One area the government has yet to touch is to replace clean diesel engines in trucks. According to a research document from the Ministry of Environmental Protection, trucks were 5 percent of China's 19.3 million vehicles last year but emitted more than 60 percent of particulate matter from all vehicles.
"China isn't importing clean diesel. It's refining it," said David Vance Wagner, senior researcher at the nonprofit International Council on Clean Transportation. "The main problem is that the big state-owned oil companies are not properly incentivized to upgrade their refineries and provide higher-quality diesel."
Currently, the price of fuel at the pump is fixed by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The bad air quality has prompted the Ministry of Finance and NDRC to negotiate with the oil companies about subsidies in order to encourage high-quality fuel. The government's endowment is expected to be decided soon.
With the bits and pieces done, Beijing residents are still awaiting a solution that would hit the heart of the problem: the need for efficient regional collaboration.
Before the Olympics, Beijing officials relocated a large number of factories to Hebei province and Tianjin, the city next to the capital, in order to ensure that thousands of tourists flocking into the city could see the blue sky. But the key issue of cutting cumulative emissions has yet to be handled.
Disconnect between local and national efforts
"The pollution is regionally produced," Earley said. "Beijing has to cooperate with Hebei," given the rough relationship between the Hebei government and Beijing government, which is said to regard itself as superior due to its close proximity to the central government.
Then there is the "secondary pollution," which is the chemicals that emerge after the sun heats pollutants as they mix in the atmosphere. No one is responsible for clearing that up under the current laws and operations of the government.
The disconnection between provincial governments is one hurdle at the micro level. A national plan to smooth the expansion of alternative energy is another test.
China's connected wind capacity has grown from 1.3 gigawatts in 2005 to 60 GW by the end of 2012, driven by a feed-in tariff and decreasing cost. The country has also created a feed-in tariff for solar and upgraded the 2020 solar development target from 20 GW to 50 GW.
But, according to He, the challenge for renewables in China is to build a smart grid that is friendly enoug
Reprinted from Climatewire with permission from Environment & Energy Publishing, LLC. www.eenews.net, 202-628-6500
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9 Comments
Add CommentWe all know that the large environmental challenges also spawn evolution.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMaybe will see something like the Morlocks evolve in China since it will be so dark there that huge big eyed creatures might take hold.......
Just kidding.
Morlocks! Hahahahaha! I love it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThey're literally choking on their own success. The real disaster is they volunteered for this consequence - a quarter of a century ago, the examples of Europe and America already told them not to base their growth on 'the fireplace'. Instead they embraced cheapest-production sources. It's a pity the rulers and players can't be held accountable to the people suffering for it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs China faces the dire consequences of largely unregulated growth it will have to implement some standards and restrictions to protect it's people and environment. China's lack of regulation has been a big contributor to its competitive edge, as projects are easier and less expensive to carry out when there's no restrictions or oversight.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo how will China fare in the world economy when it's regulatory environment starts to look more like those of western nations? Will China's rampant corruption spill over to where regulators become extortionists? This is a much more complicated economic situation than what China has now... it will be interesting to see what happens.
I am hopeful that this record Smog Nightmare will prompt Chinese officials to implement effective policies and environmental regulations that will greatly reduce the amount of air (and water)pollution in China. Doing so will cost the Chinese people some money (as well as the rest of the world who buy cheap Chinese products), but doing so will prompt innovation and show good example to the rest of the world that will ultimately improve quality of life.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHow quickly you forget that the USA had one of the worst environmental track records until several "Liberal" (by today's standards anyway) policies like the Clean Air Act and the Clean Drinking Water Act were passed. If you think China's environmental probelms stem from too much regulation, you are delusional. You do know which party has been rabidly anti-regulation (except for what people do with their own bodies), right?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMore seriously considering political implications, especially international, it would be very interesting to poll other nearby international cites (Tokyo, Manila, etc.) downwind of China to determine whether their air quality is being effected by China's policies...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisY'all do realize, I hope, that the Chinese government has absolute power? Nothing other countries, or their own people, do (think Tiananmen square) will influence their decisions. They will do whatever They determine will most benefit Them. They are enjoying the benefits of favorable trade with the rest of the world for now, but they are not dependent on it and have a long memory. They could still reclose the borders if they so chose and we could do nothing about it. Absolute power, it corrupts absolutely.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThey are utterly dependent on international trade to prop up their growth. When taking these environmental nightmares into account, they HAVE to grow at 8% or more per year just to "cancel" them out...As if environmental destruction, rampant health problems and thousands of premature deaths per year can be "cancelled out" by exporting more cheap, plastic crap, but I digress...
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