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13/09/2013

China gets tough on air pollution

China Daily: “Updated action plan drawn up in response to severe smog at start of the year, Wu Wencong reports

China gets tough on air pollution

The toughest-ever measures to tackle China’s worsening air pollution have been announced by the government.

The Airborne Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan (2013-17) unveiled on Thursday sets out goals for the nation’s 338 cities.

A couple in Beijing’s Jingshan Park take photos against the background of a smog-shrouded Forbidden City as bad air pollution hit the capital on June 30. ZHUO ENSEN / FOR CHINA DAILY

The plan aims for a marked improvement in air quality over the next five years, said Wang Jian, deputy head of the Pollution Prevention and Control Department at the Environmental Protection Ministry.

The concentration levels of breathable suspended particles with a diameter of 10 microns — known as PM10 — or less, must fall by at least 10 percent by 2017 from the levels in 2012.

Tougher objectives have been set for some key areas.

For the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei regional cluster, concentration levels of PM2.5 particles — those smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter, which can penetrate deep into the lungs — must be cut by 25 percent by 2017 from the 2012 level, under the plan.

The target for the Yangtze River Delta region is a reduction of 20 percent and for the Pearl River Delta region it is a cut of about 15 percent.

The plan takes into account pollution and economic development in different areas, with the aim of reducing PM2.5 levels in the three key regions and PM10 levels in the other cities, Wang said.

“But this does not mean that controlling PM2.5 is not important in the other regions, as PM2.5 particles account for 50 to 60 percent of PM10 particles,” he added.

The plan is an updated version of one released late last year that was designed to tackle air pollution in 13 key areas.

via China gets tough on air pollution[1]|chinadaily.com.cn.

Tags: air pollution, airborne pollution, Beijing, China, climate, environment, Jingshan Park, Particulates, Pearl River Delta, pm10 particles, river delta region, science, Yangtze River Delta

03/09/2013

Beijing aims to slash coal use

China Daily: “The Beijing municipal government has vowed to slash the capital’s consumption of coal by more than 50 percent over five years based on 2012 levels, according to a clean-air action plan issued on Monday.

Beijing aims to slash coal use

With the plan, local government is aiming to reduce the proportion of coal used within the city’s total energy mix to below 10 percent. Pollution from coal-fired emissions is a major contributor to Beijing’s smog, especially during the winter.

The plan aims to reduce the amount of fine particulate matter to 60 micrograms per cubic meter by 2017, which would be a 25 percent drop from 2012 levels. This requires the capital to slash 13 million metric tons of coal consumption over five years.

The municipal government has been cutting down on coal consumption for 14 years, according to China Environmental News, which is run by the Environmental Protection Ministry. Within that time frame, according to the publication, Beijing has slashed 7 million tons from its total coal consumption.

The plan issued on Monday lists a number of coal-cutting measures, including allocating a coal quota to districts and key users, strengthening the capital’s gas and electricity supply and revising a sulfur concentration standard in coal.

By reducing its coal consumption, the government says it will increase the demand for natural gas supply to 24 billion cubic meters by 2017, a goal the government said it will meet.

“The supply of natural gas within and outside China is promising since more natural gas reserves have recently been discovered,” said Zhou Dadi, vice-chairman of China Energy Research Society.

Four gas-based power plants will begin operations in Beijing by 2014. It has been estimated that they will cut the use of coal by about 9.2 million tons.

Another measure within the plan calls for replacing low-quality coal usually used in rural and suburban areas with high-quality coal that is low in sulfur content before the 2016 heating season begins.

“These areas use about 4 million tons of coal every year, accounting for less than 20 percent of the city’s total consumption. Yet because of the coal’s low quality, the sulfur dioxide generated amounts to more than 70 percent of the total emissions,” said Wang Jian, deputy head of the pollution prevention and control department of the Environmental Protection Ministry.

Wang said all low quality coal will be phased out in 2016.

Beijing is also trying to completely eliminate the use of coal within the Second Ring Road, the core area of the city, an aim first established in 2001. So far, about 200,000 households had switched from coal to electricity by the end of last year. The plan issued on Monday said by the end of 2015, the remaining 65,000 households within the area will begin using electricity for their winter heating.”

via Beijing aims to slash coal use |Society |chinadaily.com.cn.

See also:

China to spend $300 billion tackling pollution as coal consumption grows (abc.net.au)

Posted in carbon emission, China alert, Economics, energy, Environment, Good news, greenhouse gas, Pollution | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Beijing, China, Coal, coal consumption, energy, Environmental Protection Ministry, fine particulate matter, Natural gas, natural gas reserves, quality coal

31/07/2013

China to invest $375 billion on energy conservation, pollution: paper

Reuters: “China plans to invest 2.3 trillion yuan ($375 billion) in energy saving and emission-reduction projects in the five years through 2015 to clean up its environment, the China Daily newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing a senior government official.

The plan, which has been approved by the State Council, is on top of a 1.85 trillion yuan investment in the renewable energy sector, underscoring the government’s concerns about addressing a key source of social discontent.

China has set a target of reducing its carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 40-45 percent by 2020 from the 2005 level, and raising non-fossil energy consumption to 15 percent of its energy mix, Xie Zhenhua, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), was quoted as saying.

As part of broader plans to curb pollution, the government will also roll out tiered power pricing for eight energy intensive industries, while sectors that struggle with overcapacity will face higher power tariffs, Xie said.

The government will also gradually expand a carbon trading pilot program to more cities starting from 2015, with the aim of creating a national market, he said.

Seven cities and provinces, including Shanghai, were ordered by the NDRC in late 2011 to set up regional carbon trading markets.”

via China to invest $375 billion on energy conservation, pollution: paper | Reuters.

Rich Chinese Provinces ‘Outsource’ Pollution to Poor Ones (chindia-alert.org)
Explainer: China carbon trading schemes kick off (reneweconomy.com.au)

Posted in carbon emission, China alert, Ecology, Economics, Environment, Green, greenhouse gas, Pollution | 2 Comments »

Tags: Carbon Trading, China, climate, environment, fossil energy consumption, Gross domestic product, National Development and Reform Commission, renewable energy sector, Shanghai, social discontent, State Council of the People's Republic of China

28/07/2013

U.S. – China Five Initiative Plan Will Foster Future Climate Actions

Climate Law Blog: “The United States and China agreed upon a multi-faceted climate plan to curb GHG emission at the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) on July 10, 2013. The plan was designed by the U.S.-China Working Group on Climate Change, which was established pursuant to a Joint Statement from both governments in April 2013. It is led by the U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change, Todd Stern, and the Vice Chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, Xie Zhenhua.

The first Strategic and Economic Dialogue was held in Washington, DC on July 27th and 28th. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The U.S. and China together account for around 45% of the world’s annual GHG emissions; the two countries thus bear much of the global responsibility for the changing climate. The Working Group’s Report first took stock of existing cooperative efforts between the two countries and found a breadth of joint programs and projects. Recognizing the enormous potential to deepen those collaborative actions, the Working Group recommended five key initiatives, which will be implemented to facilitate large-scale cooperative efforts and domestic actions beginning in October 2013. These new initiatives include:

* Reducing emissions from heavy-duty and other vehicles

* Increasing carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS)

* Increasing energy efficiency in buildings, industry, and transport

* Improving greenhouse gas data collection and management

* Promoting smart grids

Both sides will gain sustainable economic growth from these low carbon developments on the basis of existing domestic policy and bilateral collaboration. Moreover, China will particularly benefit from reducing its air pollution and thereby improving public health through reducing emissions from heavy-duty and other vehicles.

The five-initiative plan directly followed a recent bilateral meeting in June 2013 in which presidents Obama and Xi agreed that the two countries will work together to phase down the production and consumption of HFC on both sides of the Pacific.

Though the agreement is non-binding, collaboration in climate strategy between U.S. and China is likely to spur a global response to come up with new efforts to combat climate change through enhancing domestic actions. Through October 2013, specific implementation plans regarding each of the five initiatives will be worked out. The Working Group will ensure that these are implemented with the involvement of large companies and non-governmental organizations.

Domestically, both countries have adopted laws or regulations addressing climate change. President Obama’s new climate policy announced in late June signaled the Administration’s commitment to regulating power plants, further promoting renewable energy, and increasing energy efficiency. China has enacted a renewable energy act and an energy conservation law which provide mid-to-long-term targets for shifting to clean energy and sustainable development. The five-initiative plan is another important step in furthering these domestic agendas, and, hopefully, greater world action.

via Climate Law Blog » Blog Archive » U.S. – China Five Initiative Plan Will Foster Future Climate Actions.

Posted in carbon emission, China alert, Climate change, Ecology, Economics, Environment, GeoPolitics, Green, greenhouse gas, Pollution | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Barack Obama, China, climate, economic dialogue, environment, Greenhouse gas, greenhouse gas data, Sino-American relations, U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, United States

25/07/2013

China to invest $277 billion to curb air pollution: state media

Reuters: “China plans to invest 1.7 trillion yuan ($277 billion) to combat air pollution over the next five years, state media said on Thursday, underscoring the new government’s concerns about addressing a key source of social discontent.

The money is to be spent primarily in regions that have heavy air pollution and high levels of PM 2.5, the state-run China Daily newspaper quoted Wang Jinnan, vice-president of the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning as saying. Wang helped draft the plan.

Tiny floating particles, measuring 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter, are especially hazardous because they can settle in the lungs and cause respiratory problems and other illnesses.

The new plan specifically targets northern China, particularly Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province, where air pollution is especially serious, the newspaper said.

The government plans to reduce air emissions by 25 percent by 2017 compared with 2012 levels in those areas, according to the report.

“The thick smog and haze that covered large areas of the country in January has focused public attention on this issue,” Zhao Hualin, a senior official at the Ministry of Environmental Protection, told the newspaper.

China’s State Council, its cabinet, approved the plan in June, Zhao said.”

via China to invest $277 billion to curb air pollution: state media | Reuters.

Posted in carbon emission, China alert, Climate change, Environment, Green, greenhouse gas, Pollution | Leave a Comment »

Tags: air emissions, air pollution, Beijing, China, climate, environment, Particulates, social discontent, State Council of the People's Republic of China, thick smog

19/07/2013

China Seeks Australias Help Building Emissions Trading Scheme

Sydney Morning Herald: “Australia has been drafted in to help design an emissions trading scheme for China, the world’s biggest polluter.

A deal announced in Canberra on Thursday will see the Australian National University take leadership of a program that will analyse pollution data provided by China and allow Chinese university researchers to examine Australia’s experience of the carbon tax and transition to an emissions trading scheme.

China pollution China is aiming for a full national emissions trading scheme by 2015.

The program, known as the “Australia-China research program on market mechanisms for climate change policy”, will team Australian researchers with those from three provincial universities in China and the Beijing Institute of Technology. The University of New South Wales and Melbourne University will also take part.

The deal comes less than a month after China launched the first of seven pilot emissions trading schemes.

The first, in the manufacturing city of Shenzhen, will cover 635 companies, responsible for 38 per cent of the city’s total emissions. Chinese authorities are under pressure to do something about the chronic air pollution affecting public health in Shenzen and across China.

China emits one-quarter of the worlds greenhouse gases – nearly 10 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, more than the US and India combined.

The $305,000 program, announced by Trade Minister Richard Marles, will be run by the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy, and led by Associate Professor Frank Jotzo of the Schools Centre for Climate Economics and Policy. He said projects would include modelling the effects of emissions pricing on electricity sector investments in China; research on how energy markets can be reformed to make carbon pricing more effective and the design of China’s pilot emissions trading schemes.

Professor Jotzo said: In the future, China is expected to rely less on command-and-control economic management and more on market-based systems to help protect the environment and modernise its energy system.

The research under this program will help inform Chinese policymaker’s about innovative approaches and international experiences, he said.

Climate expert and economist Ross Garnaut, a professor at ANU, said the most recent climate science showed a two degree warming of the planet was now a minimum and Chinese leaders understand there is a huge potential impact from climate for that nation.

via China Seeks Australias Help Building Emissions Trading Scheme.

Posted in carbon emission, China alert, Climate change, Economics, Green, greenhouse gas, Pollution | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Australia, Australian National University, Beijing Institute of Technology, China, climate, Emissions trading, emissions trading scheme, environment, Shenzhen, University of New South Wales

12/07/2013

How Shale Gas Can Save China From Itself

BusinessWeek: “For years the Chinese have been told that the blinding, sooty haze choking Beijing and other cities is the price of progress. Yet China’s appetite for energy is literally killing its people. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, based on data compiled between 1980 and 2000, estimated that pollution caused by burning coal stripped five years from the life expectancy of Chinese in the northern half of the country—a collective loss of 2.5 billion years. A separate study published in December in the Lancet attributed about a million deaths a year in China to air pollution.

Cars in Beijing travel on the road in heavy smog on March 7

Although other factors have contributed to the blackening of China’s skies—including millions of cars and motorbikes clogging roads—coal remains the deadliest. In the past decade, China’s coal consumption has more than doubled. It now burns almost as much coal as the rest of the world combined. In the first three months of the year, levels of PM-10 (particulates with a diameter of 10 micrometers or less) in Beijing were almost 30 percent greater than during the same period a year earlier.

By contrast, in the U.S. CO2 emissions hit an 18-year low in 2012. The reason? An explosion in shale gas production raised the share of electricity produced by natural gas from 20 percent to 30 percent, while bringing down the proportion produced by coal from 50 percent to 37 percent.

China’s recoverable shale gas reserves are estimated to be 25 trillion cubic meters, 50 percent larger than those of the U.S. The government has already announced subsidies to local shale gas producers; it should also help finance new pipelines and gas-fired power plants. Officials must lower barriers to entry and increase incentives to encourage the most innovative drilling companies—the majority of which are American—to work in China.

Shale is no silver bullet. In the near term, China will have to keep building coal-fired plants to meet its voracious energy demand. Yet failure to address coal pollution will condemn millions more Chinese to premature deaths. It’s hardly a choice.”

via Bloomberg View: How Shale Gas Can Save China From Itself – Businessweek.

China to reconsider shale target? (upi.com)
How shale gas can slow global climate change (csmonitor.com)
Australia has huge deposits of shale gas – but it won’t come cheap (guardian.co.uk)
Britain sees gold in shale gas and oil belts (triblive.com)
Not Just Cleaner: Fracking A Good Energy Return On Investment Also (americandailystandard.com)

Posted in carbon emission, China alert, Climate change, Economics, Environment, greenhouse gas, oil & gas, Pollution | 1 Comment »

Tags: Beijing, China, climate, co2 emissions, Coal, coal consumption, environment, gas producers, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Shale gas

06/06/2013

Beijing bike-sharing program needs more riders

Beijing copies London’s Boris Johnson but with less success.

China Daily: “There are 14,000 bicycles for rent in the city, and they’ve been used 700,000 times. More than 20 million people live in Beijing. Public rental bikes have been sitting idle as not enough riders use the service, some using the rental areas to park their own bicycles or electric vehicles. Also, the bicycle lanes are often used by cars, making cycling a dangerous option.

Beijing bike-sharing program needs more riders

Public bike rental service, aimed at providing an alternative, low-carbon transport service to residents, was first tried in Beijing’s Dongcheng and Chaoyang districts, which have high traffic flow, and the service was extended to Daxing and Yizhuang districts by the end of 2012

via Beijing bike-sharing program needs more riders[1]|chinadaily.com.cn.

Posted in carbon emission, China alert, Economics, greenhouse gas, Pollution, Transport | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Beijing, Bicycle, bicycle lanes, Bicycle sharing system, Cycling, environment, rental bikes, transportation

29/05/2013

China to issue new plan for air pollution control

China Daily: “China to issue new plan for air pollution control

A national plan for air pollution control could be outlined as early as this week, said 21cbh.com, a professional financial news website Tuesday.

The outline will target the reduction of air pollution on a national scale by establishing clear standards of air quality in different regions.

Coal plants, motor vehicles and dust that produce fine particulate matter will be the focus of strict control in the outline initiated by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, according to multiple sources who told the news website.

The overall plan has undergone multiple revisions and will be submitted to the State Council, China’s cabinet, for review by the end of this month, the Shanghai Securities News quoted Yang Tiesheng, deputy director of the energy saving department under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as saying on May 22.

The specific measures put forward by the plan include stipulating the declining rates of atmospheric pollutants such as PM2.5 (particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter), sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide in cities, the reduction of coal consumption throughout the country, as well as the promotion of using clean energy such as natural gas, while banning coal-fired power plants in cities and minimizing heavy-polluting vehicles.

The Yangtze River Delta region and the Pearl River Delta region will be the key areas of the new air pollution prevention campaign.

Roughly one million heavy-polluting vehicles, popularly known as “yellow label cars”, will be prohibited from driving on roads in Beijing, Tianjin municipality and Hebei province, which would reduce half of the PM2.5 by vehicle emissions alone, said one environmental expert as quoted by the news website.

The outline stipulates that air quality must “make substantial progress” in the upcoming five years rather than the next 20 years, a standard previously adhered to by big cities such as Beijing, according to a source from the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s economic planning body.

Grade II air quality stipulates the average concentration of PM2.5 over a 21 hour period should be between 35 to 75 milligrams per cubic meters, according to the latest standard made by the Ministry of Environmental Protection in 2012.”

via China to issue new plan for air pollution control |Politics |chinadaily.com.cn.

Posted in carbon emission, China alert, Economics, Environment, Green, greenhouse gas, Pollution | Leave a Comment »

Tags: air pollution prevention, Beijing, China, climate, environment, Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People's Republic of China, National Development and Reform Commission, Particulates, Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta

27/05/2013

* Beijing to shut coal-fired boilers to clean up air

China Daily Mail: “Beijing has vowed to eliminate most coal-fired boilers in the city center by the end of 2015 to reduce pollution from fine particulate matter, especially during the heating season.

Beijing to shut coal-fired boilers to clean up air

After reducing coal use by 700,000 metric tons last year, the capital plans to cut another 1.4 million tons this year and use no more than 21.5 million tons, according to the 2013 coal consumption reduction plan released by the city’s Environmental Protection Bureau and Commission of Development and Reform.

Workers with the Beijing District Heating Group destroy two coal delivery channels with cranes on April 25, marking the beginning of the transformation of energy from coal to gas in the last coal-burning power plant in Beijing. CHENG NING / FOR CHINA DAILY

The capital used 26.35 million tons of coal in 2010, the environmental bureau said.

Beijing still has a large number of coal-fired central heating boilers that give off large amounts of coal dust, and noise during the heating season.

Richard Saint Cyr, a family medicine doctor at United Family Health in Beijing, said he has noticed an uptick in discussions about the worsening air quality with many patients since winter.

He said that air pollution in the past winter was unusually serious and he had never witnessed such collective anxiety in Beijing.

Fine particulate matter poses a serious threat to people’s hearts and lungs, he said.”

via Beijing to shut coal-fired boilers to clean up air |Society |chinadaily.com.cn.

Posted in carbon emission, China alert, Economics, Environment, greenhouse gas, Pollution | Leave a Comment »

Tags: air pollution, Beijing, central heating boilers, China, Coal, coal consumption, coal fired boilers, environmental protection bureau, Fossil-fuel power station, National Development and Reform Commission

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