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The National Air Emission Inventory and Research Center (NAIR) has refined emissions estimation methods to enhance the accuracy and reliability of national statistics on air pollutant emissions. The center estimated 2020 national emissions by applying 23 items identified to have been improved from the improvement research and re-estimated the national emissions from 2016 to 2019 to secure the coherence of national annual emissions. This study compares national emissions of the past years before and after the re-estimation and analyzes the major causes of changes in 2020 national emissions compared to those of 2019. The re-estimation of national emissions from 2016 to 2019 revealed the following change rates for each substance: CO, − 5.5 to 5.8%; NOx, − 3.9 to 1.8%; SOx, − 14.7 to − 0.6%; PM2.5, − 31.5 to − 27.0%; VOCs, − 1.3 to 1.1%; NH3, − 15.4 to 14.3%; and BC, − 4.9% to 5.5%. National air pollutant emissions in 2020 were as follows: CO, 711,399 tons; NOx, 929,227 tons; SOx, 180,157 tons; PM2.5, 58,558 tons; VOCs, 990,629 tons; and NH3, 261,207 tons. It turned out that the year-on-year reduction rates of emissions were as follows: CO, − 5.5%; NOx, − 11.1%; SOx, − 23.9%; PM2.5, − 4.9%; VOCs, − 2.0%; NH3, − 2.9%; and BC, − 11.6%. National statistics on air pollutant emissions serve as basic data for establishing, implementing, and evaluating national atmospheric environment policies to improve air quality. It is necessary to establish effective atmospheric environment policies based on highly accurate emission statistics to improve air quality. To this end, it is imperative to conduct ongoing research including studies on improving the national air pollutant emissions estimation method as well as on verifying emissions using air quality modeling and satellite observation data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The National Air Emission Inventory and Research Center (NAIR) has refined emissions estimation methods to enhance the accuracy and reliability of national statistics on air pollutant emissions. The center estimated 2020 national emissions by applying 23 items identified to have been improved from the improvement research and re-estimated the national emissions from 2016 to 2019 to secure the coherence of national annual emissions. This study compares national emissions of the past years before and after the re-estimation and analyzes the major causes of changes in 2020 national emissions compared to those of 2019. The re-estimation of national emissions from 2016 to 2019 revealed the following change rates for each substance: CO, − 5.5 to 5.8%; NOx, − 3.9 to 1.8%; SOx, − 14.7 to − 0.6%; PM2.5, − 31.5 to − 27.0%; VOCs, − 1.3 to 1.1%; NH3, − 15.4 to 14.3%; and BC, − 4.9% to 5.5%. National air pollutant emissions in 2020 were as follows: CO, 711,399 tons; NOx, 929,227 tons; SOx, 180,157 tons; PM2.5, 58,558 tons; VOCs, 990,629 tons; and NH3, 261,207 tons. It turned out that the year-on-year reduction rates of emissions were as follows: CO, − 5.5%; NOx, − 11.1%; SOx, − 23.9%; PM2.5, − 4.9%; VOCs, − 2.0%; NH3, − 2.9%; and BC, − 11.6%. National statistics on air pollutant emissions serve as basic data for establishing, implementing, and evaluating national atmospheric environment policies to improve air quality. It is necessary to establish effective atmospheric environment policies based on highly accurate emission statistics to improve air quality. To this end, it is imperative to conduct ongoing research including studies on improving the national air pollutant emissions estimation method as well as on verifying emissions using air quality modeling and satellite observation data.

Abstract According to the 2018 National Air Pollutant Emissions Inventory (NEI), air pollutant emissions in the Republic of Korea comprised 808,801 tons of CO, 1,153,265 tons of NOX, 300,979 tons of SOX, 617,481 tons of TSP, 232,993 tons of PM10, 98,388 tons of PM2.5, 15,562 tons of black carbon (BC), 1,035,636 tons of VOCs, and 315,975 tons of NH3. As for national emission contributions to primary PM2.5 and PM precursors (NOX, SOX, VOCs, and NH3), major source categories were the road sector for NOX, the industry sector for SOX and PM2.5, and the everyday activities and others sector for VOCs and NH3. In the case of emissions by region, the largest amount of NOX was emitted from the Seoul Metropolitan Areas (SMA; Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi-do, hereafter SMA) and the largest amounts of SOX, PM2.5, VOCs, and NH3 were from the Yeongnam region. A 3D chemical transport modeling system was used to examine the uncertainty of the national air pollutant emissions based on the National Emission and Air Quality Assessment System (NEAS). Air quality was simulated using CAPSS 2018, and the simulation data were compared with observed concentrations to examine the uncertainties of the current emissions. These data show that emissions from five si (cities) (Pohang, Yeosu, Gwangyang, Dangjin, and Ulsan) need to be improved. Most of all, it is necessary to examine the emissions from places of business that use anthracite, which is the major PM2.5 emission source, as fuel in these areas.

Abstract According to the 2017 National Air Pollutant Emissions Inventory (NEI), air pollutant emissions in the Republic of Korea comprised 817,420 metric tons (hereafter tons) of CO, 1,189,800 tons of NOx, 315,530 tons of SOx, 592,582 tons of TSP, 218,476 tons of PM10, 91,731 tons of PM2.5, 15,555 tons of black carbon (BC), 1,047,585 tons of VOCs, and 308,298 tons of NH3. Emissions of the 13 first-level emission source categories, which constitute the NEI, were estimated and, based on their characteristics, the emission source categories were grouped into five sectors (energy, industry, road, non-road, and everyday activities and others). In addition, the contributions of primary PM2.5 and its four precursors (NOx, SOx, VOCs, and NH3) to the 2017 NEI were assessed in this study. The emission contributions of NOx to the NEI were 36.5% for the road sector, which was the highest of those of all the air pollutants for this sector; NOx emissions for this sector were 4.2% lower than those in the previous year. The emission contributions of SOx and PM2.5 to the NEI were higher than those of the other air pollutants for the industry sector; SOx and PM2.5 emissions for this sector decreased by 9.8% and 19.7%, respectively, compared with those in the previous year. The emission contributions of VOCs and NH3 to the NEI were 65.3% and 83.9% for the everyday activities and others sector, respectively, higher than those of the other air pollutants for this sector; VOCs and NH3 emissions for this sector increased by 0.8% and 2.9%, respectively, compared with those in the previous year. A three-dimensional (3D) chemical transport modeling system was used to validate the emission estimates. These data suggest that simulated SOx emissions were overestimated in areas with dense large-scale industrial complexes, such as Jeollanam-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and Ulsan, and that simulated NOx emissions were overestimated in Seoul, Incheon, and Jeollanam-do.