Korea's 2022 Air Emissions Inventory Shows CO Surge and SOx Decline

Korea’s 2022 National Air Pollutant Emissions Inventory, published via the Clean Air Policy Support System (CAPSS), shows carbon monoxide (CO) rising sharply while sulfur oxides (SOx) fall. Total national emissions in 2022 were 59,459 tons of PM2.5, 126,743 tons of SOx, 857,026 tons of NOx, 938,341 tons of VOCs, 242,227 tons of NH3, and 921,783 tons of CO. Versus 2021, PM2.5 increased by 3.7% and CO by 32.7%, while SOx, NOx, VOCs and NH3 declined. Source patterns differ by pollutant, from fugitive dust for PM2.5 to biomass burning for CO. The estimate used 260 datasets from 153 institutions and incorporated 19 updates, including changes to fuel sulfur data for cargo ships and new power-generation modeling for island regions.