Best available techniques and pollution control: a case study on China’s thermal power industry

The Chinese Government established an industrial environmental management system to execute its pollutants gross control policy in 2006. A key component of this system is the Best Available Techniques (BAT) determination method and pollution control management. This paper augments BAT with Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to create a technology selection model for thermal power techniques as case study. Emissions reduction and energy conservation potentials can be weighed against technological feasibility to create best fit assessments for a wide variety of power generation installations. Using this model improves the ability of policymakers and plant owners alike to plan appropriate technology consolidation and upgrade paths.