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Air Pollution and Environmental Sustainability
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Air Pollution and Environmental Sustainability

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Air, Climate Change and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2023) | Viewed by 13070

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Qiao Ma

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Energy and Powering Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China
Interests: environmental impact assessment; circular economy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the 20th century, humans have changed ecosystems on a scale and at a speed that has never been seen before in history.  Along with the acquisition of abundant and cheap energy, the huge increase in population, and rapid economic growth, a significant amount of ecological damage phenomena have been appearing at a staggering rate, especially phenomenon such as air pollution in developing countries, which, in turn, severely affects the well-being of the local population and becomes a hurdle that must be overcome to achieve sustainable development. We recognize the complexity and challenges of this issue, and intend to discuss the underlying processes, influencing factors, and the impacts on human society, as well as the mitigation technologies and policies. By collecting rigorous and innovative studies in this Special Issue, we hope to provide useful information for a broad audience of scientists, engineers, and policy makers, in order to facilitate the solution of critical air pollution and other related environmental problems.

In this Special Issue, we welcome significant original papers including research article, critical review, policy analysis, perspective, correspondence, etc., focusing on the following topics:

  1. Air pollution characteristics, temporal and spatial variation, and emission sources;
  2. Economical, social, and health impacts of air pollution;
  3. Interaction and synergistical mitigation of air pollution and climate change;
  4. Human activities that have great impact on air quality, such as energy use, land use, etc.;
  5. Policies and technologies to prevent and mitigate air pollution.

Dr. Qiao Ma
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • air pollution
  • climate change
  • energy use
  • synergistical mitigation
  • impact assessment

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 320 KiB  
Article
A View of Industrial Agglomeration, Air Pollution and Economic Sustainability from Spatial Econometric Analysis of 273 Cities in China
by Chengyu Han, Dongwen Hua and Juan Li
Sustainability 2023, 15(9), 7091; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15097091 - 23 Apr 2023
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1276
Abstract
Industrial agglomeration in a region changes the economic structure, strategic layout and resource status of a city, and has an important impact on sustainable economic development. The relationship between industrial agglomeration, air pollution and economic sustainability is a key issue concerning the high-quality [...] Read more.
Industrial agglomeration in a region changes the economic structure, strategic layout and resource status of a city, and has an important impact on sustainable economic development. The relationship between industrial agglomeration, air pollution and economic sustainability is a key issue concerning the high-quality development of national economy. China is a developing country that once experienced severe air pollution. Now, the Chinese government is aiming to achieve the goal of sustainable and high-quality economic development in China. In this paper, a spatial Dubin model was developed to study the relationship between industry, environment and the economy. The statistical analysis used the air pollutant data of 273 prefecture-level cities in China from 2015 to 2018. The results showed that: (1) there was a positive U-shaped nonlinear relationship between industrial agglomeration and sustainable economic development, and there was a spatial spillover effect. (2) There was a positive U-shaped nonlinear relationship between air pollution and sustainable economic development, and there was a spatial spillover effect between them. (3) The effect of industrial agglomeration on sustainable economic development was influenced by air pollution, an intermediary variable. The existence of air pollution weakens the promoting effect of industrial agglomeration on sustainable economic development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Pollution and Environmental Sustainability)
27 pages, 15036 KiB  
Article
The Influence of Selected Material Variables of Photocatalytic Cementitious Composites on the Self-Cleaning Properties and Air Purification Efficiency from NOx Pollutants
by Maciej Kalinowski, Karol Chilmon, Wioletta Jackiewicz-Rek and Błażej Rakowski
Sustainability 2023, 15(1), 853; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010853 - 3 Jan 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2082
Abstract
This work aimed to investigate the influence of selected material variables on the self-cleaning and air purification efficiency in NOx pollutants of cement-based photocatalytic composites. Tests were performed on cement mortars, with seven independent variables considered: the mass ratio between cement and [...] Read more.
This work aimed to investigate the influence of selected material variables on the self-cleaning and air purification efficiency in NOx pollutants of cement-based photocatalytic composites. Tests were performed on cement mortars, with seven independent variables considered: the mass ratio between cement and quartz powder to sand, the water to cement ratio, the total mass amount of photocatalysts (two different types), the mass content of nanoparticulate silica, the percentage of quartz powder replacing part of cement, and the ratio between two sands of fine granulation. Photocatalytic cementitious materials had their self-cleaning properties tested via two methods (spectrophotometry—the degradation of rhodamine B under UVA irradiation, and the change in the contact angle—via a goniometer). Air purification properties were tested in the reaction chamber under UVA and visible light at low irradiance (0.2 W/m2 for UVA, 150 W/m2 for visible). It was found that TiO2 content and the mass ratio between cement and quartz powder to sand were the most influential variables within the selected ranges of variability, with the ratio between sands and quartz content being the least significant variable of the tested properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Pollution and Environmental Sustainability)
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19 pages, 3614 KiB  
Article
Where Are We Heading? Tackling the Climate Change in a Globalized World
by Mihaela D. Rovinaru, Dana E. Bako, Flavius I. Rovinaru, Adina V. Rus and Sebastian G. Aldea
Sustainability 2023, 15(1), 565; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010565 - 28 Dec 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2408
Abstract
Nowadays, a very strong concern is coming from the fact that human intervention is heavily affecting the environment. In the past, the most harmful countries for the environment were the USA and Europe due to their development and level of industrialization. Today, the [...] Read more.
Nowadays, a very strong concern is coming from the fact that human intervention is heavily affecting the environment. In the past, the most harmful countries for the environment were the USA and Europe due to their development and level of industrialization. Today, the most impactful countries on the environment are the ones from across Asia, especially China and India. In order to interrupt these issues and to help prevent the further deterioration of the world, the UN redacted the 2030 Agenda. This presents a possible way in which countries might act against the effects of climate changes, reducing global warming and further world pollution. Being the most ambitious in this regard, the EU decided to implement the Green Deal. In our paper, based on the EU accomplishments in this direction, we try to build a scenario of how the world will look like if the three most polluting countries will apply the targets set by the EU. In this attempt, we used the Kaya Identity to measure the forecasted impact and arrived to the conclusion that, by applying this measures, energy consumption will be reduced, the consumption of renewable energy will increase, CO2 emissions will be reduced and the world can manage to come back to the level it had in 1990. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Pollution and Environmental Sustainability)
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15 pages, 2081 KiB  
Article
Environmental Justice Assessment of Fine Particles, Ozone, and Mercury over the Pearl River Delta Region, China
by Wang Chang, Yun Zhu, Che-Jen Lin, Saravanan Arunachalam, Shuxiao Wang, Jia Xing, Tingting Fang, Shicheng Long, Jinying Li and Geng Chen
Sustainability 2022, 14(17), 10891; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141710891 - 31 Aug 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1756
Abstract
Assessment of environmental justice (EJ, a concept related to the distributional fairness of environmental risks) is a crucial component in environmental risk management. However, the risks associated with air pollutants and toxins have rarely been evaluated jointly. Therefore, using an approach integrating modeling, [...] Read more.
Assessment of environmental justice (EJ, a concept related to the distributional fairness of environmental risks) is a crucial component in environmental risk management. However, the risks associated with air pollutants and toxins have rarely been evaluated jointly. Therefore, using an approach integrating modeling, data fusion, and health benefits analysis, we performed an EJ assessment on the mortalities caused by fine particle (PM2.5) and ozone (O3) concentrations and mercury (Hg) deposition over the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region. The concentration index (CI) was used to measure EJ in low-income distributions and age structures, and a larger value implied a greater EJ issue. The results revealed that the CIs of PM2.5, O3, and Hg were 0.35, 0.32, and 0.16, respectively, based on the percentage of the low-income population, and 0.39, 0.36, and 0.23, respectively, based on the elderly and children, indicating that environmental injustice was more prominent for PM2.5 and more reflected in the elderly and children. The center (e.g., Guangzhou) and some marginal areas (e.g., northeast of Jiangmen) in the PRD were overburdened areas with PM2.5, O3, and Hg pollution due to their intensive source emissions. Moreover, cumulative environmental risk (CER) corrected by population vulnerability exhibited significant differences among the cities; for example, cumulative environmental risk scores (CERSs) in Jiangmen, Huizhou, and Zhaoqing were 14.18 to 32.98 times higher than that in Shenzhen. Hence, the implementation of multipollutant control policies for local PM2.5, O3, and Hg in overburdened areas is recommended to further promote EJ in the PRD. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Pollution and Environmental Sustainability)
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15 pages, 10225 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Sustained Exposure to Air Pollutant on the Mental Health: Evidence from China
by Jin Sun, Chuntian Lu and Jinchen Xie
Sustainability 2022, 14(11), 6693; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14116693 - 30 May 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1919
Abstract
Emerging evidence suggests that poor mental health is particularly pronounced among Chinese residents, who are exposed to nearly the worst air pollution worldwide. However, the correlations between air pollutant concentration and mental health have not been consistently reported in previous studies. Methodologically speaking, [...] Read more.
Emerging evidence suggests that poor mental health is particularly pronounced among Chinese residents, who are exposed to nearly the worst air pollution worldwide. However, the correlations between air pollutant concentration and mental health have not been consistently reported in previous studies. Methodologically speaking, a sufficiently rigorous design is required to demonstrate the causal relationship between the two factors. In this study, we aimed to infer the causal relationship between air pollutant concentration and mental health. In this panel research, the data were compiled through a combination of statistics from the China Family Panel Study, China Environmental Statistics Yearbook, World Meteorological Association, and China National Bureau of Statistics. Ultimately, this study enrolled 65,326 individuals whose mental health, air pollutant concentration, and other demographic information was available and robust. The RD design of this study utilizes the discontinuous variation in air pollutant concentrations and mental health as one crosses the Huai River boundary, which is an arbitrary heating policy that caused the difference in air pollutant concentrations between the north and south of China. In this study, we found that a 10 μg/m3 increase in air pollutant concentrations (air particulate matter smaller than 10 μm (PM10)) leads to a 4.9-unit decrease in the mental health of the Chinese residents(coeff = 0.49, SD = 0.07, p < 0.05), equivalent to 36% of the average of Chinese residents. In the heterogeneity model, the impairment of mental health by air pollutant concentrations was more pronounced in male residents (coeff = 1.37, SD = 0.10, p < 0.05) compared to female residents (coeff = 0.42, SD = 0.04, p < 0.05) and smokers (compared to non-smokers). The robustness of the results is ensured by changing the RD bandwidth and polynomial order, and by two unique sensitivity analyses. The results indicate that air pollutant concentrations significantly impair the mental health of Chinese residents, which provides empirical evidence supporting the Chinese government’s decision to invest more in combating air pollution and ensuring the mental health of Chinese residents. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Pollution and Environmental Sustainability)
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Review

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16 pages, 299 KiB  
Review
Prospects for Governance and Climate Change Resilience in Peatland Management in Indonesia
by Christopher L. Atkinson and Haris Alibašić
Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 1839; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15031839 - 18 Jan 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2627
Abstract
Southeast Asia has the most significant tropical peat/peat carbon storage area in the world, with Indonesia being the primary location for much of it. Anthropogenic changes to peatlands have resulted in a threat to these endangered ecosystems; policies that have favored industrial and [...] Read more.
Southeast Asia has the most significant tropical peat/peat carbon storage area in the world, with Indonesia being the primary location for much of it. Anthropogenic changes to peatlands have resulted in a threat to these endangered ecosystems; policies that have favored industrial and elite interests above those of local communities have resulted in severe consequences for the environment and public health, not only in Indonesia and its region, but for the world community in terms of contributions to climate change. Decentralization has been seen as a means of sharing authority and accountability with lower government levels and providing additional opportunities for shared governance. Still, there is reason to question the means of these approaches and the results of such efforts. The research question is: What can be learned about the administration’s role in leading stakeholder involvement from the case of Indonesian peatland management? The authors utilize outcome additionality as a framework connected to the resilience of peatlands. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Pollution and Environmental Sustainability)
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