Recent developments of anthropogenic air pollutant emission inventories in Guangdong province, China

Emission inventory (EI) requires continuous updating to improve its quality and reduce its uncertainty. In this study, recent developments on source classification, emission methods, emission factors and spatial-temporal surrogates in the Guangdong regional anthropogenic emission inventory are presented. The developments include: ~40 additional emission sources in a re-classified source classification system, >50 improved spatial and temporal surrogates, 85% of local/domestic emission factors used, and updated estimation methods of on-road mobile, marine, and solvent use sources. The developments were updated to the recent 2012-based high resolution emission inventories, and their results were compared with previous 2006- and 2010-based emission inventories. The results indicated: (1) The total SO₂, NOₓ, CO, PM₁₀, PM₂.₅, BC, OC, VOCs and NH₃ emissions in 2012 were 777.0kt, 1532.2kt, 7305.4kt, 1176.4kt, 480.9kt, 54.2kt, 79.9kt, 1255.1kt and 584.1kt, respectively, for Guangdong province, with higher emission densities observed in the central PRD region. (2) No great changes on source structures were found among three years, but their contributions varied. (3) SO₂, PM₁₀ and PM₂.₅ emissions showed downward trends, likely a result of strict control measures on power plant and industrial combustion sources. (4) NOₓ emission exhibited relatively stable levels in 2010 and 2012, but contributions from industrial, on-road and non-road mobile sources increased. (5) VOCs emissions showed an upward trend, mainly resulting from dramatically increased light-duty passenger car population and solvent use. (6) Spatial and temporal allocations were updated with constant improvements of spatial and temporal surrogates. (7) Uncertainty ranges of emission estimates were reduced, indicating that the 2012-based PRD regional EI are more reliable. The work shown in this study can be a reference example for other regions to continuously update their emission inventories.