Impact Of Trans-provincial Thermal Power Transmission On Atmospheric Particulate Matter Pollution In China

Due to the uneven economic development in different regions of China,trans-provincial thermal power transmission has become an important measure to optimize power allocation and alleviate the mismatch between power production and consumption in various regions.However,power transmission may lead to the virtual transfer of air pollutants from the areas where electricity is consumed to the areas where it is produced,potentially affecting influencing air-quality recovery in China.In mitigating air pollution,clean heating policies have played a positive role,although there is uncertainty and variation in their implementation trends and spatial changes.While the policy of replacing coal with electricity has achieved positive impacts,it also brings indirect pollution burdens and redistributes pollution burdens in the context of power transmission.To more accurately evaluate the effectiveness of clean heating policies,further quantitative assessments of the indirect pollution burden of coal-to-electricity policies need to be considered.This study quantifies the impacts of coal-fired power transmission on air quality recovery and related health outcomes while evaluating the environmental and health benefits of clean heating policies in northern provinces of China.On the one hand,the results indicate that the redistribution of air pollutant emissions induced by thermal power transmission contributed to avoided air pollution and PM_2.5-related premature deaths in the eastern regions,but leads to additional air pollution and premature deaths in the western regions.On a national scale,trans-provincial thermal power transmission led to a change in air quality from slightly polluted to good conditions for a period of 9 days,accounting for 1.8%of the total number of polluted days in four months in 2017,promoting the air-quality recovery in China.Furthermore,the recovery totally reduced the number of premature deaths in2017 by 2,392 persons（95%confidence interval:1,495-3,124）but promoted the deviations among regions.Trans-provincial thermal power transmission has continued to expand rapidly to fulfill the power demand in China,aggravating the inequity of regional air pollution and health burden.Therefore,focusing on coordinating regional interests in air pollution control through various production and consumption measures is vital.On the other hand,the implementation of clean heating policies in China has significant benefits for air quality and public health,with coal-to-gas being the most effective energy conversion measure.However,coal-to-electricity measures under coal-fired power transmission background have certain negative effects,including increased pollution,health burden,and hidden costs in power transmission.Taking into account the direct and indirect impacts of clean heating,the increase in electricity demand offset 1.6%of the direct health benefits generated by the policy,but overall,clean heating policies in northern provinces of China have avoided 97,435（CI:61,810-131,714）premature deaths related to PM_2.5.Therefore,the implementation of clean heating policies has brought significant positive health impacts to China at the national level.In the future,it is necessary to fully coordinate the relationships between various factors and choose energy transition plans that are tailored to local conditions when formulating clean heating policies.The research results in this paper enrich existing policy evaluations and provide a theoretical basis for formulating more targeted inter-regional cooperation policies to control air pollution in China.