Impact of Manufacturing Transfer on SO2 Emissions in Jiangsu Province, China

The impact of manufacturing transfer in Jiangsu province, China, on the spatial-temporal variations of SO2 emissions is investigated using estimated sector-specific SO2 emissions, and emissions in the different transfer-in and transfer-out regions were quantified during 2000–2011. Our results show that SO2 emissions had undergone three phases: an increase in the period of 2000–2005, a rapid decline in 2005–2008 and a slow decline in 2008–2011. Emissions from the south dominated the total emissions in the province. Cleaner production generally contributed to the reduced emissions, but rather, at the industrial scale. Pollution abatement was occasional and industrial structure was negligible in some years. The three phases also coincided with the three periods of the manufacturing transfer: transferred to the south from outside the province during 2000–2005, to the central from the south within the province during 2005–2008 and to the north from the south or partly from the inner central within the province during 2008–2011. With the manufacturing transfer, SO2 emission magnitudes and distributions were also changed. In the south, ́12.36 and ́5.62 Mt of SO2 emissions were transferred out during 2005–2008 and 2008–2011, respectively. Forty-three-point-four percent and 56.4% of the SO2 emissions in the south were transferred to the central and north during 2005–2008, respectively. The north region received 77.7% and 22.1% of SO2 emissions from the south and the central region during 2008–2011, respectively. The paper reveals that structure adjustments should be executed in a timely manner in the manufacturing transfer-in process so that the transfer-in regions can benefit from the economic boom without bearing a deteriorated environment.