Controlling Air Pollution in China: Risk Valuation and the Definition of Environmental Policy (New Horizons in Environmental Economics series)

Rapid economic growth in China has been fueled by, and continues to stimulate, a huge demand for power, posing significant challenges to local, regional and international atmospheric environments. This timely book assesses this environmental risk and considers the efficient design of environmental policy in the development of new coal-fired plants in China. Coal-fired electricity generation currently accounts for about 80 per cent of China's power sector and so it is vital to establish how new plants can be designed to minimize the harmful environmental effects of this type of power generation. In designing pollution control policies in China there is a need to identify appropriate policies for a fast developing economy where incomes, attitudes and technology are also rapidly evolving. Therese Feng explores the use of societal values in developing environmental policies and presents an integrated assessment which carefully characterizes the nature and value of environmental damage using the model of a new coal-fired power plant. Finally, the author defines an environmental policy which is sensitive to local variables and transboundary effects. Controlling Air Pollution in China will be of interest to energy and environmental economists and policymakers.