North China's Tianjin Municipality plans this year to provide clean gas engines for more than 10,000 vehicles in the city, in an attempt to reduce by half air pollution caused by car exhausts.
According to the related local government departments, among the 10,000 vehicles are 500 buses, 1,800 taxis, and a large number of postal service vehicles.
Adoption of clean gas engines will cut-out 80 percent of carbon monoxide and 50 percent of hydrocarbon in the vehicle exhausts, said experts. Due to the steady increase of oil prices, the substitution of gas fuel for petrol is also believed to reduce fuel costs by 20 percent.
Tianjin has about 800,000 vehicles including about 2,800 buses and 30,000 taxis, which started using lead-free gasoline at the end of last year.
To find practical and cost-effective measures to reduce vehicle emissions, earlier this year China launched a Clean Car Campaign, promoting cleaner fuels, natural gas engines, and development research on electric cars.
(eastday.com 10/18/2000)
