Urbanization, Energy, and Air Pollution in China The Challenges Ahead: Proceedings of a Symposium (2004) / Chapter Skim
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Environmental Performance of Coal-Fired Power Plants Financed by the World Bank--JACK J. FRITZ
Environmental Performance of Coal-Fired Power Plants Financed by the World Bank--JACK J. FRITZ
Pages 187-204
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From page 187... ...
As increasingly prosperous urban residents clamored for improvements in air quality, environmental management became a major public policy issue. The power sector is often accused of being the biggest source of urban air pollution, but most ground-level particulate and sulfur 187
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From page 188... ...
emissions originate not from the power sector but from thousands of coal-fired boilers that are ubiquitous in most urban areas in China. Coal continues to be the predominant energy source in China, which is the world's largest producer and user of coal.
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From page 189... ...
China, with 28 provincial and three large municipal power grids, has been actively pursuing system interconnection to improve efficiency and alleviate power shortages in the major load centers. When the government was restructured in 1998, the Ministry of Electricity was replaced by the State Power Corporation (SPC)
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From page 190... ...
190 Investment Bank $225.00 $165.00 $190.00 $180.00 $310.00 $400.00 $350.00 $400.00 $400.00 $300.00 World $2,920.00 dollars) $289.70 $354.10 $459.60 $957.40 $678.00 Total $1,044.09 $1,350.00 $1,081.40 $1,300.50 $1,898.00 $9,413.60 U.S.
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From page 191... ...
The government has also launched a $2 billion program to control sulfur emissions from a wide variety of sources, including the many small boilers scattered throughout Chinese cities. EVOLUTION OF CHINA'S STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES The first emission standards for coal-fired thermal power plants in China, applied in 1992 (GB 13223-91)
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From page 192... ...
. Mass-based emissions can be used to calculate concentrations of SO2 in flue gas using the heat rate (gram coal equivalent per kilowatt hour [gce/kWh]
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From page 193... ...
Source: Jia et al., 2000. Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, where the power sector required tighter, but more flexible, guidelines.
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From page 194... ...
Ambient air quality standards are based on an air-quality classification system: Class I areas are natural conservation districts, resorts, and tourist areas of historic interest; Class II areas include urban, residential, commercial, and rural areas; Class III areas are industrial areas or areas with high traffic volumes. A key aspect of the 1996 makeover was an increase in the time and coverage of monitoring.
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From page 195... ...
matter. Chinese maximum maximum maximum maximum 4 average average average average maximum µ suspended maximum maximum Oxides maximum Dioxide <10 Total Particulate a Annual Daily One-time b Annual Daily One-time Annual Daily One-time Annual Daily One-time a b TABLE Pollutant TSP PM Sulfur Nitrogen
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From page 196... ...
Because the World Bank required background ambient air quality data for at least a year prior to construction, an entirely new approach was necessary. Under the monitoring requirements instituted in 1996, the sampling frequency was increased: SO2/NOx 144 days per year 18 hours per day 45 minutes per hour TSP/PM10 60 days per year 12 hours per day 45 minutes per hour Thus, the sampling window increased by a factor of 52 for SO2 and NOx and a factor of 14.5 for TSP and PM10.
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From page 197... ...
In addition to a review of day-to-day environmental performance, the review provides an ex post facto assessment of compliance with environmental management plans, as described in the documentation required by the World Bank and the Chinese government, which was a condition of the loans in all cases. The environmental management plans describe a host of measurements, standards, and procedures that must be followed in operating plants; these are generally considered standard operating procedures in most developed countries.
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From page 198... ...
(gce/kWh) volume Characteristics height content capacity number content value efficiency rate efficiency consumption TABLE Basic Unit Unit Stack Ash Sulfur Heat ESP Heat Plant Flue-gas Coal
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From page 199... ...
. High-efficiency electrostatic precipitators and flue gas desulfurization New emission standards that include requirements for NOx and a commitment to Pilot test of tradable sulfur emissions sulfur-control measures for coal with more than 1 percent sulfur.
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From page 200... ...
Particulate Emissions The Chinese standard for particulate emissions is much less stringent than the World Bank standard. Nevertheless, three of the six plants we visited, Beilungang I and II, Wujing, and Yangzhou, currently meet the World Bank's 600 SO2 emissions (calculated)
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From page 201... ...
Thus, adopting the new World Bank standard may not lead to the expected reductions in PM10. Both the World Bank and the Chinese government are studying a separate requirement for very fine particulate emissions, but neither has adopted one as yet.
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From page 202... ...
We found this problem at all of the plants we visited. Nevertheless, because modeling indicated that power plant contributions to overall ambient pollution were never more than 5 percent of ambient air quality limits, we concluded that for all practical purposes, power plant emissions superimposed on ambient conditions were well within the standard signal-to-noise ratio for ambient conditions.
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From page 203... ...
Water Pollution To meet World Bank and Chinese standards, municipal wastewater from power plants requires secondary treatment prior to discharge. At some plants, the volume of wastewater was too small to justify a wastewater treatment system.
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From page 204... ...
As China becomes more prosperous, the need for electrical energy will increase; hence it will burn more coal. It is, therefore, imperative that power sector pollution control remain a high priority.
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