China's 127 major cities plan to ban cement mixing at
construction sites in an effort to protect the environment and
reduce energy consumption, the Ministry of Commerce announced on
Wednesday.
Ten cities, namely Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou,
Nanjing, Zhenzhou, Dalian, Shenzhen, Changzhou and Huludao, will
begin carrying out the plan from September 1. The other 117 cities
will start over the following two years.
Jiang Zengwei, vice minister of the ministry, said the country
will phase out bag-packed cement for concrete mixers by promoting
the production and use of bulk cement and dried mortar, which can
be directly used as building materials when only mixed with water.
The move will improve energy efficiency and reduce pollution and
noises in the cities, he said.
In most of the country's cities, concrete mixers are used at
construction sites to make concrete by mixing cement, sand and
water, which creates large amounts of dust pollution and wastes
resources.
Preliminary estimates show 8.07 million tons of standard coal
were saved and there was a reduction of 1.85 million tons of dust
and 26.8 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2006 by promoting the
use of bulk cement.
The ministry said the bulk cement was expected to account for 55
percent of the country's total cement consumption in 2010, compared
with nearly 40 percent in 2006.
The government has set the target of reducing energy consumption
per unit of GDP by 20 percent between 2006 and 2010.
(Xinhua News Agency August 2, 2007)
