China to invest S$348b to curb air pollution: State media

[CityFarmer]

One of the casualties of air pollution in China...

Smog takes toll on China’s tourism

BEIJING — China, one of the most visited countries in the world, has seen sharply fewer tourists this year — with worsening air pollution partly to blame.

Numbers of foreign visitors have declined following January’s “Airpocalypse”, when already eye-searing levels of smog soared to new highs.

Tourists have been put off by news about smog and other problems, said Mr Frano Ilic of travel agency Studiosus in Munich, Germany. He said the number of people booking trips to China through his company has fallen 16 per cent this year.

“You are reading about smog. You are reading about political things,” said Mr Ilic. “All the news which is coming from China concerning the non-touristic things are bad, frankly speaking.”

China is the world’s No 3 destination for international travel after France and the United States.

http://www.todayonline.com/chinaindia/ch...as-tourism

[CityFarmer]

The war against PM2.5, has serious impact on car industrial, and its supply chain e.g. China Sunsine Chemicals. The near zero growth in car population, and encouragement of drive less frequently, will reduce demand on tyre, thus rubber...

Hmm...

China to limit new car sales to battle pollution

BEIJING — The Chinese authorities unveiled yet another slew of measures yesterday to curb a choking pollution problem in the capital, including limiting the number of new vehicles on the roads and closing or upgrading the facilities of 1,200 companies.

Smoggy Beijing has tried everything from shutting factories to a massive subway-building programme as it battles a severe air pollution problem, but with little apparent effect.

The latest measures are part of a broader plan to reduce the city’s density of harmful particles in the air by at least 25 per cent by 2017.

“It’s a declaration of war against PM2.5,” the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said on its website, referring to the tiny particles in the air that pose the greatest risk to human health.

The government has been increasingly alarmed by social unrest caused by environmental disasters and threats to public health, often the result of breakneck industrial expansion and mass migration to new cities.

In the newly unveiled measures, Beijing will place tougher restrictions on the number of new vehicles allowed on the roads each year, curbing annual growth to nearly zero.

The government aims to cap the number of vehicles in the city at six million by the end of 2017, compared with 5.35 million by the end of July, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Beijing also aims to reduce total vehicle fuel consumption by at least 5 per cent from last year, by promoting the sale of new energy and small vehicles, and encouraging people to drive less frequently. From next year, it will also restrict the number of vehicles allowed in specific areas during certain times of the day.

“In order to curb vehicle emissions, we have to introduce a market mechanism to reduce the intensity of vehicle use,” Xinhua quoted city environmental official Li Kunsheng as saying.

Beijing, along with other three cities — Shanghai, Guangzhou and Guiyang — is already subject to new car sales restrictions, while eight more cities plan to follow suit.

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http://www.todayonline.com/chinaindia/ch...-pollution

[CityFarmer]

Most of the measures already implemented in Beijing... If the same measures implemented across big cities in China, the impact on automobile sector is significant...

Beijing mulls congestion fee to curb car ownership, air pollution

BEIJING — Faced with often catastrophic air pollution, Beijing is considering charging car owners a congestion fee.

A notice in Chinese published on the government’s website late on Monday said the city is mulling a policy to impose a congestion fee on car owners as it aims to keep fewer than six million vehicles licensed by the end of 2017, from about 5.35 million now.

“Whoever pollutes the air is responsible to clean it up,” the state-run China Daily yesterday quoted Mr Fang Li, spokesman for the Environmental Protection Bureau, as saying. The notice did not specify how the fees would be imposed or paid.

Auto emissions account for one-third of PM2.5 — particulate matter measuring less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter — in most congested areas in Beijing.

The notice said the fee is part of the city’s broader five-year plan to clean up its heavily polluted air, which also targets power plants, oil refiners, cement-makers and restaurants. The municipal government has pledged to reduce the density of PM2.5 by at least 25 per cent by 2017.

Beijing has already distributed licence plates through lotteries to curb car sales. It has also restricted the use of motor vehicles by banning private cars one workday a week based on the last digit of the licence plate.
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http://www.todayonline.com/chinaindia/ch...-pollution

[egghead]

I view congestion and air pollution as two different problems although they may be related to the same thing - vehicles. To control pollution, cars can switch to more efficient fuel such as CNG, hybrid or EV. A government subsidy in EV plus investment in charging infrastructure can do wonders to reduce pollution without necessarily reducing congestion.

[CityFarmer]

I view congestion and air pollution as two different problems although they may be related to the same thing - vehicles. To control pollution, cars can switch to more efficient fuel such as CNG, hybrid or EV. A government subsidy in EV plus investment in charging infrastructure can do wonders to reduce pollution without necessarily reducing congestion.

I agree, but urgency is the key consideration imo. No quicker solution than curbing the car population, to solve both the issues of air pollution (due to car) and congestion.

[egghead]

Yah, but I won't consider 2017 as a time line target as urgent.

[CityFarmer]

Yah, but I won't consider 2017 as a time line target as urgent.

The urgency may not entirely from 2017 target, but a increasing pressure from general public... imo

[CityFarmer]

Part of the effort to fight air pollution...

China offers rewards to six regions to fight air pollution

BEIJING — China said today (Oct 14) it would give rewards amounting to 5 billion yuan (S$1 billion) for curbing air pollution in six regions where the problem is serious, underscoring government concern about a source of public anger.

The Finance Ministry said the regions eligible for the rewards were Beijing and its neighbouring city of Tianjin, the provinces of Hebei, Shanxi and Shandong, as well as the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The awards would be made at the end of the year and would be determined by pollution reduction targets, investment in tackling the problem and falls in Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 particles, which are especially bad for health, the ministry said on its website.
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http://www.todayonline.com/chinaindia/ch...-pollution