Impact of “ultra low emission” technology of coal-fired power on PM2.5 pollution in the Jing-Jin-Ji Region

In response to severe haze pollution, the Chinese government has announced a series of policies focusing on controlling emissions from coal consumption. “Ultra-low emission” (ULE) technologies have the potential to dramatically reduce emissions from coalfired power plants, and have been deployed at some facilities in recent years. This paper estimated the potential environmental benefits of the widespread adoption of ULE in the Jing-Jin-Ji Region. Atmospheric modeling scenarios were analyzed for three cases: a “standard” scenario assuming no ULE deployment, a “best case” scenario assuming complete adoption of ULE across all power plants in the region, and a “natural gas” scenario, assuming emissions factors consistent with natural gas-fired power generation. The simulations show that the widespread adoption of ULE technologies can be an effective and economically competitive option for reducing the impacts of coal-fired power generation on air quality.