Dan Tong

Tsinghua University | TH · Department of Earth System Science

CO2 emission inventory provides fundamental data for climate research and emission mitigation. Currently, most global CO2 emission inventories were developed with energy statistics from International Energy Agency (IEA) and were available at country level with limited source categories. Here, as the first step toward a high-resolution and dynamic u...

The main contributor to the GHG footprint of the cement industry is the decomposition of alkaline carbonates during clinker production. However, systematic accounts for the reverse of this process – namely carbonation of calcium oxide and other alkaline oxides/hydroxides within cement materials during cements’ life cycle have only recently been und...

China’s clean air actions since 2013 have led to dramatic changes in air pollutant emissions and surface air quality. Here, we investigated the trends and drivers of air pollutant emissions during the two phases of clean air actions (i.e., Phase I from 2013–2017 and Phase II from 2018–2020) in China. We estimated decreasing trends of nonmethane vol...

It is well recognized that carbon dioxide and air pollutants share similar emission sources so that synergetic policies on climate change mitigation and air pollution control can lead to remarkable co-benefits on greenhouse gas reduction, air quality improvement, and improved health. In the context of carbon peak, carbon neutrality, and clean air p...

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is associated with mortality and many other adverse health outcomes. In 2021, the World Health Organization established a new NO2 air quality guideline (AQG) (annual average <10 μg/m3). However, the burden of diseases attributable to long-term NO2 exposure above the AQG is unknown in China. Nitrogen oxide is a major air pollu...

The past three decades have witnessed the dramatic expansion of global biomass‐ and fossil fuel‐fired power plants, but the tremendously diverse power infrastructure shapes different spatial and temporal CO2 emission characteristics. Here, by combining Global Power plant Emissions Database (GPED v1.1) constructed in this study and the previously de...

Climate change mitigation measures can yield substantial air quality improvements while emerging clean air measures in developing countries can also lead to CO 2 emission mitigation co-benefits by affecting the local energy system. Here, we evaluate the effect of China’s stringent clean air actions on its energy use and CO 2 emissions from 2013-202...

Substantially enhancing carbon mitigation ambition is a crucial step towards achieving the Paris climate goal. Yet this attempt is hampered by poor knowledge on the potential cost and benefit of emission mitigation for each emitter. Here we use a global economic model to assess the mitigation costs for 27 major emitting countries and regions, and f...

Daily emission estimates are essential for tracking the dynamic changes in emission sources. In this work, we estimate daily emissions of coal-fired power plants in China during 2017–2020 by combining information from the unit-based China coal-fired Power plant Emissions Database (CPED) and real-time measurements from continuous emission monitoring...

Global industrialization and urbanization processes enabled a diverse cement production boom over the past three decades, as cement is the most important building construction material. Consequently, the cement industry is the second-largest industrial CO 2 emitter (~25% of global industrial CO 2 emissions) globally. In this study, the Global Cemen...

Background Over 3 million people die every year from diseases caused by exposure to outdoor PM2·5 air pollution, and more than a quarter of these premature deaths occur in China. In addition to clean-air policies that target pollution emissions, climate policies aimed at reducing fossil-fuel CO2 emissions (eg, to avoid 1·5°C of warming) might also...

The past three decades have witnessed the dramatic expansion of global biomass- and fossil fuel-fired power plants, but the tremendously diverse power infrastructure shapes different spatial and temporal CO2 emission characteristics. Here, by combining Global Power plant Emissions Database (GPED v1.1) constructed in this study and the previously de...

Non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC) are important precursors of ozone and secondary organic aerosols in PM2.5 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters smaller than 2.5 μm), both of which cause severe climate, ecosystem, and human health damages. As one of the major anthropogenic sources, onroad vehicles are subject to relatively la...

Reducing CO2 emissions from fossil fuel- and biomass-fired power plants often also reduces air pollution, benefitting both climate and public health. Here, we examine the relationship of climate and health benefits by modelling individual electricity-generating units worldwide across a range of climate–energy policy scenarios. We estimate that ~92%...

If future net-zero emissions energy systems rely heavily on solar and wind resources, spatial and temporal mismatches between resource availability and electricity demand may challenge system reliability. Using 39 years of hourly reanalysis data (1980–2018), we analyze the ability of solar and wind resources to meet electricity demand in 42 countri...

Between 2002 and 2017, China’s gross domestic product grew by 284%, but this surge was accompanied by a similarly prodigious growth in energy consumption, air pollution and air pollution-related deaths. Here we use a combination of index decomposition analysis and chemical transport modelling to quantify the relative influence of eight different fa...

Air pollution has altered the Earth’s radiation balance, disturbed the ecosystem, and increased human morbidity and mortality. Accordingly, a full-coverage high-resolution air pollutant data set with timely updates and historical long-term records is essential to support both research and environmental management. Here, for the first time, we devel...

Emissions in many sources are estimated in municipal district totals and spatially disaggregated onto grid cells using empirically selected spatial proxies such as population density, which might introduce biases, especially in fine spatial scale. Efforts have been made to improve the spatial representation of emission inventory, by incorporating c...

The sixth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) scenarios provide opportunities to explore global climate and pollution mitigation pathways with socioeconomic features, but they might be limited on regional-scale projections due to inadequate consideration of local policies. Here, we simulated China's PM2.5 air quality with local policy-bas...

Achieving carbon neutrality before 2060 newly announced in China are expected to substantially affect air quality. Here we project the pollutants emissions in China based on a carbon neutrality roadmap and clean air policies evolution; national and regional PM2.5 and O3 concentrations in 2030 (the target year of carbon peak), 2035 (the target year...

Because of the alkaline nature and high calcium content of cements in general, they serve as a CO 2-absorbing agent through carbonation processes, resembling silicate weathering in nature. This carbon uptake capacity of cements could abate some of the CO 2 emitted during their production. Given the scale of cement production worldwide (4.10 Gt in 2...

Air pollution has altered the Earth radiation balance, disturbed the ecosystem and increased human morbidity and mortality. Accordingly, a full-coverage high-resolution air pollutant dataset with timely updates and historical long-term records is essential to support both research and environmental management. Here, for the first time, we develop a...

To control the spread of COVID-19, China implemented a series of lockdowns, limiting various offline interactions. This provided an opportunity to study the response of air quality to emissions control. By comparing the characteristics of pollution in the summers of 2019 and 2020, we found a significant decrease in gaseous pollutants in 2020. Howev...

Substantially enhancing carbon mitigation ambition is a crucial step towards achieving the Paris climate goal. Yet this attempt is hampered by poor knowledge on the net economic effect of mitigation for each emitter, by taking into account potential cost and benefit. Here we use a global economic model with regional and sectoral disaggregation deta...

China is the largest cement producer and consumer in the world. Cement manufacturing is highly energy-intensive and is one of the major contributors to carbon dioxide (CO2) and air pollutant emissions, which threatens climate mitigation and air quality improvement. In this study, we investigated the decadal changes in carbon dioxide and air polluta...

Because of the alkaline nature and high calcium content of cements in general, they serve as a CO2 absorbing 15 agent through carbonation processes, resembling silicate weathering in nature. This carbon uptake capacity of cements could abate some of the CO2 emitted during their production. Given the scale of cement production worldwide (4.10 Gt in...

Facing severe air pollution issues, China has implemented a series of clean air policies aimed to improve the country's air quality. These policies largely focused on reducing emissions of major air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide (SO2) and primary aerosols. However, changes in such pollution also affect radiative forcing. To understand the clima...

Annual carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions from the U.S. power sector decreased 24% from 2000 to 2018, while carbon intensity (CO 2 per unit of electricity generated) declined by 34%. These reductions have been attributed in part to a shift from coal to natural gas, as gas-fired plants emit roughly half the CO 2 emissions as coal plants. To date, no an...

International efforts to avoid dangerous climate change aim for large and rapid reductions of fossil fuel CO2 emissions worldwide, including nearly complete decarbonization of the electric power sector. However, achieving such rapid reductions may depend on early retirement of coal- and natural gas-fired power plants. Here, we analyze future fossil...

Future climate change may worsen air quality in many regions. However, evaluations of this ‘climate penalty’ on air quality have typically not assessed the radiative effects of changes in short-lived aerosols. Additionally, China’s clean air goals will decrease pollutant emissions and aerosol loadings, with concomitant weakening of aerosol feedback...

China is the largest cement producer and consumer in the world. Cement manufacturing is highly energy-intensive, and is one of the major contributors to carbon dioxide (CO2) and air pollutant emissions, which threatens climate mitigation and air quality improvement. In this study, we investigated the decadal changes of carbon dioxide and air pollut...

China is currently in a crucial stage of air pollution control, with intensive clean air policies. Historical strict policies have been demonstrated remarkable effectiveness on emission control and PM2.5 pollution mitigations, however, it’s not clear about the continuous benefits of current policies in the future. Here, we summarized China’s curren...

Air quality in China has changed dramatically in response to rapid development of the economy and to policies. In this work, we investigate the changes in anthropogenic source contribution to ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution and related health impacts in China during 1990–2015 and elucidate the drivers behind the decadal transi...

To control the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19), China imposed nationwide restrictions on the movement of its population (lockdown) after the Chinese New Year of 2020, leading to large reductions in economic activities and associated emissions. Despite such large decreases in primary pollution, there were nonetheless several periods...

Electricity usage (demand) data are used by utilities, governments, and academics to model electric grids for a variety of planning (e.g., capacity expansion and system operation) purposes. The U.S. Energy Information Administration collects hourly demand data from all balancing authorities (BAs) in the contiguous United States. As of September 201...

Future trends in air pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for China are of great concern to the community. A set of global scenarios regarding future socio-economic and climate developments, combining shared socio-economic pathways (SSPs) with climate forcing outcomes as described by the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), was cre...

Snowpack stores cold-season precipitation to meet warm-season water demand. Climate change threatens to disturb this balance by altering the fraction of precipitation falling as snow and the timing of snowmelt, which may have profound effects on food production in basins where irrigated agriculture relies heavily on snowmelt runoff. Here, we analys...

In order to control the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19), China imposed nationwide restrictions on the movement of its population (lockdown) after the Chinese New Year in January of 2020, leading to large reductions in economic activities and associated emissions. However, despite such large decreases in primary pollution, there were...

Changes in temperature and air pollution affect agricultural productivity, but most relevant research has focused on major annual crops (for example, wheat, maize, soy and rice). In contrast, relatively little is known about the effects of climate change and air quality on perennial crops such as fruits and nuts, which are important to dietary dive...

Abstract. Future trends in air pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for China are of great concern to the community. A set of global scenarios regarding future socioeconomic and climate developments, combining shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) with climate forcing outcomes as described by the representative concentration pathways (RCPs),...

A growing number of countries are beginning to address their environmental problems using holistic approaches that can deliver a rich array of benefits. By integrating their climate and clean air policies, countires avoid duplication and refine decision-making.

Abstract. Air quality in China has changed dramatically in response to rapid development of economy and policies. In this work, we investigate the changes of anthropogenic source contribution to ambient fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) air pollution and related health impacts in China during 1990–2015 and elucidate the drivers behind the...

From 2013 to 2017, with the implementation of the toughest-ever clean air policy in China, significant declines in fine particle (PM 2.5 ) concentrations occurred nationwide. Here we estimate the drivers of the improved PM 2.5 air quality and the associated health benefits in China from 2013 to 2017 based on a measure-specific integrated evaluation...

The case studies from China and around the world in this report, demonstrate how integrated assessments and co-governance approaches help develop cost-effective and coherent policy decisions that lower costs, increase the chances of success, and identify win-win or win-lose solutions. The multiple benefits provided by such approaches help to justif...

Coal-fired power plants (CPPs) dominate China's energy supply systems. Over the past two decades, the explosive growth of CPPs has led to negative air quality and health impacts in China, and a series of control policies have been implemented to alleviate those impacts. In this work, by combining a CPPs emission database over China (CPED), a region...

Significance More intense extreme events are projected under future climate change. However, the impacts of climate extremes on future air quality and associated health implications are not well recognized and are rarely quantified in China, with an enormous health burden from air pollution. Here, we estimate the climate-driven air pollution mortal...

Net anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions must approach zero by mid-century (2050) to stabilize global mean temperature at the levels targeted by international efforts1–5. Yet continued expansion of fossil-fuel energy infrastructure implies already ‘committed’ future CO2 emissions6–13. Here we use detailed datasets of current fossil-fuel-bur...

China promulgated the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan (the Action Plan) in 2013 and developed stringent control measures to mitigate fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution. Here, we investigated the PM2.5 chemical composition changes over eastern China associated with the Action Plan during 2013–2017 using satellite-based PM2.5...

The effect of black carbon (BC) on air quality and the climate is still unclear, which is partly because of the poor understanding regarding the BC aging process in the atmosphere. In this work, we developed a new approach to simulate the BC mixing state (i.e., other species coated on the BC surface) based on an emissions inventory and back-traject...

Non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) are important ozone and secondary organic aerosol precursors and play important roles in tropospheric chemistry. In this work, we estimated the total and speciated NMVOC emissions from China's anthropogenic sources during 1990–2017 by using a bottom-up emission inventory framework and investigated the...

Exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is known to harm public health. In China, after implementation of aggressive emissions control measures under the Action Plan of Air Pollution Prevention and Control (2013–2017), air quality has significantly improved. In this work, we investigated changes in PM2.5 exposure and the associated health impac...

In the version of this Analysis originally published, in the section ‘Trends in global water demand’, the percentage increase in agricultural area equipped for irrigation was incorrect: the text ‘rose by 48% from 270 to 400×106 ha’ should have read ‘rose by 50% from 220 to 330×106 ha’; this has now been corrected.

In 2013, the Chinese government announced its first air quality standard for PM2.5 (particulate matter with a diameter < 2.5 μm) which requires annual mean PM2.5 concentration to achieve the World Health Organization (WHO) interim target 1 of 35 μg/m³ nationwide including the most polluted region of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH). Here, we explore the...

Water stress is often evaluated by scarcity: the share of available water supply being consumed by humans. However, some consumptive uses of water are more or less flexible than others, depending on the costs or effects associated with their curtailment. Here, we estimate the share of global water consumption over the period 1980–2016 from the rela...