Regional Characteristic Analysis of Emission Intensity of the Main Pollutants in China

Emission intensity of the main pollutants could indicate the relationship between economic development and environmental load in certain regions. We collected emission data of 6 main pollutants for different provinces in 2012, including chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia nitrogen, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, industrial dust and industrial solid waste. And by employing analytic hierarchy weighting method, we evaluated the contamination effect for the provinces, which shows significant regional difference among provinces. Specifically, developed areas such as provinces in the eastern China have lower emission intensity while the western provinces have relatively higher emission intensity. Through a comparison to the case study in 2005 and 2012, the achievements and existing problems of pollutants emission control were clearly stated. Based on the analysis, we suggest that varies practical pollution control strategies should be adopted in different provinces, according to their pollution characteristic differences in aspects such as geography, industry, economy and so on.