Beijing’s war on pollution

When air pollution is causing more than 3.7 million deaths a year and costing the global economy over $3.5tr a year in sickness and premature deaths, not to mention the effect on climate change, something must be done. In China there is growing public unrest. BusinessGreen provides a good article on how coal consumption in China is dropping. Yet, Beijing remains one of the most polluted cities globally and one has to worry that these efforts may be too little too late.

Beijing’s coal use drops seven per cent over first half of 2014

Beijing cut coal consumption seven per cent in the first half of this year according to state media as the Chinese capital battles the smog that has besieged it over recent years.

Public unrest over Beijing’s toxic air led the central government to declare a nationwide “war on pollution”, which has seen city authorities close or relocate hundreds of factories, replace aging coal-fired plants with gas-fired plants and renewable energy, raise vehicle emissions standards, and introduce London-style congestion charges.

News agency Reuters reported the city is on track to deliver a cut of seven per cent on the 19 million tonnes of coal Beijing consumed last year, amounting to savings of 1.33 million tonnes and putting the city halfway towards its target of reducing total coal use by 2.6 million tonnes in 2014. By 2017, it aims to pare down consumption to less than 10 million tonnes a year and reports last week suggested coal could be ditched entirely by 2020.

The Beijing environmental bureau said the city had also cut total sulphur dioxide emissions by 5.43 per cent over the first six months of the year, during which period it took 176,000 substandard vehicles off the road.

According to Reuters, previous data issued by the Ministry of Environmental Protection showed concentrations of hazardous airborne particles known as PM2.5 in Beijing stood at 91.6 micrograms (mcg) per cubic metre in the first half of this year, an 11.2 per cent drop year on year, but still more than twice as high as the recommended national standard of 35 mcg.

In related news, the first major clean air certification and partnership programme to encourage air quality protection in cities across the Asia-Pacific region was launched late last week.

The Cities Clean Air Partnership is backed by the US Environmental Protection Agency, Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration, Clean Air Asia, and the Bay Area and South Coast Air Districts. It aims to help cities in California and around the US collaborate with cities in Asia-Pacific to share experiences and innovations that reduce and control air pollution.

“The EPA, California, and cities from LA to Fresno have decades of experience in reducing harmful air pollution,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “But air pollution is still causing more than 3.7 million deaths a year and costing the global economy over $3.5tr a year in sickness and premature deaths. This partnership is taking a huge step forward to reduce global air pollution and achieve more liveable, healthier cities for all.”