Sustained growth of sulfur hexafluoride emissions in China inferred from atmospheric observations

This study uses long-term atmospheric observations to determine SF6 emissions from China between 2011 and 2021. SF6 emissions in China substantially increased from 2.6 Gg yr−1 in 2011 to 5.1 Gg yr−1 in 2021. This increase is larger than the global total emissions rise, offsetting falling emissions from other countries. Emissions from western China contribute significantly to the national total, likely due to power generation and transmission. The increasing SF6 emissions offset some CO2 reductions from renewable energy and might hinder China's carbon neutrality goal by 2060 without control measures.

Minde An, Ronald G. Prinn, Luke M. Western, Xingchen Zhao, Bo Yao, Jianxin Hu, Anita L. Ganesan, Jens Mühle, Ray F. Weiss, Paul B. Krummel, Simon O’Doherty, Dickon Young, Matthew Rigby