China fails to improve air pollution woes

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-03-16

Smog in Beijing, Feb. 26. (Photo/CNS)

Beijing has been grappling with bouts of heavy air pollution since March 9, with the city being shrouded in smog once again. Although the central and local governments have made great efforts to cope with air pollution, the problem seems to have deteriorated mainly due to the inefficient implementation of related air pollution control measures, according to the Economic Information Daily under the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

A solution to the air pollution problem has been bogged down by slow progress in upgrading the quality and quantity of oil products and modifying industrial structures, and by conflicting interests among various-level governments coping with the problem, the report said.

China announced tighter motor fuel standards in a bid to reduce harmful emissions and after its long-standing smog problem passed the tipping point — throwing much of the country into a persistent blanket of hazardous yellow air for the past two years. The standards, however, will not be fully enforced for another four years.

The State Council, China's cabinet, has mandated that sulphur content for both petrol and diesel be set at no more than 10 parts per million (ppm) by 2017, a reduction from the current 50 ppm, according to a government statement issued last year.

Burning fuel with sulphur produces sulphur dioxide, a major air pollutant.

The task of China's major oil companies in upgrading oil quality is slow and daunting. To meet the new standards, firms will have to upgrade their refineries in order to offer cleaner fuel to Chinese consumers, a venture that will require enormous capital and a long period of waiting before making a return on the investment, an analyst said.

The chief cause behind increases in China's smog emissions was the air pollution caused by fossil fuel combustion.

The fundamental method for tackling air pollution is adjusting energy infrastructure and consumption patterns to reduce burning carbon-intensive coal and other fossil fuels, an expert said.

According to data, while the consumption volume of coal and fossil fuels in major industrialized countries and big energy consumers has been declining, China's consumption volume has grown more than 20-fold over the last half a century. The country needs to invest more money and resources into the development of renewal energy, experts said.

Expert Liu Hanyuan attributed the country's slow development in this sector to the government's overly conservative policy for promoting renewable energy.

On the other hand, the central and local governments' failure to fully implement their policies for air pollution control and clashing interests involved in executing these policies are also factors hurting the outcome of efforts made to improve air pollution, Liu said.

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