AAAR 35th Annual Conference October 17 - October 21, 2016 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Scaling-up Urban Infrastructure Change: Carbon, Air Quality, and Health Co-Benefits of Urban-Industrial Efficiency & Symbiosis in 640 Chinese Cities
Anu Ramaswami, Kang Kang Tong, Andrew Fang, RAJ LAL, Ajay Nagpure, Yang Li, Yuajun Yu, Daqian Jiang, Armistead G. Russell, Lei Shi, Marian Chertow, Yangjun Wang, Shuxiao Wang, Georgia Institute of Technology
Abstract Number: 317 Working Group: Urban Aerosols
Abstract Novel urban-industrial efficiency and symbiosis impacts on energy-use, particulate matter, and global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) are assessed using a multi-scalar urban infrastructure systems model. We apply the model to a new dataset covering 637 Chinese cities, providing predominantly city-scale data on co-location and energy-use in key industries, residential and commercial buildings, and district energy systems. We model: a) Reutilization and cascading of industrial waste heat with commercial-residential district energy systems at the city-scale; b) Exchange of construction materials across cement, steel and power sectors at the provincial-scale; c) Energy-efficient buildings, power-plants and industries, and associated electricity savings, at the scale of grid-regions. Aggregated across the nation, these interventions mitigate 15% of city-total CO2 emissions annually, achievable with present-day technologies, modest industrial efficiency goals (yielding 9% reductions), and practical estimates of select energy- and material-exchange symbiosis potentials (contributing 4.5% and 1.5%, respectively. Waste heat from 16 of the largest energy-using industries in China was sufficient to displace fossil fuel requirements for heating-cooling in all commercial and residential buildings in 53% of the Chinese cities and, further, generate steam for industrial use. Reductions in fossil-fuel use yielded reductions in PM2.5 emissions and ambient PM2.5 concentrations (from <1% to 73%), depending on the city, yielding estimates of avoided pollution-related deaths >35,000 annually across all cities. These results show that sectoral efficiencies combined with cross-sectoral material-energy exchange in cities can be a powerful, but presently under-utilized, pathway for reducing PM2.5 levels and improving public health.