Chinese NGO - China Emitted 30-31 Million Tons SO2 In 2014; Official Totals 19 Million Tons
The government underreported by half last year's emissions of a pollutant from burning coal that plays a major role in the smog covering many of China's big cities, an expert says.
The country emitted 30 to 31 million tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) last year, said Luo Jianhua, secretary general of the China Environment Chamber of Commerce, a non-profit organization controlled by the government. The official figure for last year was 19 million tons, down from 25 million tons in 2005.
Luo said the discrepancy could help explain why people living in cities like the capital, the port city of Tianjin and the industrial northeast feel air pollution has worsened in recent years even though the government says the situation, at least regarding SO2, has improved. "The quality of the air has seen no obvious improvement," Luo said. "Smog continued to envelop more than half of the land in China and it is only going from bad to worse."
SO2 is a major component of emissions from coal-burning power plants and is found in acid rain, which along with air pollution harms human health and the environment. Luo said the government figure is off because it overlooked SO2 emissions from facilities other than those generating electricity, such as steel and cement factories, and private boilers heating homes in winter.
EDIT
http://english.caixin.com/2015-11-18/100875924.html
