The Beijing Municipality will take new measures to raise the
number of days of good air quality to 67 percent and cut down the
emission of sulfur dioxide by 10 percent in 2007, according to
information from the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau.
To bring the coal-burning pollutants under control, the city
will use new energies to replace coal for the 1,105 remaining
boilers under 20 tons in the downtown area. For the 20,000 families
living in one-story houses in the Dongcheng and Xicheng districts,
coal will be substituted by electricity. Coal, now used by the
residents living within the Fifth-Ring Road, an area where urban
and rural areas overlap, will also be gradually replaced by other
energies.
To control vehicle pollutants, authorities are going to enforce
the IV national emission standard for new vehicles in 2008. In
addition, a total of 2,580 old buses and 5,000 taxis and other
highly polluting vehicles will be taken off the roads.
New measures will be taken to control industrial pollution. The
city's five coal-burning power plants will complete their dust
removal, desulfuration and denitration plans. The Capital Steel
Plant will have to cut down production by 4 million tons, while the
No II Chemical Plant and the Organic Chemical Plant will stop
production altogether.
Since 1988 Beijing has gone through 12 phases of air quality
control. During the 13th phase in 2007, the city will also strive
to control dust pollution, protect its ecological environment and
promote the "Green Olympics" concepts.
(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2007)
