Energy Futures and Air Quality in China and the United States
The U.S. and China National Academies of Engineering have undertaken a project to examine the effects of future energy production in both countries on air quality. The industrial cities of Huinan and Pittsburgh and the coast cities of Dalian and Los Angeles have been paired for a comparative analysis of energy and air pollution development. National, provincial/state, and local laws and regulations, both past and present, are identified and compared. Major findings are: 1) China and the US can learn from each others successes and failures in reducing the influence of energy use on urban air quality; 2) mistakes already made in the U.S. can be identified and avoided in China; 3) there are no simple or inexpensive solutions to the effects of energy use on air pollution; 4) current pollution levels derive from a variety of energy uses and sectors and all of these must participate in solutions to pollution problems; 5) owing to it’s abundance in both countries, coal combustion will be a major component of energy production in both countries into the foreseeable future; and clean coal technologies and CO2 sequestraton (e.g., IGCC) will be needed to reduce the impact of coal emissions on urban air.