Beijing goes 'all-out' against air pollution(2)

In September, Beijing unveiled a five-year plan (2013- 2017)to improve air quality through measures such as cutting coal consumption, promoting clean energy use and reducing production capacities with heavy pollution.

The capital's 2013-2017 plan aims to cut annual coal consumption by 13 million tonnes and keep it within 10 million tonnes by 2017, compared with 23 million tonnes in 2012.

The city will slash its cement production capacity to 4 million tonnes in 2017, from 10 million tonnes in the early period of the 12th five-year development plan from 2011 to 2015.

Beijing's average PM2.5 index stood at 89.5 micrograms per cubic meter in 2013, more than double the new national standard of 35. The city only began monitoring for PM2.5 last year.

It still has a long way to go to realize the target of a yearly PM2.5 density of 60 micrograms per cubic meter in 2017.

A draft regulation on air pollution treatment and prevention will be reviewed at the legislative session. The regulation, the first of its kind for Beijing, includes emission controls on the total amounts of major air pollutants.

"These are different pollution treatment measures to be adopted in accordance with the distribution of current pollution sources," said Lu Jianru, a legal affairs official with the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau.

A law should also be framed for promoting green energy, as the poor energy consumption structure has been an important factor causing smog, said Mao Daqing, vice president of Vanke Group, a leading property developer.

Technological barriers remain in place and general standards are lacking in the green energy sector, which needs government support, said Mao, also a member of the municipal political advisory body.

"The government has attached great importance to environmental problems in the past year, but there has been no final conclusion on the causes of smog," pointed out Wang Huiwen, professor in economics and management at Beihang University.

Relevant departments should conduct an in-depth study of the causes of smog and the sources of pollution in order to adjust industrial structure to control air pollutants, said Wang, also the city's political advisor.

"Technological tools should be used in air quality monitoring," according to Wu Guiying, a municipal lawmaker.

And Liu Yibing, political advisor and atomic energy researcher, said regulations and orders should be better implemented. He suggested that Beijing has not made the achievements it should have in tackling smog.

International cooperation has also been carried out with the aim of reducing pollution. In June, China and Finland signed a plan to promote advanced clean technologies.