Chai Fahe, deputy director of the China Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, said that even in distant suburban areas of Beijing pollution remains heavy because coal is used for heating and rules are not being enforced strictly.
Advertisement
News of the seizure came as air pollution has engulfed the capital, Beijing, with authorities declaring a “red alert” there because of dangerously high levels of smog.
Also, a revised plan adopted by the city to cut emissions in an emergency proved a significant step back from an earlier plan, it added, but did not say why the plan had been revised.
With conditions forcing drivers to use headlights by mid-day, Beijing has become a frightening image of a society overrun by air pollution, and the adoption of EVs may not happen fast enough.
The density of PM 2.5, tiny and particularly hazardous airborne particles, averaged 74 microgrammes per cubic meter in the first 11 months this year, down by 16.6 percent from last year.
Beijing started joint inspections with neighboring Tianjin municipality and Hebei province in November.
Yang Chongyong, executive vice governor of Hebei, said emergency measures could lower the pollution level by 20 to 30 percent. Communist Party leaders have promised to change the scenario, but people think it would many years to see that change.
The alert in Beijing temporarily shut down construction sites, a rampant source of dust, banned private cars from roads, and required children to stay home from school.
Wang Cheng is a business man in Beijing.
Speaking of the costs involved in reducing emissions, Li Jisheng, head of Taiyuan environment inspection squad said, “A 300,000-kilowatt power station can save 200,000 yuan each day if it stops using desulfurization and dedusting equipment”. “The fundamental issue is Hebei’s coal-based economy and industrial structure”.
Advertisement
China’s capital registered a boom in online orders for condoms and sportswear rather than masks and air purifiers, state media reported on Wednesday, as the city of over 22 million people reeled under the first-ever red alert for rising levels of pollution.
