Seasonal features of brown carbon in northern China: Implications for BrC emission control

Abstract As brown carbon (BrC) consists of a collection of light-absorbing organic compounds, there is unlikely an individual substance that can be used as a proxy of all BrC constituents. Hence, available methods for distinguishing BrC from black carbon (BC) are often flawed. Moreover, the use of household solid fuels for winter rural heating is a common practice in northern China that significantly contributes to air pollution; however, it is unclear whether the intensive consumption of solid fuels during the heating season influences the yearly BrC emissions and the seasonal features of ambient BrC in northern China, which is a concern for future BrC control. Thus, a reliable method is necessary for determining the concentrations and optical properties of ambient BrC in different seasons. In this study, four typical months were selected to represent the four seasons of the year in Beijing. Daily atmospheric samples were collected using quartz filters for the analysis of BrC and BC. The integrating sphere (IS) approach was used for the first time to separate the light absorption of BrC from that of BC in ambient PM2.5. We found that the yearly average abundance of BrC was 0.82 ± 0.44 μg m−3, peaking at 2.31 ± 0.44 μg m−3 in winter, followed by autumn, spring, and summer. Meanwhile, the solar energy absorption by BrC relative to that by BrC + BC across 350–850 nm (FBrC) was the highest in winter (21.78 ± 3.56%), followed by autumn (11.53 ± 5.29%), spring (6.38 ± 4.06%), and summer (4.26 ± 2.57%). The seasonal variations in BrC abundance and absorption share were consistent with the use of household heating practices (highest in winter and minor uses in late autumn and early spring), with biomass and/or coal being the dominant energy types. As low-efficiency burning of solid biomass fuels and fossil fuels is considered an important source of BrC, the aforementioned correlation suggests that rural residential heating plays a dominant role in controlling the seasonal features of BrC and should therefore be a main focus for BrC control in northern China. Hence, the ongoing pursuit of clean heating (switching from coal to gas or electricity) in northern China will help to mitigate the climate-warming effects of both BrC and BC and offset some of the adverse impacts of clean air efforts on climate. Our findings also have wider implications for pollution mitigation in other global regions that use solid fuels.