation of the PM2.5 concentration showed high PM2.5 concentrations in central and southwestern Taiwan, especially in Taichung and Kaohsiung. Compared to scenario I, the average annual concentrations of PM2.5 for scenario II and scenario III showed reductions of 20.1% and 28.8%, respectively. From the results derived from the simulation, it can be seen that control of NOx emissions may improve daily airborne PM2.5 concentrations in Taiwan significantly and control of directly emitted PM2.5 emissions may improve airborne PM2.5 concentrations each month. Nevertheless, the results reveal that the preliminary control plan could not achievethe air quality standard. Therefore, the efficacy and effectiveness of the control measures must be considered to better reduce emissions in the future.

Spatiotemporal impact of COVID-19 on Taiwan air quality in the absence of a lockdown: Influence of urban public transportation use and meteorological conditions

“…To ascertain the impact of COVID-19 on air quality in 2020, different base years, e.g., single year (2019) ( Naqvi et al, 2021 ; Mesas-Carrascosa et al, 2020 ), two years averaged (2018–2019) ( J. Hu et al, 2021 ; Tian et al, 2021 ), and five years averaged (2015–2019) ( Nakada and Urban, 2020 ; Zangari et al, 2020 ), were proposed. Continual improvements in the overall air quality conditions in Taiwan have been observed owing to effective pollution control strategies implemented by the government ( Tsai et al, 2021 ), and coal use for power generation is gradually being reduced and replaced by liquefied natural gas since the end of 2017 ( TEPA, 2021 ). In light of these findings, for a better and more precise comparison between business-as-usual (BAU) and COVID-19 scenarios, the 2018–2019 average was selected as the base year in this study.…”

Meeting industrial decarbonization goals: a case study of and roadmap to a net-zero emissions cement industry in California

“…In addition to GHG emissions, cement production also drives environmental burdens of NO X , SO X , PM, VOC, Pb and CO emissions as well as water consumption and energy demand. Air pollutants are linked to human health impacts, quality of life and mortality rates [54]. Particularly, NO X , SO X and VOC emissions are precursors to PM emissions, which are linked to a wide range of diseases.…”