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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Environmental Economics and Management
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1497121
This article is part of the Research Topic Advancing Carbon Reduction and Pollution Control Policies Management: Theoretical, Application, and Future Impacts View all 19 articles

Study on the Synergistic Effect of NOx and CO2 Emission Reduction in the Industrial Sector of Guangzhou

Provisionally accepted
Qin Xingcun Qin Xingcun 1Xie Pengcheng Xie Pengcheng 2*Liao Cuiping Liao Cuiping 1*
  • 1 University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
  • 2 Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    As a major source of pollutant and CO2 emissions, the industrial sector faces the dual challenge of pollution control and carbon reduction. Accurately identifying the synergy between pollutant and carbon emissions in different regions' industrial sectors is crucial for developing regional policies for coordinated pollution reduction and carbon abatement. This study takes Guangzhou as a case study to quantitatively assess the synergistic effect of NOx and CO2 emissions reduction in its industrial sector. First, the LMDI decomposition method was applied to analyze the factors influencing the change in NOx emissions in Guangzhou's industrial sector. Next, the CFGLS model was used to quantify the synergistic effect between NOx and CO2 emissions. Finally, a robustness check was conducted on the results. The findings indicate that the synergistic effect in carbon reduction is the most significant driver of NOx reduction in Guangzhou's industrial sector, with a 10,000-ton reduction in CO2 emissions leading to a 0.4-ton decrease in NOx emissions. The interaction effect analysis shows that increasing the use of natural gas and reducing energy intensity do not amplify this synergy. The results could provide valuable insights for coordinated pollution reduction and carbon abatement policies designing in Guangzhou's industrial sector.

    Keywords: Synergistic emission reduction, CO2 emission, NOx emission, Industrial sector, CFGLS model

    Received: 16 Sep 2024; Accepted: 02 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Xingcun, Pengcheng and Cuiping. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Xie Pengcheng, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
    Liao Cuiping, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China

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