How China Is (Surprise!) Winning Its War On Air Pollution

[Hamartia Antidote]

How China Is (Surprise!) Winning Its War On Air Pollution

....A separate analysis by Berkeley Earth found an 8 percent year-on-year decrease across much of the country during April-November 2015, though the group cautioned that it was too early to call it a definitive trend.

Credit for those gains goes to falling demand for coal as Chinese heavy industry slumps -

I'm sure @ultron has a few words in regards to steel on that.

 

[TaiShang]

And yet China's overall energy production and consumption grows steadily along with efficiency and the percentage of high-end goods.

Credit goes to the entire nation.

@Shotgunner51

 

[AndrewJin]

And yet China's overall energy production and consumption grows steadily along with efficiency and the percentage of high-end goods.

Credit goes to the entire nation.

@Shotgunner51

Energy consumption/GDP ratio is decreasing rapidly!

 

[TaiShang]

Energy consumption/GDP ratio is decreasing rapidly!

Which means growing effiency.

Of course this is lost to US-led anti-China mouthpieces.

 

[Solomon2]

The falling demand of coal is a positive signal to China, it is primarily driven by power generation from other resources, plus higher efficiency on coal power plant -

The world is complicated. The drop in Chinese coal consumption and growing pollution controls on its coal-fired power plants is expected to exacerbate global warming, especially in China: link. Given China's growing prosperity, the demand for air conditioners will likely increase, which in turn increases the need for electricity, which in turn increases demand for power generation, some of it polluting...

Personally, I think pollution controls on cement plants are most important and I'd like to know what China is doing about that.

 

[nang2]

Personally, I think pollution controls on cement plants are most important and I'd like to know what China is doing about that.

I know some of it. It is simple. Shift the production somewhere else.

 

[Solomon2]

I know some of it. It is simple. Shift the production somewhere else.

Then you have to ship it to where it's needed, thus creating extra pollution and congestion (which leads to more pollution).

 

[theniubt]

 

[nang2]

Then you have to ship it to where it's needed, thus creating extra pollution and congestion (which leads to more pollution).

It is the concentration of pollution that is the most problematic. Reducing it gives you a quick remedy.

 

[GS Zhou]

I know some of it. It is simple. Shift the production somewhere else.

To be frankly, shift the production location is not a good idea. Cement is a very typical "low value, heavy weight" stuff, the economic radius of cement is about 200km, i.e. if you move the cement to another location that >200km away, the transportation cost very likely to be higher than the cost of the cement itself.

Personally, I think pollution controls on cement plants are most important and I'd like to know what China is doing about that.

Government employs two approaches to control the pollution from cement plants:

1. Eliminate backward production capacity：
According to government planning, 370 million tons capacity of the cement industry should be eliminated during the period 2011 to 2015. 370 million tons is a huge number, e.g. India, global 2nd largest cement manufacturer, its annual cement production is about 280 million tons.

2. Stricter emission standards for the plants:
Government makes stricter standard for the industry, e.g. NOx limitation reduced from 800mg/m3 to 400mg/m3. For new capacity, the new standard took effective from March 2014; for existing capacity, it took effective from July 2015.

Effects expected:
according to the government calculation, the expected effects from the two approaches are:
- total PM emission from the cement industry reduced by about 31~39%
- total NOx emission from the cement industry reduced by about 45~52%

Hope it answers your question.

 

[ultron]

I'm sure @ultron has a few words in regards to steel on that.

I'm all for getting rid of pollution like SO4 which causes smog and acid rain. CO2 is not pollution.

 

[nang2]

I'm all for getting rid of pollution like SO4 which causes smog and acid rain. CO2 is not pollution.

It is now.

 

[ultron]

It is now.

Only in the US and it will be taken off EPA's pollutants list by Trump

 

[nang2]

Only in the US and it will be taken off EPA's pollutants list by Trump

Let me guess. You are going to vote for Trump?

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Let me guess. You are going to vote for Trump?

He's in Canada (don't let the flags fool you)