Best available techniques and pollution control: a case study on China's thermal power industry

The Chinese Government established an industrial environmental management system to execute its pollutants gross control policy in 2006. A key component of this system is the Best Available Techniques (BAT) determination method and pollution control management. This paper augments BAT with Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to create a technology selection model for thermal power techniques as case study. Emissions reduction and energy conservation potentials can be weighed against technological feasibility to create best fit assessments for a wide variety of power generation installations. Using this model improves the ability of policymakers and plant owners alike to plan appropriate technology consolidation and upgrade paths. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.