Archive for ‘Ecology’

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09/01/2014

* China sets targets for curbing air pollution | Reuters

China has set new targets for its provinces to reduce air pollution by 5 to 25 percent, state media said late on Tuesday, underscoring the government\’s concern about a source of public anger.

English: Air pollution

English: Air pollution (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

China regularly issues directives to try to tackle air pollution in major cities, but these have had limited effect.

Former health minister Chen Zhu said air pollution in the country causes premature deaths of 350,000 to 500,000 people yearly, state media reported on Tuesday. Chen wrote the article in a December issue of the Lancet medical journal.

Air quality in large parts of northern and southern China reached unhealthy levels on Tuesday.

Under the new regulations, Beijing, its neighboring city of Tianjin and northern Hebei province will have to cut the amount of PM 2.5 particles, which are especially bad for health, by 25 percent annually, state news agency Xinhua said, citing the ministry of environmental protection.

China\’s commercial capital, Shanghai, the eastern provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and northern Shanxi will have to impose cuts of 20 percent. Reductions of 15 percent were set for Guangdong and Chongqing and 10 percent for the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Xinhua said.

The State Council, or cabinet, is mulling a system to evaluate each local government\’s progress and those who fail to reach goals will be \”named and shamed\”, said the China Daily newspaper.

Air quality in cities is of increasing concern to China\’s stability-obsessed leaders, anxious to douse potential unrest as a more affluent urban population turns against a growth-at-all-costs economic model that has poisoned much of the country\’s air, water and soil.

Authorities have invested in various projects to fight pollution and empowered courts to mete out the death penalty in serious cases.

via China sets targets for curbing air pollution | Reuters.

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31/12/2013

Tainted farmland to be restored |Society |chinadaily.com.cn

Farming of contaminated arable land almost the size of Belgium has been halted and the land will be rehabilitated to ensure food security, a senior official said on Monday.

Tainted farmland to be restored

A soil survey by the Ministry of Environmental Protection found that pollution affects about 3.33 million hectares, Wang Shiyuan, vice-minister of land and resources, said.

\”This finding is similar to the geographical environmental survey by the Ministry of Land and Resources,\” Wang added.

Arable land in China totaled 135.4 million hectares at the end of last year, 15 million hectares more than the bottom line set by the government to ensure food security, Wang said at a news conference, citing the results of the second national land survey released on Monday.

However, the amount of stable cultivated land will drop to 120 million hectares, as some farmland will be converted to forests, grasslands and wetlands, while pollution will leave some land unusable, Wang said.

The environment ministry earlier declined to disclose data related to soil pollution, saying further investigation is needed and that the figure is a State secret.

A nationwide survey on soil pollution was carried out between 2006 and 2010, led by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Land and Resources, but the results were never made public.

Bai Chengshou, deputy head of the nature and ecology conservation department at the environmental protection ministry, said results will be published in future, with more data included.

\”The current work is to take more samples in key areas with severe soil pollution, so that the results can be more accurate and representative,\” he said.

Bai said a \”soil pollution action plan\”, similar to the Airborne Pollution Action Plan (2013-17) released by the central government in mid-September, is being prepared.

He said the plan, which will provide a detailed framework for national soil pollution control measures before 2017, is likely to be released around June after being approved by the State Council.

Wang said the swaths of polluted farmland are concentrated in developed eastern and central regions and in the northeastern industrial belt.

He singled out Hunan province which, with its booming heavy industries, had repeatedly reported much higher levels of cadmium found in rice than permitted by national standards.

Answering a China Daily question on whether the tainted land is still being farmed, Wang said no further planting will be allowed on it, as food safety is a top concern for governments at various levels.

Each year, the central government will earmark several billion yuan to rehabilitate farmland tainted by heavy metals and threatened by the over-draining of underground water, Wang said, without giving details.

\”Only rehabilitated farmland that has passed assessment will be used again,\” he said.

via Tainted farmland to be restored |Society |chinadaily.com.cn.

See also: https://chindia-alert.org/2013/12/30/china-says-more-than-3-million-hectares-of-land-too-polluted-to-farm-south-china-morning-post/

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30/12/2013

Opportunity glimmers through China’s toxic smog | Reuters

As China\’s smog levels crept past record highs in early December, the phone lines at pollution-busting kit maker Broad Group lit up with Chinese customers worried about hazardous pollution levels that have gripped China this year.

The financial district of Pudong is seen on a hazy day in Shanghai, in this file picture taken January 21, 2013. China's government is struggling to meet pollution reduction targets and has pledged to spend over 3 trillion yuan ($494 billion) to tackle the problem, creating a growing market for companies that can help boost energy efficiency and lower emissions. REUTERS-Aly Song-Files

China\’s government is struggling to meet pollution reduction targets and has pledged to spend over 3 trillion yuan ($494 billion) to tackle the problem, creating a growing market for companies that can help boost energy efficiency and lower emissions.

\”Recently, we haven\’t been able to make products fast enough to keep up with demand,\” said Hu Jie, a general manager at Broad Group, which makes pollution-related products ranging from hand-held monitors to eco-friendly buildings. Sales roughly doubled this year from 2012, Hu said, without giving details.

Pollution problems in China, the world\’s second-biggest economy, are by no means new. But heightened public anger – and a growing political will to deal with the issue – has created opportunities for firms with sustainable know-how to earn a slice of China\’s clean-technology market, which is set to triple to $555 billion by 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Companies like U.S. clean-energy expert Fuel Tech Inc, design engineer WS Atkins Plc and others have seized the opening by boosting staff numbers and clinching contracts.

\”China has reached a saturation level which people can no longer tolerate,\” said Feng An, president and executive director of the U.S.-China Clean Tech Center, which takes U.S. clean technology companies to China to meet potential partners.

\”Five years ago people could pollute and get away with it. Now they can\’t. This year you can really see the difference.\”

THE COST OF SMOG

Pollution cost China\’s economy at least 1.1 trillion yuan ($181 billion) in 2010, the environment ministry estimated this year – equal to 2.5 percent of GDP that year. Pollution has been tied to \”cancer villages\” and reduced life-expectancy. Smog even closed down the major northern city of Harbin in October.

Acknowledging public anxiety over the issue, Premier Li Keqiang said in March that China should not sacrifice the environment to pursue economic growth, giving a boost to \”green\” companies.

U.S. environmental engineering company LP Amina, which helps coal power plants reduce emissions by retrofitting burners to make them more efficient, saw its China sales double this year, said the firm\’s marketing manager Jamyan Dudka, without providing specific figures. Coal accounts for more than two-thirds of China\’s primary energy consumption.

China is pushing to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollutants from power plant emissions and offering subsidies to get firms on board. The cost of retrofitting all China\’s power plants over a 5-year period is around $11 billion, said Dudka.

U.S.-listed Fuel Tech, which also focuses in this area, sees China at the forefront of its business development plans, and has increased its China-based staff to more than 30 people, CEO Doug Bailey said on an analyst call last month.

GREEN BUILDING

Companies such as UK-listed Atkins and Australian developer Lend Lease Corp Ltd are also leveraging their global expertise in sustainable construction.

Atkins is working with local governments to develop sustainable construction guidelines and will partner with two Chinese cities to put them into action. China\’s contribution to the company\’s 88 million pounds ($144.6 million) in Asia-Pacific revenues increased to 40 percent this year, it said. The region accounts for around 5 percent of global sales.

via Opportunity glimmers through China’s toxic smog | Reuters.

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28/12/2013

China targets cement, batteries, metals in anti-pollution push | Reuters

China will raise standards for the production of cement, batteries, leather and heavy metals as part of its efforts to cut air, water and soil pollution, the environment ministry said on Friday.

The sun is seen behind smoke billowing from a chimney of a heating plant in Taiyuan, Shanxi province December 9, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer

Beijing, facing growing public anger over smog, contaminated food and unclean water, has said it will tackle the environmental costs of more than three decades of unbridled growth.

It has promised to get tough with under-regulated industries such as cement, iron and steel and coal but the central government has traditionally struggled to impose its will on powerful industrial sectors and local governments.

via China targets cement, batteries, metals in anti-pollution push | Reuters.

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23/12/2013

China city caps car-buying to curb pollution | South China Morning Post

Another Chinese city has capped the total number of car licence plates it will issue annually, state media said Sunday, following moves by Beijing and other metropolises to curb pollution and congestion.

The world’s most populous nation is also the world’s largest car-buyer. But it is trying to curb poor air quality and other environmental damages caused by rapid development.

Tianjin, a coastal city near Beijing with 14 million people and 2.36 million registered motor vehicles last year, will cap new car plates to 100,000 a year, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The government will award 60,000 plates by lottery, reserving 10,000 of these for fuel-efficient cars, and auction the remaining 40,000.

Of the total plates issued, 88 per cent will go to individuals and the rest to companies and other entities, while government bodies will be ineligible, Xinhua said.

Although the details were reported over the weekend, the policy was announced a week earlier and took effect five hours later, sparking “overnight panic buying”, it added.

Four other cities — Beijing, the commercial hub of Shanghai, Guiyang in the southwest and Guangzhou in the south — have imposed similar restrictions.

Beijing, whose population tops 20 million, launched a lottery system in 2011 for an annual maximum of 240,000 car registrations.

The capital has more than 5.3 million cars on the road, Xinhua said. Demand is so high that applicants have just a 1 in 80 chance, the China Daily newspaper said in October.

Guangzhou last year capped registration for small- and medium-sized cars at 120,000. The city of 16 million people had about 2.4 million cars on the road as of May, local media reported at the time.

Starting next March, Tianjin will also restrict a fifth of private vehicles from using the road on workdays depending on their plate number — a practice first introduced in Beijing in 2008.

via China city caps car-buying to curb pollution | South China Morning Post.

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19/12/2013

China protects key river sources – Xinhua | English.news.cn

China plans to strengthen the environmental protection of the Sanjiangyuan region of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, the source of important rivers.

With an average altitude of 4,000 meters, Sanjiangyuan, which means \”source of three rivers\” in Chinese, lies in the hinterland of west China\’s Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and is home to China\’s biggest and highest wetlands ecosystem. (The place where the world famous Yangtse, Yellow and Lantsang  originate.)

A newly-approved protection plan for the region aims to expand the rehabilitation area from 152,000 to 395,000 square kilometers, according to a statement released after Wednesday\’s executive meeting of the State Council, the country\’s Cabinet, presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.

According to the plan, efforts will focus on protecting and rehabilitating vegetation in the area while improving a monitoring and warning network for local ecological conditions.

Meanwhile, a separate plan on lakes whose water quality are relatively sound was also approved at the meeting. It called for adjusting the industrial structure and distribution in major lake areas and strengthened pollution control of rivers that flow into these lakes.

The statement encouraged strengthened scientific management, wider use of proper technology and the strictest source protection rules, calling for greater government investment and a balance among environmental protection, economic development and people\’s livelihoods.

Also at the meeting, a report was delivered on combating sandstorms in Beijing and Tianjin, urging more forestation subsidies from the central government and a responsibility pursuit system for forests management.

\”Unapproved tree felling, land reclamation, farming, digging and the use of water resources in the forested areas must be strictly cracked down on,\” said the statement.

In addition, the meeting approved a blueprint on establishing a multifunction ecological experimentation zone in northwest China\’s Gansu Province that incorporates water saving, ecological protection, industrial restructuring, resettlement of residents and poverty relief.

via China protects key river sources – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

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13/12/2013

Beijing to buy new buses to clear city smog: media | Reuters

China\’s capital Beijing, regularly shrouded in hazardous air pollution, plans to replace its oil-burning buses with greener models by 2017 to help clear the smog, state news agency Xinhua said.

Residents wearing masks ride their electric bicycles on a street amid heavy haze in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province December 5, 2013. REUTERS/China Daily

Nearly 14,000 new buses powered by electricity or natural gas will be bought to replace two-thirds of Beijing\’s bus fleet and halve carbon emissions, Xinhua said on Thursday, citing the city\’s environment and transportation authorities.

Air pollution in Beijing hit unprecedented levels in January when an index measuring particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) shot up to a staggering 755 – 38 times the level recommended by the World Health Organisation.

China\’s worsening air quality is a result of it chasing economic growth at all cost in the past 30 years, a pursuit that turned it into the world\’s second-biggest economy, but which also poisoned much of its air, water and soil.

Rising public concern over the health dangers of China\’s air pollution has worried its stability-obsessed leaders, who fear the issue may become a rallying point for wider dissatisfaction.

China has adopted an emergency response program to try to reduce the pollution, including alternating days for cars with odd and even license plates to be on the road and closing schools when the smog is particularly heavy.

via Beijing to buy new buses to clear city smog: media | Reuters.

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13/12/2013

Could a Shanghai Exodus Be in the Air? – China Real Time Report – WSJ

China’s effort to turn Shanghai into a global financial center came under a cloud this month—or, rather, under a choking blanket of smog that has affluent residents talking about bolting.

English: Shanghai Smog

English: Shanghai Smog (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As Wei Gu writes in this week’s The People’s Money column:

China’s pollution problem is spreading and growing worse, a fact on stark display last week in Shanghai, the country’s financial center. A stretch of filthy-air days in that coastal city so thoroughly shocked residents—who had largely escaped the smog that has long plagued the likes of Beijing and Harbin—that it inspired fresh talk about getting away from China.

Over the past century, migration has almost always been driven by a desire to get ahead. But today more affluent Chinese are talking about accepting a climb-down on the career ladder and a less-exciting lifestyle in exchange for cleaner air, safer food and a different education system.

via Could a Shanghai Exodus Be in the Air? – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

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13/12/2013

China Says Pilot Should Be Able to Land in Low Visibility, Battling High Traffic and Pollution – China Real Time Report – WSJ

If you want to fly in China, you need to be able to land in the smog.

China’s civil aviation regulator has set new rules mandating senior airline pilots operating on major routes into Beijing’s airport be certified to land aircraft under very low visibility, a move to help ease the nation’s worsening air traffic bottlenecks amid often heavy pollution.

China’s major airlines say they have been giving pilots additional training to comply with the new rules, which take effect Jan. 1, according to the carriers and state media.

The decision comes amid worsening pollution across China cities that at times is affecting commercial airline traffic. Last week, thick smog enveloped Shanghai and parts of eastern China,  cutting visibility in the city of Nanjing to less than 50 meters and resulting in many flight delays and cancellations.

Thick smog impacting visibility has also caused cancellations and delays at Beijing Capital International Airport, the nation’s busiest and worst in terms of on-time performance, with only 45% of flights departing on time in November, according to travel industry monitor FlightStats.

Depending on weather conditions and runway infrastructure, modern jetliners have sophisticated instruments to help them land in little or no visibility, such as foggy conditions. Pilots, though, need additional certification to perform such approaches, which usually don’t compromise safety. Airlines have varying rules on minimum visibility levels acceptable for landing, though low-visibility landings are frequently done by major airlines in the West.

The special certification for pilots to make low-visibility landings, a common international requirement, applies to situations where visibility drops to 350 meters or less.

via China Says Pilot Should Be Able to Land in Low Visibility, Battling High Traffic and Pollution – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

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10/12/2013

China state media under fire for arguing benefits of smog | Reuters

Commentaries by two of China\’s most influential news outlets suggesting that the country\’s air pollution crisis was not without a silver lining drew a withering reaction on Tuesday from internet users and other media.

A man wears a mask while walking on a bridge during a hazy day in Shanghai's financial district of Pudong December 5, 2013. REUTERS/Aly Song

In online commentaries on Monday, state broadcaster CCTV and the widely read tabloid the Global Times, published by the Communist Party\’s official People\’s Daily, both tried to put a positive spin on China\’s smog problem.

The Global Times said smog could be useful in military situations, as it could hinder the use of guided missiles, while CCTV listed five \”unforeseen rewards\” for smog, including helping Chinese people\’s sense of humor.

via China state media under fire for arguing benefits of smog | Reuters.

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