Influence of classified coal consumption on PM2.5 pollution: Analysis based on the panel cointegration and error-correction model

Highlights: • Coal consumption is the main reason for PM_2.5 pollution in China. • Scattered coal should be the focus of the coal control policy. • A panel cointegration model with FMOLS estimator is used. It is a well-documented phenomenon that coal combustion is a significant cause of air pollution, while few documents have revealed the process. Based on the panel dataset covering 30 Chinese provinces (excluding Tibet) in China during the period 2000–2012, this study investigates the actual contribution of centralized and scattered coal consumption to PM_2.5 concentrations through a panel cointegration model and panel vector error-correction model (PVECM). The empirical results indicate that both scattered and centralized coal consumption have significant positive correlations with PM_2.5 concentrations in the long term. Specifically, the PM_2.5 pollution caused by scattered coal combustion is approximately 1.38 times that of the same amount of centralized coal combustion. Furthermore, in the short-term, centralized coal consumption has a significant positive relationship with PM_2.5 pollution, while scattered coal has no significant effect. Therefore, in the short term, the consumption of centralized coal should be reduced, whereas in the long term, scattered coal control policies should be the primary focus of the government.