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China's attempts to minimize non-CO2 emissions from coal: evidence of declining emission intensity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 May 2011

XUNPENG SHI
XUNPENG SHI*
Affiliation:
Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, Jakarta, ERIA Annex Office, 6th Floor Sentral Senyan II, Jl. Asia Afrika No. 8, Senayan, Jakarta Pusat 10270, Indonesia. Tel: +62 21 5797 4460. Fax: +62 2 5797 4464. Email: xunpeng.shi@gmail.com
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Abstract

This paper argues that the use of coal can be reconciled with the environment. In the empirical work, three environmental pollutants are considered, using two alternative methods with two sets of Chinese data. CO2 emissions could not be studied because of data limitations. The hypothesis that the use of coal can be reconciled with the environment through declined emission intensity is confirmed by the empirical tests. The decreases in emission intensity are driven by the application of clean coal technologies, which can be encouraged by appropriate regulations and incentives and have both environmental and economic benefits. Therefore it is critical that appropriate legal and fiscal regimes be formulated and that the development and utilization of high-efficiency and clean coal technologies be promoted. The paper also suggests that the use of coal could continue to be reconciled with concern for the environment, even while considering CO2 emissions.

Type
Research Article
Information
Environment and Development Economics , Volume 16 , Issue 5 , October 2011 , pp. 573 - 590
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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