Inter-regional and sectoral linkage analysis of air pollution in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (Jing-Jin-Ji) urban agglomeration of China

Air pollution presents one of most significant environmental issues in China, especially in the Beijing Tianjin -Hebei (Jing-Jin-Ji) urban agglomeration. With the release of "The Outline of Coordinated Development for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region", air quality in the Jing-Jin-Ji urban agglomeration has drawn wide concern. This study aims to provide a better understanding of inter-regional and sectoral linkages of air pollutants emissions and to identify key sectors that contribute to the transfer of embodied emissions in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region of China. A modified inter-regional and sectoral model was developed in this study for embodied emission flows based on the Multi-region input-output table. According to this model, transfer patterns of embodied air pollutant emissions (SO2, Soot, Dust and NOR) flows in Jing-Jin-Ji urban agglomeration were analyzed. Similarly, the driving forces of the flows were examined. Results show that the transfer pattern of the most significant NTE flow was the same for SO2 (18.8 kt), Soot (26.3 kt), Dust (12.8 kt) and NOx (29.9 kt), i.e. from the Nonmetal Products sector of Hebei province to the Construction sector of Beijing. This flow accounted for 35.7%, 45.5%, 36.7%, 42.0% of the total embodied emissions of SO2, Soot, Dust, NOx from Hebei province to Beijing respectively. Similarly, this study revealed that the contribution of Scale effect, Intensity effect and Structure effect was about 40%, 40% and 20% for the NTE from Hebei province to Beijing, respectively. Policy interventions were proposed accordingly. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.