Trade reshapes the regional energy related mercury emissions: A case study on Hubei Province based on a multi-scale input-output analysis
2018
Zhang, P. | Zhang, Y.Y. | Ren, S.C. | Chen, B. | Luo, D. | Shao, J.A. | Zhang, S.H. | Li, J.S.
Recognized as a highly toxic air pollutant, atmospheric mercury is a grave threat to both human health and environment. The comprehensive understanding of Chinese regional mercury emissions is fundamental for proper mitigation policy design. However, previous researches on regional mercury emissions usually focus on the direct emissions and fail to uncover the effect of foreign and domestic trade. Therefore, this study constructs a multi-scale input-output model to investigate the regional fuel-related mercury emissions under the impacts of local consumption, domestic and foreign trade, using the case of Hubei Province, China. The results show that total emissions directly caused by fossil fuel use are 9.8 tons in 2007, of which coal accounts for more than 95%. Moreover, mercury emissions embodied in Hubei's final consumption are estimated to be 5.2 tons. Hubei, as a net exporter, has a trade surplus of 4.6 tons of energy-related mercury emissions, indicating that other regions home and abroad transfer large energy-related mercury emissions to Hubei via supply chains. This study has provided a useful tool for comprehensively understanding regional mercury emissions to support robust reduction policies formulation.
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