Air quality impacts of power plant emissions in Beijing

The CALMET/CALPUFF modeling system was applied to estimate the air quality impacts of power plants in 2000 and 2008 in Beijing, and the intake fractions (IF) were calculated to see the public health risks posed. Results show that in 2000 the high emission contribution induced a relatively small contribution to average ambient concentration and a significant impact on the urban area (9.52 μg/m3 of SO2 and 5.29 μg/m3 of NOx). The IF of SO2, NOx and PM10 are 7.4 × 10−6, 7.4 × 10−6 and 8.7 × 10−5, respectively. Control measures such as fuel substitution, flue gas desulfurization, dust control improvement and flue gas denitration planned before 2008 will greatly mitigate the SO2 and PM10 pollution, especially alleviating the pressure on the urban area to reach the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). NOx pollution will be mitigated with 34% decrease in concentration but further controls are still needed.