Some Chinese power plants may underreport sulfur dioxide emissions

Emissions of sulfur dioxide from China’s coal-fired power plants dropped significantly overall after a new national pollution limit took effect in 2014, as shown by data from monitoring instruments at facilities and a NASA satellite. But the case is different for a tougher SO₂ standard applying only to plants in highly polluted, densely populated areas, researchers found.

For those regions, which include cities in the greater Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei vicinity, the Pearl River delta, and the Yangtze River delta, stack monitoring data reported to local authorities by plant operators indicate that power plants are meeting the tighter SO₂ emission limit—but satellite measurements say otherwise, says a team of researchers from MIT; University of Colorado, Boulder; and Columbia University (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2018, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1800605115). This disparity indicates the monitoring information could be misreported, the researchers say.

They suggest China boost penalties for inaccuracies in or falsification of emission data, which historically have been lower than penalties for violating air pollution limits.

SO₂ emissions contribute to fine particulate pollution, which can cause breathing problems and other health effects, acid rain, and haze.