Emissions falling but a tough task ahead
Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily |
January 25, 2013, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ENVIRONMENT Minister Zhou Shengxian said yesterday that emissions of four major pollutants dropped last year and should fall by a similar level this year, but admitted the country faced a tough task in trying to end chronic air pollution.
Emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, chemical oxygen and ammonia nitrogen all recorded year-on-year falls of 2 percent in 2012 and were expected to drop by the same degree this year, or even faster, Zhou said.
"To cope with an air quality crisis, contingency measures will be adopted, such as suspending or limiting the production of certain vehicles and limiting emissions and car usage," he told a national meeting in Beijing.
"The ministry will also ban the operation of vehicles registered before 2005 under exhaust emissions requirements ... and efforts will be made to improve the quality of gasoline and diesel."
But Zhou said China "faces a long battle" in controlling what is known as PM2.5 intensity, which measures particulate matter in the air with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less.
Pollution levels in Beijing and many other Chinese cities regularly exceed 500 on that index. A level above 300 is considered hazardous, while the World Health Organization recommends a daily level of no more than 20.
The ministry had set timetables for cities plagued by air pollution, Zhou said.
Cities where average air pollution levels are 15 percent higher than the national standard or less should work to bring the levels to standard by 2015.
Cities with air pollution 30 percent above the national standard or higher should try to meet those standards by 2030.
Smoke from factories and heating plants, winds blowing in from the Gobi Desert and fumes from millions of vehicles can combine to blanket northern Chinese cities in a pungent shroud for days on end.
The government has promised repeatedly to resolve the problem, and in recent days has unveiled new measures, including taking 180,000 old vehicles off the road in Beijing this year and controlling the "excessive" growth of new car sales in the city.
Zhou vowed to press for including PM2.5 in the country's major pollutant monitoring and measuring system.
This year the country will start monitoring six major pollutant indexes, including PM2.5, in 113 cities on the state environmental protection list, he said.
Currently, the monitoring of four major pollutants as well as PM2.5 and ozone (O3) are conducted in four municipalities, 27 provincial capitals, and three key regions - east China's Yangtze River Delta, south China's Pearl River Delta, and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area in the north.
By 2015, the ministry aims to reduce PM2.5 intensity in the three key regions by 6 percent a year, he said.
Emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, chemical oxygen and ammonia nitrogen all recorded year-on-year falls of 2 percent in 2012 and were expected to drop by the same degree this year, or even faster, Zhou said.
"To cope with an air quality crisis, contingency measures will be adopted, such as suspending or limiting the production of certain vehicles and limiting emissions and car usage," he told a national meeting in Beijing.
"The ministry will also ban the operation of vehicles registered before 2005 under exhaust emissions requirements ... and efforts will be made to improve the quality of gasoline and diesel."
But Zhou said China "faces a long battle" in controlling what is known as PM2.5 intensity, which measures particulate matter in the air with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less.
Pollution levels in Beijing and many other Chinese cities regularly exceed 500 on that index. A level above 300 is considered hazardous, while the World Health Organization recommends a daily level of no more than 20.
The ministry had set timetables for cities plagued by air pollution, Zhou said.
Cities where average air pollution levels are 15 percent higher than the national standard or less should work to bring the levels to standard by 2015.
Cities with air pollution 30 percent above the national standard or higher should try to meet those standards by 2030.
Smoke from factories and heating plants, winds blowing in from the Gobi Desert and fumes from millions of vehicles can combine to blanket northern Chinese cities in a pungent shroud for days on end.
The government has promised repeatedly to resolve the problem, and in recent days has unveiled new measures, including taking 180,000 old vehicles off the road in Beijing this year and controlling the "excessive" growth of new car sales in the city.
Zhou vowed to press for including PM2.5 in the country's major pollutant monitoring and measuring system.
This year the country will start monitoring six major pollutant indexes, including PM2.5, in 113 cities on the state environmental protection list, he said.
Currently, the monitoring of four major pollutants as well as PM2.5 and ozone (O3) are conducted in four municipalities, 27 provincial capitals, and three key regions - east China's Yangtze River Delta, south China's Pearl River Delta, and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area in the north.
By 2015, the ministry aims to reduce PM2.5 intensity in the three key regions by 6 percent a year, he said.
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