Plan to replace more than 50pc of its combustion engine fleet would reduce dangerous air pollution |
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| Fiona Tam Mar 13, 2012 |
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In a bid to become China’s electric vehicle capital, Shenzhen has set a goal to replace more than 50 per cent of its combustion engine buses with electric or hybrid ones by 2015, a move that would reduce air pollution, especially of dangerous fine respirable particles. Shenzhen mayor Xu Qin said during the current National People’s Congress in Beijing that within three years the city would ban from the road all vehicles that failed to meet the country’s advanced emission standards. The “green” credentials of electric cars is controversial. Some researchers say that only when renewable sources – such as solar, wind or hydropower – are used in making the car and generating the electricity to run it will emissions truly fall to zero. Nevertheless, Xu said adopting electric would greatly reduce air pollution in Shenzhen, which ranks second to Beijing as having the most vehicles on the mainland. “Electric cars consume electricity rather than petrol, so at least there’ll be zero emission of PM2.5 from the public transport system,” he was quoted as saying by yesterday’s Nanfang Daily. PM2.5 refers to respirable suspended particulates of 2.5 microns or less, which include cancer-causing particles. Xu said 3,000 electric or hybrid vehicles were put into use in Shenzhen last year, and a further 2,000 were planned for this year. Shenzhen’s transport commission said earlier that the city planned to put on the road 5,000 hybrid and 1,000 electric buses, and 3,000 electric taxis, by the end of 2015. This could cut 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, The Economic Observer reported. According to Shenzhen’s environmental protection bureau, the city’s roughly 2.3 million vehicles emitted nearly 50 per cent of total PM2.5 and nitrogen oxides. Official figures suggest that 23 per cent of the city’s emissions come from its 13,000 buses and 14,000 taxis. Professor Eric Cheng, a specialist in electric vehicles at Polytechnic University, said Hong Kong, which offers fewer government subsidies to promote use of electric vehicles, was unlikely to follow Shenzhen’s example. “Everybody wants such a move,” he said. “But it’s nearly impossible for Hong Kong’s privately owned bus operators to replace half of their vehicles with electric or hybrid ones, as the cost is too high. Without abundant government subsidies, it could take a decade for Hong Kong’s bus companies to replace half of the buses with electric or hybrid ones.” Although coal accounts for more than 80 per cent of the fuel mix in China’s power plants, Cheng said: “Filters in power plants are much more advanced than those on buses or taxis, and the percentage of electricity from coal will surely decrease if we have an eye on the future.” In Shenzhen, every electric bus put on the road has received a one million yuan (HK$1.22 million) subsidy since 2010, half from the central government and half from Shenzhen’s. Subsidies for hybrid buses have increased from 300,000 to 600,000 yuan last year. |
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Roadside
Half Shenzhen’s buses to be electric or hybrid
Vehicle pollution increases risk of stroke – Autos.ca
http://www.autos.ca/general-news/vehicle-pollution-increases-risk-of-stroke
February 15, 2012
Boston, Massachusetts – Air pollution, primarily from vehicle exhaust, increases the risk of stroke by 34 per cent even at levels generally considered safe by U.S. federal regulations, according to researchers at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
Writing in the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers who studied more than 1,700 stroke patients in the Boston area over a ten-year period found that exposure to ambient fine particulate matter, generally from vehicle traffic, was associated with a significantly higher risk of ischemic strokes on days when the EPA’s air quality index for particulate matter was in the yellow warning zone instead of green.
The researchers focused on particles with a diameter of 2.5 millionths of a meter, known asPM2.5. These come from a variety of sources, including trucks, automobiles, power plants, factories, and burning wood. They can travel deeply into the lungs and have been associated in other studies with increased numbers of hospital visits for cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks.
“The link between increased stroke risk and these particulates can be observed within hours of exposure and are most strongly associated with pollution from local or transported traffic emissions,” said Dr. Murray Mittleman, the study’s senior author. “Any proposed changes in regulated pollution levels must consider the impact of lower levels on public health.”
The researchers used the patients’ medical records and matched the onset of stroke symptoms in each patient to hourly measurements of particulate air pollution taken at the nearby Harvard School of Public Health’s environmental monitoring station. The team was able to estimate the hour the stroke systems first occurred, rather than when patients were admitted to the hospital.
The team was able to calculate that the peak risk to patients from pollution exposure occurs 12 to 14 hours before a stroke. They also found that black carbon and nitrogen dioxide, two pollutants associated with vehicle traffic, were closely linked with stroke risk, suggesting that pollution from cars and trucks may be particularly important.
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A poor disconnect on air quality
South China Morning Post
Edward Yau Tang-wah, our secretary for environment, is fond of saying when discussing air quality objectives that it’s useful to have them as a standard but you must also have effective means for achieving them. You never feel that he really gets it. The thinking behind air quality objectives is that if they are exceeded, public health is damaged. Hong Kong’s objectives are way below World Health Organisation guidelines so the danger to public health from roadside pollution is much greater than indicated by the Environmental Protection Department’s index. But Yau’s approach is to say that we should match the objectives to the measures we are prepared to take to improve the air. His actions indicate he thinks it’s okay to keep the threat to public health at the current dangerously high levels because he and the government are not prepared to take radical measures to quickly improve air quality.
As everyone knows, the dirty engines in buses and trucks cause 80 to 90 per cent of roadside pollution. These old engines need to be taken off the streets – it’s not difficult to achieve. As Civic Exchange pointed out in its report last week, one of the governmental problems is that many years ago the Secretary for Health had oversight over the Air Pollution Control Ordinance and air quality objectives, and could speak with a much stronger voice to the Legislative Council on the dangers to public health of bad air. This disconnect is poor government.
Clearly lagging
South China Morning Post – Jan 19, 2012
Mike Kilburn fears air pollution in Hong Kong could get even worse, given the latest evidence that clean-up measures are proving ineffective and officials are failing in their duty to protect public health
This month marks a major watershed for air quality in Hong Kong. At the beginning of the month, the Environmental Protection Department said that roadside pollution last year was the worst on record. At the same time, Clean Air Network presented a table from the China Statistical Yearbook 2011 ranking Hong Kong’s nitrogen dioxide levels (a key indicator of roadside pollution) 31st out of 32 major cities in China – only Urumqi was worse. This is especially embarrassing considering that Hong Kong has a service-based economy with very little industry – and correspondingly fewer sources of pollution than any other city on the list.
Adding insult to injury, the mainland pre-empted the long-delayed release of Hong Kong’s air quality objectives by announcing its own. This was embarrassing for Hong Kong officials who, by dithering for two years since consulting the public on a set of draft objectives, have forfeited Hong Kong’s position as the pacesetter for introducing tougher air quality standards in China. The Ministry of Environmental Protection’s air quality objectives are very similar to those proposed by Hong Kong, but they differ in three important aspects.
First, the ministry has proposed an additional 24-hour limit for nitrogen dioxide of 80 micrograms per cubic metre that is not included in Hong Kong’s objectives. This means the mainland’s standards for this key pollutant are even tougher than Hong Kong’s.
Second, by publishing a set of targets that most, if not all, major cities will take years to achieve, the ministry has signalled its understanding of the powerful role targets can play in driving down pollution – something our officials have yet to grasp. In a radio interview broadcast last year, Secretary for the Environment Edward Yau Tang-wah insisted that “apart from setting a target, you have to have a way to achieve it”.
As mainland leaders have shown, the target can certainly precede the plan for attainment, and two years were lost while Donald Tsang Yam-kuen’s administration tried to figure out how to meet the air quality objectives it proposed in 2009.
Third, even though concentrations of respirable suspended particles of 2.5 microns or less (PM2.5) in many mainland cities are more than double those in Hong Kong, the ministry has set the standard for PM2.5 at the same level as Hong Kong’s – 35 micrograms. As with the target for nitrogen dioxide, this sends a strong message that protecting public health has been accorded a high priority by Beijing.
Conversely, in a May 2011 meeting of the Legislative Council, frustrated lawmakers suggested that the government had not released the new air quality objectives because it feared that major infrastructure projects may fail to meet the new standard. In his response, Tsang appeared to confirm this view: “We must carefully assess the economic and social impacts of any new air quality objectives on Hong Kong. It is only by doing so that we can put forward any long-term and firmly established air quality objectives that are appropriate to all works projects and economic development.”
But there is clear evidence that Hong Kong’s poor air quality is now threatening economic health as well as the well-being of the public. Last September, the Airport Authority released a report expressing concern that high nitrogen dioxide emissions from aircraft using a third runway would create difficulties in securing approvals under the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance, and could not legally go ahead.
In a similar vein, it was concerns about the health impacts of added traffic on the proposed bridge to Macau and Zhuhai that provoked a judicial review that held up the project.
This week, the government acted. On Tuesday, Yau announced that new air quality objectives for Hong Kong had been approved by the Executive Council and would become law in 2014. These are identical to the objectives put out for public consultation in 2009, raising serious questions about what has been achieved by the two-year delay.
The government’s press release also included a rather cryptic statement referring to new infrastructure projects, saying that “all government projects for which environmental impact assessment studies have not yet commenced would endeavour to adopt the proposed new air quality objectives as the benchmark”.
Environmental assessments follow a statutory process that permits approval of projects if their emissions do not exceed the current air standards. The ordinance makes no allowance to “endeavour” to adopt a new standard, and the director of environmental protection would very swiftly find herself back in court were she to require proponents to meet air quality objectives that were yet to be legally adopted. Hence, regrettably, those fine-sounding words are essentially hollow.
Meanwhile, the need to address air pollution grows more urgent. The University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health and Civic Exchange have launched a revised version of the Hedley Environmental Index. The refined calculations of health impacts indicate that an average of 3,200 premature deaths have occurred each year over the past five years, up from the previous estimate of 1,000 deaths per year.
So what can we conclude? In short, our air quality can get worse, and officials are fudging the issue rather than making it better. The clean-up measures introduced to reduce pollution are failing in key areas – especially at the roadside. The consequences for our health are far worse than we imagined.
The officials whose job it is to improve air quality do not understand the key tools of their trade, and appear more concerned with perpetuating development than protecting public health. It is hardly surprising that Hong Kong has lost its position as the environmental leader in China.
Mike Kilburn is head of environmental strategy for public policy think tank Civic Exchange
Roadside pollution is worse than ever
South China Morning Post – 9 Jan 2012
Time to update 24-year-old air quality objectives, greens say; officials blame weather and old vehicles
Hong Kong’s roadside pollution levels were the worst ever last year, according to the Environmental Protection Department.
Readings at the three roadside monitoring stations in Central, Causeway Bay and Mong Kok showed that pollution levels were above the 100 mark more than 20 per cent of the time. This was 10 times worse than in 2005, when very high readings were recorded only 2 per cent of the time.
Exposure to bad air pollution can cause or aggravate respiratory problems or heart disease.
Environmentalists renewed their calls for the immediate introduction of new air quality objectives, claiming that the government had deliberately delayed their introduction to ease the way for major infrastructure projects.
The department blamed the figures on unfavourable weather conditions, worsening background pollution and the ageing vehicles on our streets.
It said a number of measures were in the pipeline to improve air quality, while the new air quality objectives would be tabled to the legislature as soon as possible.
At the roadside stations, hourly readings are taken throughout the year on major pollutants such as respirable suspended particles and nitrogen oxides. A reading over 100 means at least one pollutant fails the air quality objectives.
The station in Central showed the worst figures, with excessive readings a quarter of the time, followed by Causeway Bay at 21 per cent, and Mong Kok at 17 per cent.
The total number of hours with excessive readings was even more than in 2010, when a sandstorm hit the city in March and pushed up the figures. In that year the three stations had an average excess API reading of 17 per cent.
Pollution readings at 11 general stations, which reflect more background and regional pollution, however, remained steady and similar to previous years.
The department said increased nitrogen dioxide levels at the roadside and poor weather conditions were behind the worsening air pollution readings. While other pollutants such as sulphur dioxide have fallen, the department said the nitrogen dioxide level by the roadside has reached the highest since 1999, at 123 micrograms per cubic metre of air.
It said the increase was related to the formation of photochemical smog, which was more active last year because there was 16 per cent more sunshine. The lack of rainfall, down by almost 40 per cent on 2010, was another unfavourable factor as it lessened the removal of pollutants from the air.
To combat the nitrogen dioxide pollution, a department spokeswoman said, catalytic reduction devices were being tested on older buses, while remote sensing technology would be used to strengthen the control of petrol and LPG vehicles.
James Middleton of Clear the Air said people did not need reminders from the department to tell them that air quality was getting worse, and officials were obviously turning a blind eye even at the health risk to themselves and their children.
“The government servants working for the EPD have children too – they share the filth in our air. The deliberate prevarication obviously comes from the very top,” Middleton said. “This is a complete disrespect and disregard of the duty of care the administration owes to the health of the people of Hong Kong.”
Middleton said he suspected the government’s failure to update air quality objectives enacted 24 years ago was deliberate so that infrastructure projects such as a third airport runway and waste incinerator could pass environmental impact studies.
In a separate set of monitoring results, on the concentration of fine particles, those with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns, the annual average roadside reading at both Central and Mong Kok marginally failed the proposed new air quality standard of 35 micrograms.
The department has not published the data, but the figures were obtained recently by Clear the Air. Fine particles are not a statutory air pollutant at present. Scientists say these particles can infiltrate the blood vessels and lungs, causing more damage than larger particles.
The department said the average concentration of fine particles at monitored locations had declined by more than a quarter over the past five years. It also said at least 60 per cent of the fine particles were generated across the border.
Scotland’s pollution shame
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/transport/scotlands-pollution-shame.16254760
TUESDAY 27 DECEMBER 2011
SCOTLAND has failed to meet European targets to curb air pollution, with fumes from road traffic exceeding safe levels in a number of cities, a report by a leading environmental charity has found.
DAMIEN HENDERSON Transport Correspondent
Provisional roadside monitoring data for 2011 shows levels of nitrogen dioxide pollution in parts of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Perth are all in breach of European Union targets designed to safeguard human health.
The WWF charity called the findings “totally unacceptable” and urged the Scottish Government to take action to improve air quality “rather than simply seek an extension from Europe to delay meeting air quality targets”.
Dan Barlow, head of policy at WWF Scotland, said: “It is totally unacceptable Scotland has breached European air pollution targets for the second year in a row. As a result of a complacent approach thousands of people are exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution in Scotland’s major cities.
“Scotland has had plenty of time to take preventative action, so it is shocking we have failed to put in place the measures needed to meet air quality targets and protect human health. This situation is a direct result of the failure of successive governments to produce a sensible strategy that adequately addresses air pollution and climate emissions from road traffic.
“At the same time Scotland is suggesting it may not meet air-quality targets until 2020, government investment and infrastructure plans are set to prioritise road building over public transport improvements and cut funding for walking and cycling. Improving air quality and tackling climate emissions requires a shift in Government transport spending plans to place much more emphasis on sustainable solutions.”
Around 2.2 million tonnes of nitrogen dioxide are produced every year in the UK, with traffic fumes contributing around half of the emissions. Other pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and particulate matter produced from transport emissions have been linked with health conditions including respiratory problems.
The Environmental Audit Committee at Westminster has calculated pollution from road traffic leads to an average of six months’ lower life expectancy for people living in the UK.
Separate studies have shown the bulk of health-harming pollutants from transport are produced by buses and HGVs. However, action to curb pollution has been slow to take effect.
A long-delayed statutory partnership with the bus industry in Glasgow next year is expected to lead to reduced emissions by preventing older, more polluting vehicles from being used on city centre routes.
Edinburgh also hopes the delayed completion of a tram line in 2014 will help reduce emissions, although studies have shown this will be largely offset by a predicted growth in vehicle use and critics claim it will merely lead to traffic being dispersed on to side roads.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “As announced in the recently published Infrastructure Investment Plan, we have set a vision which ensures our roads are as efficient as possible, complements the work under way to develop low-carbon vehicle technology, promotes active travel choices and encourages a modal shift to public transport.”
Dan Barlow, head of policy at WWF Scotland, said: “It is totally unacceptable Scotland has breached European air pollution targets for the second year in a row. As a result of a complacent approach thousands of people are exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution in Scotland’s major cities.
“Scotland has had plenty of time to take preventative action, so it is shocking we have failed to put in place the measures needed to meet air quality targets and protect human health. This situation is a direct result of the failure of successive governments to produce a sensible strategy that adequately addresses air pollution and climate emissions from road traffic.
“At the same time Scotland is suggesting it may not meet air-quality targets until 2020, government investment and infrastructure plans are set to prioritise road building over public transport improvements and cut funding for walking and cycling. Improving air quality and tackling climate emissions requires a shift in Government transport spending plans to place much more emphasis on sustainable solutions.”
Around 2.2 million tonnes of nitrogen dioxide are produced every year in the UK, with traffic fumes contributing around half of the emissions. Other pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and particulate matter produced from transport emissions have been linked with health conditions including respiratory problems.
The Environmental Audit Committee at Westminster has calculated pollution from road traffic leads to an average of six months’ lower life expectancy for people living in the UK.
Separate studies have shown the bulk of health-harming pollutants from transport are produced by buses and HGVs. However, action to curb pollution has been slow to take effect.
A long-delayed statutory partnership with the bus industry in Glasgow next year is expected to lead to reduced emissions by preventing older, more polluting vehicles from being used on city centre routes.
Edinburgh also hopes the delayed completion of a tram line in 2014 will help reduce emissions, although studies have shown this will be largely offset by a predicted growth in vehicle use and critics claim it will merely lead to traffic being dispersed on to side roads.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “As announced in the recently published Infrastructure Investment Plan, we have set a vision which ensures our roads are as efficient as possible, complements the work under way to develop low-carbon vehicle technology, promotes active travel choices and encourages a modal shift to public transport.”
street glue – what happens when it gets 12 inches thick …….?
Mayor Boris spreads pollution glue across London
Business Green – 1 day ago
By Jessica Shankleman The Mayor of London is expanding trials of an innovative dust suppressant technology that ‘glues’ pollution to the roads in a bid to …
City gets tough on polluting vehicles
http://english.eastday.com/e/111224/u1a6273876.html
SHANGHAI is to introduce tougher exhaust emission standards and ban high-polluting vehicles, green watchdogs said yesterday.
The Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau pledged this action by 2014 to tackle the growing problem of exhaust fume pollution downtown.
The city will launch the China V standards – equivalent to the Euro V standards – reducing sulfur dioxide emissions from automobile exhausts by 80 percent compared with current IV standards.
The announcement also pledged initiatives on trash sorting and waste water treatment.
More than 60,000 high-polluting vehicles – often older cars – that account for many of the city’s worst offenders will be taken off the roads.
The plan states that “with all the measures, more than 90 percent of vehicles will be able to meet the new emissions standard by 2014.”
Automobile exhausts contribute 66 percent of nitrogen oxide and 90 percent volatile organic compounds – both major air pollutants – in downtown areas, said Cai Zhigang, an official with the bureau.
“Automobile emissions are more harmful to residents’ health than industrial pollution as they’re in closer proximity to people,” Cai said.
About 74 percent of the pollution comes from the 280,000 or so vehicles – 17 percent of the city’s total number – that fail to meet the China I standard for gasoline and China III standard for kerosene, he said.
Emissions have also become a major cause of hazy weather, as some carbon particulates will be formed when kerosene and gasoline with high sulfur content are not fully burned, according to FuQingyan, senior engineer at the Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center.
Particles of less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter are also mainly a product of motor vehicles emissions.
They are small enough to be inhaled deeply into the lungs, causing long-term health damage.
The city also plans to build seven garbage treatment facilities for sorted waste in suburban districts by 2014, when a network to support domestic garbage sorting will cover most of Shanghai’s downtown neighborhoods, the authority said.
A new treatment facility for dangerous waste will be built on Chongming Island.
Eight sewage treatment plants in suburban districts will be upgraded and renovated to increase the city’s water treatment ability.
More than 85 percent of the city’s sewage will be treated by 2014, according to the environment watchdog.
Source:Shanghai Daily
40.5% of the PM2.5 in Xiamen comes from motor vehicle exhaust – What’s On Xiamen
http://www.whatsonxiamen.com/news22937.html
News > Xiamen News > 40.5% of the PM2.5 in Xiamen comes from motor vehicle exhaust
40.5% of the PM2.5 in Xiamen comes from motor vehicle exhaust
Updated: 24 Dec 2011
Read more on Xiamen Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau Xiamen air pollution motor vehicle exhaust Xiamen PM2.5
PM 2.5 are considered extremely hazardous to people’s health as they go deeper into the lungs than the larger particles that exist in the air.
According to the news revealed by Mr Xie Haisheng, director of the Xiamen Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, there are now about 30 – 40 ug/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter) PM2.5 in the air in Xiamen, and 40.5% of the PM2.5 in Xiamen comes from motor vehicle exhaust, reports Xiamen Daily.
PM 2.5, or particulate matter under 2.5 micrometers in size, refers to the fine airborne particles that are considered extremely hazardous to people’s health as they go deeper into the lungs than the larger particles that exist in the air.
Environmental experts said the PM 2.5 content in the air in Xiamen does almost no harm to public health.
Two air monitoring stations in Haicang and Hongwen have already carried out the monitoring of PM2.5 in real time since last year, and another six air monitoring stations will join the monitoring of PM2.5 next year. By then, Xiamen will cover the monitoring of PM2.5 to the whole city.
But the monitoring data is now only used for scientific research and will not be made available to the public until introduction of new national standards.
According to a recent timetable set by China’s environment watchdog, cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta, as well as Southwest China’s Chongqing municipality and provincial capitals, are requested to monitor PM2.5 and ozone starting in 2012, and the country’s 113 key environmental protection cities will have to start monitoring PM2.5 in 2013, while all county-level cities should follow the rule by 2015.
However, according to the needs of the public, relevant Xiamen environmental protection departments said, they may release the daily PM2.5 monitoring results to the public via public media in advance than the designated 2013 time limit.
SOURCE: WOXnews.com
EU adopts stricter air quality rules
http://www.euractiv.com/climate-environment/eu-adopts-stricter-air-quality-rules-news-219762
The EU Council of Ministers has endorsed a new directive setting binding EU-wide limits for fine particle emissions, which cause respiratory diseases thought to reduce European life expectancy by up to three years.
The new EU air quality directive was approved on 14 April 2008, following an agreement reached by the Council and the Parliament at the end of 2007. The directive sets EU-wide limits on fine particle emissions (PM2.5) for the first time ever.
These microscopic particles, emitted mainly by cars and trucks, pose health risks due to their ability to pass unfiltered through the nose and mouth, penetrating deep into human lungs and bloodstreams, where they can cause potentially fatal respiratory and/or pulmonary diseases.
“Air pollution is serious,” said EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas’s spokesperson Barbara Helfferich, adding that, according to studies, an average European lives eight months less as a result of fine particle matter in the air. “In more polluted areas of the EU, the figure goes up to 36 months,” she said on 14 April 2008.
Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said the directive’s adoption was “a decisive step in tackling a major cause of environmental and health problems”. He added that the new directive provides “ambitious but realistic standards for fine particle PM2.5 pollution” in the EU.
The directive obliges member states to reduce exposure to PM2.5 in urban areas by an average of 20% by 2020 based on 2010 levels, bringing the exposure levels below 20 micrograms/m3 by 2015. In other areas, the member states will need to respect the PM2.5 limit value set at 25 micrograms/m3 by as early as 2010 if possible – and at the latest by 2015.
In a statement annexed to the directive, the Commission announces a number of new legislative proposals it plans to put forward in 2008 for ever improved air quality. These include further reduction of the member states’ permitted national emissions of key pollutants, reduction of emissions associated with refuelling of petrol cars at service stations, and addressing the sulphur content of fuels, including marine fuels.
The Commission also notes that it is currently studying the feasibility of improving the eco-design and reducing the emissions of domestic boilers and water heaters as well as reducing the solvent content of paints, varnishes and vehicle refinishing products.