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China avoided measuring air pollutants: Wikileaks

Aug 29th, 2011
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http://southasia.oneworld.net/globalheadlines/wikileaks-china-avoided-measuring-pollutants-for-fear-of-public-backlash

29 August 2011

US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks reveal that Chinese authorities didn’t measure the levels of dangerous air pollutants for fear of the political consequences. One of these pollutants, PM2.5, is found at levels 5-10 times higher than the WHO guidelines and poses the greatest risk to public health.

China has not measured data on the most dangerous types of air pollution because it is afraid of the political consequences, according to US diplomatic cables.

This assessment, which comes to light as the government prepares to upgrade its air quality monitoring system, was among the central findings of cables from the US consulate in Guangzhou that were released on Wednesday by WikiLeaks.

Diplomats based in the industrial heartland of Guangdong – known as the workshop of the world and also one of the worst areas for acid rain and other pollution – looked in detail at monitoring systems and health impacts in 2006.

Based on research by local scientists, the consulate noted in a cable dated 16 August that small-particulate matter known as PM2.5, was 5-10 times higher than suggested by World Health Organisation guidelines.

It said the findings were “alarming”, because PM2.5 is not on the government index of air pollutants yet it is deemed to be of highest concern for public health because the particles are so fine they can enter into the lungs, contribute to acute respiratory symptoms, heart disease, childhood illnesses and premature deaths.

The diplomats observed, however, that this form of pollution was not being systematically measured and made public because the findings were likely to be too sensitive for the authorities.

“Those lobbying for its inclusion in an index of pollutants conceded that including a pollutant whose current levels would measure so far above acceptable standards would be politically difficult,” the cable said.

Problems about transparency extended to academia, according to another cable dated 19 September 2006, which describes: “Academics and research scientists in Guangdong, who are increasingly concerned about the region’s serious air pollution, but feel pressured to tone down their comments lest they face cuts in research funding … Scientists acknowledge that lack of transparency for existing air pollution data is a major problem both for research and policy making.”

Diplomats who attempted to research the possible links between pollution and birth defects were denied meeting requests on the grounds that the subject was “too sensitive”.

PM2.5 was not the only problem. Until now, Ozone – another dangerous pollutant – has also been omitted from the index, When the US Environmental Protection Agency Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation William Wehrum visited the Guangdong Environmental Information Center in 2006, a member of his delegation noted: “The raw data on the LCD screen showed extremely high levels of O3 (Ozone)”.

Since the cable was written in November 2006, however, environmentalists have commended the progress that China has made in measuring, disclosing and reducing air pollution, but many of these concern remain today.

The state media reported on Thursday that a new index would soon be introduced. Expectations are high that it will include ozone for the first time. Less certain is whether PM2.5 will finally be added.

Source : Guardian

The importance of environmental impact assessment reports: the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macau Bridge judicial review

Aug 28th, 2011
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http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=16334bb9-a9d4-4be5-945f-4d0c5b3177d9

In April this year, the Court of First Instance (“CFI”) handed down its decision in a judicial review case against the Director of Environmental Protection (the “Director”), quashing her decision to approve the Environmental Impact Assessment Reports (“EIA Reports”) and issue the environmental permits for the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macau Bridge (“HKZMB”) projects.

The Court ruled that the absence of ‘baseline’ environmental reports rendered the EIA Reports not compliant with the Technical Memorandum (“TM”) and Study Briefs (“SB”s), which set out the requirements for the EIA Reports. As the EIA Reports did not provide meet the necessary requirements, the Director did not have the power to approve the EIA Reports nor environmental permits, as approved in late 2009. The decision is a further example of the rigorous interpretation of the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (“Ordinance”).

The decision has caused substantial delays to the HKZMB projects and is said to have had a knock-on effect on other major projects. This is because the decision was based on an interpretation of the purpose and requirements of the Ordinance and the TM, which will apply to all designated projects.

Prior to this decision, the general approach was for EIA Reports to measure the cumulative impact on the environment, and ensure that such impacts fell below the maximum allowable levels. The argument before the Court was that the Director should measure the impact from the baseline position and then decide whether that level of impact is acceptable or not.

The Director lodged an appeal against the CFI decision, and appeal was heard this week. We are now waiting to see whether the Court of Appeal will uphold the CFI decision to require baseline reports to be included in all future EIA Reports.

What is an EIA Report?

The Ordinance requires all “designated projects” within the meaning of s.4 of the Ordinance to obtain environmental permits before construction commences. In order to obtain the permit, the applicant or project proponent must prepare an EIA Report containing an analysis of the likely environmental impact of the project.

To start the process, the project proponent must submit a project profile that complies with the TM to the Director and advertise the project to the public. The TM is standard to all designated projects and is issued by the Secretary for the Environment pursuant to the Ordinance.

The Director will inform the Advisory Council on the Environment (“ACE”) about the project profile and ACE or any other person may comment on the project profile. The Director may ask the project proponent for further information as required. The Director will then issue to the project proponent an environmental impact assessment study brief (the “SB” referred above), which is particular to that project.

In accordance with the requirements of the SB and the TM, the project proponent prepares the EIA Report, which is delivered to the Director for approval. The Director then makes a provisional decision whether or not to approve the EIA Report and, if approved, the EIA Report is published for public inspection. Again at this stage, members of the public or ACE may comment on the EIA Report. The Director may call for further information as a result of any comments.

Once the Director is satisfied with the content of the EIA Report, she must approve, approve with conditions or reject the EIA Report.

The final stage is the application for the environmental permit, which the Director may issue subject to any conditions she thinks fit, having considered a number of factors including the EIA Report.

A designated project may not be commenced without the necessary environmental permit.

Why did the CFI find the HKZMB EIA Report deficient?

In the HKZMB case, Chu Yee Wah (“Ms Chu”), a resident of a public housing estate in Tung Chung, brought judicial review proceedings seeking orders to quash the Director’s decisions to grant approval for the EIA Reports and environmental permits for the construction of the HKZMB. Broadly speaking, Ms Chu alleged that (i) the EIA Reports did not comply with the requirements of the TM and SBs, and (ii) the decisions of the Director in approving the EIA Reports and environmental permits were irrational or Wednesbury unreasonable.

At trial, Ms Chu sought to challenge the decisions on seven grounds (which we will discuss briefly below) but succeeded on the first ground only. Nevertheless, her success on the first ground of challenge was sufficient for the Director’s decisions to be quashed.

The Requirement for a Baseline Report

Ms Chu’s first and successful ground of challenge was that the TM and SBs require the EIA Reports to provide a quantitative ‘stand-alone’ analysis of the project environmental conditions without the HKZMB project in place, otherwise known as a ‘baseline report’.

It was accepted by both sides that the EIA Reports covered only the cumulative environmental impacts (i.e. the conditions with the projects in place) and no baseline report. The question at hand was whether the baseline report was in fact required, there being no explicit requirement for such a report but only broad principles and general wording in the TM.

While the CFI Judge accepted the Director’s arguments that there was no explicit requirement for a baseline report, he adopted a purposive approach to interpreting the Ordinance. He referred to the case of Shiu Wing Steel v Director of Environmental Protection 2006 9 HKCFAR 478, where the Court of Final Appeal held that “the purpose of the [Ordinance] as declared in its long title governs its interpretation and also that its purpose of protecting the environment must inform the meaning attributed to the TM and SB, being instruments created under its authority“. [Hogan Lovells acted for the intervener in these proceedings.] The CFI decided that, without the baseline report, it would not be possible to assess the environmental impact of the project and consequently not be possible to propose suitable mitigation measures to minimise the pollution, residual and cumulative effects: “it is only by knowing the starting point […] that one is able to measure that footprint“.

For the Director, the following caveats were cited from R (on the application of Blewitt) v Derbyshire CC [2003] Env. LR 29, “… it is an unrealistic counsel of perfection to expect that an applicant’s environmental statement will always contain the ‘full information’ about the environmental impact of a project […] it would be of no advantage to anyone concerned with the development process […] if environmental projects were drafted on a purely ‘defensive’ basis, mentioning every possible scrap of environmental information just in case someone might consider [it] significant at a later stage […]”. While the CFI Judge agreed that it was sensible to apply these caveats, he maintained that this was not a sufficient reason to disregard the need to provide an EIA Report which properly identifies the scale of the environmental changes resultant from a particular project.

Accordingly, the absence of a stand alone analysis in the EIA Reports meant that they did not comply with the TM and SBs and that the Director’s decisions to approve them and the environmental permits were quashed.

What were the Unsuccessful Grounds of Challenge?

As noted above, Ms Chu challenged the Director on seven grounds but was unsuccessful on grounds (ii) – (vii).

Grounds (ii) – (v) also related to the methodologies followed in the EIA Reports. These were challenges to (ii) the analytical model selected to assess air quality (the PATH model) and lack of explanatory data presented in the EIA Reports to verify the results; (iii) the assessment year chosen to represent the worst case scenario; and (iv-v) the lack of assessment of ozone and sulphur dioxide.

In relation to the choice of the PATH model, the CFI Judge held that the explanatory data were not required for the EIA Reports and if desired, the data could have been requested during the public consultation period. In relation to grounds (iii) – (v), the CFI Judge held that the SBs as drafted allowed the project proponent discretion to decide on these factors, so long as the decision could be reasonably explained. In this case, those decisions were found not to be unreasonable.

Grounds (vi) – (vii) were that the Director had failed in her duty to consider the impact on public health and the health risk posed by pollutants such as toxic air pollutants and fine suspended particulates (which are currently excluded from the present Air Quality Objectives (“AQO”s) before issuing the environmental permits. As there was no evidence that the projected air quality would breach the AQOs, the Director had acted reasonably in relying on the AQOs to assess the impact on public health – the AQOs being the Government’s current policy for acceptable level of air pollutants, taking into account public health.

What Does this Mean for Future EIA Reports?

The tangible result of the HKZMB case (subject to the outcome of the appeal) is that all EIA Reports must now contain a baseline report, as a starting point to assess the environmental impact of any project.

However, when considering whether an EIA Report needs to mention “every possible scrap of environmental information just in case someone might consider [it] significant at a later stage“, project proponents may seek some comfort in the Court’s rejection of the other six grounds of challenge, which were dependent on interpretation of and adherence to the requirements of the TM and specific SBs.

At the first stage, when preparing a project profile, project proponents must ensure that the project profile accurately reflects the parameters of the target project. Then, once the SB has been issued, project proponents should carefully review the requirements of the TM and SB when preparing their EIA Reports to ensure that they are fully compliant or risk rejection or a challenge to the granting of a permit.

Wikileaks Cable Shows Grim Truth of Air Pollution in China’s South

Aug 26th, 2011
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http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=60838&pop=1&page=0&Itemid=1

26 August 2011

Rubbish floating on the Pearl River is seen in the mangrove woods at the Lianhuashan Mountain in Guangzhou of Guangdong Province, China. The Pearl River Delta is one of the most developed regions in China, which also led to heavy pollution of the environm

Rubbish floating on the Pearl River is seen in the mangrove woods at the Lianhuashan Mountain in Guangzhou of Guangdong Province, China. The Pearl River Delta is one of the most developed regions in China, which also led to heavy pollution of the environment (China Photos/Getty Images)

Southern Chinese know the health hazards of their environment—they just have to look up and see the brown haze obscuring the Pearl River Delta, an urban hub of cities in Guangdong, China.

But nothing makes Chinese air pollution more evident to the outside world than a Wikileaks cable, prepared by diplomats in the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou in 2006 and released Aug. 26, providing candid statements from Chinese communist officials and foreign officials that prove the point.

One-third of China’s urban inhabitants live in cities with harmful air pollution or even very dangerous pollution, says Wang Jinnan, the chief engineer at the Chinese Academy on Environmental Planning, part of the State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), according to the Wikileaks cable.

Air quality is getting worse, especially in major cities, leading to more and more serious health problems, said the vice minister of SEPA, Zhang Lijun, according to the cable.

Officials have also said that air pollution’s financial cost is large and growing.

Zhu Guangyao, deputy chief of the SEPA said that the damage to China’s environment costs about ten percent of China’s yearly GDP. Ten percent was about $200 billion in 2006, at the time Zhu made the statement, but would be $500 billion in 2011.

By 2030, 15 percent of China’s GDP will be lost due to health costs and causalities from air pollution, says a Harvard scholar, according to the cable.

In the report, a Yale scholar estimated more than half of China’s yearly GDP growth would be wiped out due to air pollution.

The cable elaborated other facts that brought to light the pervasiveness of pollution in the south.

For example, when scientists finally started measuring the pollutants in south China, their findings alarmed the world–but the pollutant with the most impact on public health was not even measured. The levels of fine particulate (PM2.5) pollution are suspected to be so high that they would create political difficulties if revealed.

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Heavy industry and residential coal burning fuels 70 percent of China’s energy. Air pollution is also caused by inadequate pollution controls, deforestation, and a sharp increase in the number of motor vehicles.

According to the report, in the next 15 years, Chinese pollution discharges may increase four or five times if reforms aren’t made.

“Air pollution in south China is bad and getting worse, mirroring conditions in many other regions in China,” the cable said.

“It is a sad irony that this region of China—seen as a beacon for poor migrants who want to find fame and fortune—has actually become harmful to those migrants’ and others’ health.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/aug/26/wikileaks-china-dangerous-pollution

WikiLeaks reveals China’s failure to measure dangerous pollution

Pollutant levels were not measured and made public because findings would have been ‘too sensitive’ for the authorities

Wikileaks cable on China :Smog in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, due to air pollution, PM 2.5

Overview on a smog ridden day of the city of Guangzhou. Photograph: Mike Clarke/AFP/Getty Images

China has not measured data on the most dangerous types of air pollution because it is afraid of the political consequences, according to US diplomatic cables.

This assessment, which comes to light as the government prepares to upgrade its air quality monitoring system, was among the central findings of cables from the US consulate in Guangzhou that were released on Wednesday by WikiLeaks.

Diplomats based in the industrial heartland of Guangdong – known as the workshop of the world and also one of the worst areas for acid rain and other pollution – looked in detail at monitoring systems and health impacts in 2006.

Based on research by local scientists, the consulate noted in a cable dated 16 August that small-particulate matter known as PM2.5, was five to 10 times higher than suggested by World Health Organisation guidelines.

It said the findings were “alarming”, because PM2.5 is not on the government index of air pollutants yet it is deemed to be of highest concern for public health because the particles are so fine they can enter into the lungs, contribute to acute respiratory symptoms, heart disease, childhood illnesses and premature deaths.

The diplomats observed, however, that this form of pollution was not being systematically measured and made public because the findings were likely to be too sensitive for the authorities.

“Those lobbying for its inclusion in an index of pollutants conceded that including a pollutant whose current levels would measure so far above acceptable standards would be politically difficult,” the cable said.

Problems about transparency extended to academia, according to another cable dated 19 September 2006, which describes: “Academics and research scientists in Guangdong, who are increasingly concerned about the region’s serious air pollution, but feel pressured to tone down their comments lest they face cuts in research funding … Scientists acknowledge that lack of transparency for existing air pollution data is a major problem both for research and policy making.”

Diplomats who attempted to research the possible links between pollution and birth defects were denied meeting requests on the grounds that the subject was “too sensitive”.

PM2.5 was not the only problem. Until now, Ozone – another dangerous pollutant – has also been omitted from the index, When the US Environmental Protection Agency Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation William Wehrum visited the Guangdong Environmental Information Center in 2006, a member of his delegation noted:“The raw data on the LCD screen showed extremely high levels of O3 (Ozone)”.

Since the cable was written in November 2006, however, environmentalists have commended the progress that China has made in measuring, disclosing and reducing air pollution, but many of these concern remain today.

The state media reported on Thursday that a new index would soon be introduced. Expectations are high that it will include ozone for the first time. Less certain is whether PM2.5 will finally be added.

Traffic, not bridge, ’cause of pollution’

Aug 24th, 2011
by Editor.
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South China Morning Post – 24 August 2011

Government’s lawyer in HK-Zhuhai-Macau link appeal case argues that EIA law is just one legislative tool available to protect environment

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Ordinance is neither toothless nor the only legislative tool available to protect Hong Kong’s environment, the Court of Appeal heard yesterday.

Benjamin Yu, for the Environmental Protection Department, made this submission in the government’s appeal against a court ruling that quashed the environmental permit for the proposed Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge.

The ruling – handed down in April by Mr Justice Joseph Fok in a judicial review filed by Tung Chung resident Chu Yee-wah – was based on the ground that the bridge’s impact assessment report did not a present a standalone analysis of projected environmental conditions without the bridge.

Without the analysis, it would be difficult to measure the impact of such factors as air pollution, and impose appropriate mitigation measures, the ruling said.

But Yu said the traffic on the bridge, rather than the bridge itself, would be the source of pollution and this could be dealt with by other laws.

“During the bridge’s operational phase, pollution is not caused by the bridge but the vehicles using it, which are subject to a different set of control regimes on the engine or the vehicle fuels,” he told Mr Justice Robert Tang Ching, Madam Justice Carlye Chu Fun-ling and Justice Michael  Hartmann.

Yu made the point to support his claim that Hong Kong had two different environmental protection  approaches.

One, the environmental impact assessment system, focused on the maximum allowable cumulative pollution impact on the environment. The other approach focused on minimising the impact of individual activity.

Yu said Fok had seemed to fail to note that both approaches were part of the Air Pollution Control Ordinance – which specifies the maximum allowable air pollutant concentration and the best practical means to lower pollution for certain  activities.

“The Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance is … only one piece of legislation in the whole arm of environmental protection in Hong Kong,” he said.

Yu went on to suggest that the key issue was not whether the EIA law “lacks somehow armoury or ammunition” to protect the environment because the law mainly covered procedural matters.

As to how and what impact assessments, including the standalone analysis in question, should be done were set out in other documents like the technical memorandum and study brief issued by the Director of Environmental Protection.

Yu admitted that it was technically possible to carry out a separate assessment for the standalone analysis but that had never been required in the bridge impact study. There were also no guidelines or parameters for carrying out the analysis.

Yu will continue his submissions today.

chifai.cheung@scmp.com

Aircargo news

Aug 11th, 2011
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http://www.aircargonews.com/0811/FT110808.html

http://www.aircargonews.com/FT11/Hongkonglead080811.jpg

In some quarters, capacity sharing partnerships between HKIA and airports in southern China have been advanced as an alternative to HKIA moving forward with plans to build a third runway. Cathay Pacific has been rather outspoken on the issue, pointing out quite reasonably that Shenzhen and Hong Kong have separate governments, border controls and administrative systems. They also have different currencies, immigration requirements and air services agreements, not to mention leading operators and stakeholders.
http://www.aircargonews.com/FT11/chinesewarehouse.jpg “Even if the challenges outlined above could somehow be resolved, there’s no reason to think that the other PRD airport hubs would surrender their runway capacity to Hong Kong. All of the PRD airports are in competition and this is good for passengers and other users,” said Cathay in one statement.
As HKIA weighs up its expansion options, the truth of the matter is that competition between Hong Kong and its Mainland rivals is fierce now and will intensify in the coming decade.
As previously reported here, the Pearl River Delta region of southern China produces over 25 percent of the country’s exports and is responsible for more than 10 percent of national industrial output. Over the last decade HKIA has retained its dominance of air cargo uplift from the region, a dominance that helped it become the world’s leading cargo airport in 2010. But its cross-border rivals of Guangzhou (CAN) and Shenzhen (SZX) are making inroads.
CAN saw volumes rise almost 20 percent in 2010 to 1.14m metric tons, helping the airport retain its status as the 21st largest cargo airport globally, according to figures from Airports Council International. Shenzhen, meanwhile, is now the 24th largest and one of the fastest growing cargo airports in the world, handling some 809,363 tons in 2010, a year-on-year gain of 33.6 percent.
Both airports have ambitious plans to expand by building additional runways and already boast the presence of major hubs operated by leading carriers – UPS at SZX and FedEx at CAN. The two logistics majors have been highly vocal about the service benefits that have been possible since the hubs were established. Both airports are now also improving service levels, supported by strong investment in hinterland infrastructure from regional and federal authorities.
http://www.aircargonews.com/FT11/alwynMendonca.jpg Alwyn Mendonca, (left) Managing Director for South China and Hong Kong at GAC, said these efforts are now bearing fruit. In the past, 90 percent of GAC’s airfreight cargo was handled at HKIA because it was the most cost-effective option, especially since GAC builds its own units in Hong Kong.
“However,” he added, “we are gradually seeing more cargo moving directly through Guangzhou and Shenzhen as customs in Southern China becomes more efficient. For every shipment, we carefully evaluate all options to find the best, and most cost-effective, way to get the cargo to its final destination.
“There has been considerable improvement in customs services at both CAN and SZX in the past few years. Paperless export declarations are now a reality for some general cargo, depending on the commodity, and it is now possible to complete the process within a day.”
Christian Hein, Vice President for air freight Product Management in the Asia Pacific at Schenker, said improved customs services were seeing more cargo directed to CAN and SZX, a trend he predicted would accelerate.
“There are more domestic and international carriers calling into these two airports now and they offer good connections overall,” he added.
“There are increasingly more customers requesting us to operate directly out of these two airports due mainly to their proximity to manufacturing operations, and to a certain extent, an increasingly influential and sizeable consumer market.
http://www.aircargonews.com/FT11/RobertTimmerman.jpg “Though the fuel surcharge level is higher than Hong Kong, the overall freight rate all-in is still competitive.”
Robert Timmerman, (right) Area Manager Greater China at Panalpina, said that although airfreight rates were attractive from mainland airports, add-on fuel and security surcharges ultimately aligned pricing with HKIA.      “The fact is that the carrier portfolio in both Shenzhen—mainly served by Jade Airlines to date, and Guangzhou, which sees a diversified portfolio going forward, combined with the expanding China Southern fleet including Boeing 777 freighters—will allow us to provide direct lift from and to Mainland China to support the growth.
“Hong Kong, however, will retain its strengths in view of the local trading solutions available and successfully conducted for years.
“A dilemma going forward related to airlifting through Mainland airports are the restrictions related to second customs’ bond transfer. This cannot be conducted at present. If the Logistics Provider could build Aircraft ULDs themselves this would substantially increase control and thus reduce exposure on damages.”
http://www.aircargonews.com/FT11/Andy.Weber080811.jpg Andy Weber, (left) President of Kuehne + Nagel Asia Pacific, said CAN and SZX still lacked sufficient route coverage, flight frequency and airport cargo handling options, but had a speed advantage over HKIA in terms of accessing factories in the PRD because of overland transit times.
“Buyers increasingly demand high-speed delivery of products or components, and the time lost can constitute a competitive constraint,” he explained.
“This would suggest that Hong Kong’s future as a key air-cargo hub will heavily depend on its capability in providing speedy intermodal transports by land, sea or air between Hong Kong International Airport and the factories in South China.”
The final word on competition between HKIA and southern Mainland China rivals goes to Hein: “An additional runway [at HKIA] would definitely enhance competitiveness. Nevertheless, the competition between HKIA and other South China regional airports is keen and will remain so for years to come.”

China Introduces a Unified Grid Feed-in Tariff for Solar Power

Aug 8th, 2011
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http://blog.cleantechies.com/2011/08/08/china-introduces-a-unified-grid-feed-in-tariff-for-solar-power/

http://blog.cleantechies.com/files/2011/08/5794630077_f231e41063-150x150.jpg

China’s government has introduced a unified grid solar power tariff, which analysts believe may produce a quickened pace for introducing solar power to private residences, along with boosting the stock of companies involved in solar development.

According to the National Development and Reform Commission, Beijing has set the solar power price charged by power plants to grid operators at 18 US cents per kilowatt-hour for projects which were approved before July 1 and are scheduled to become operational before the end of this year, The Shanghai Daily reported. The NDRC had previously approved on-grid tariffs on a case-by-case basis, adding that it would adjust the taxes in accordance with future investment costs and technology development.

Following the NDRC pronouncement, solar-related stocks rose on China’s stock exchanges, with GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd, China’s largest maker of polysilicon, the main raw material used to make photovoltaic panels, jumping 4.8 percent in a single day in Hong Kong HKEX stock exchange, while Shanghai Chaori Solar Energy Science and Technology Co rose 6.6 percent on the Shenzhen Component Index and SME trading.

Xiangcai Securities analyst Hou Wentao said, “The unified tariff will be positive to the industry in the long term because you now have a system in place. But in the near term, I don’t see any explosive growth in domestic installations.”

Article by Charles Kennedy, appearing courtesy OilPrice.com.

Shenzhen Airport to Launch Second Runway tomorrow – Shenzhen Post

Jun 29th, 2011
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http://www.szcpost.com/2011/06/shenzhen-airport-to-launch-second-runway-tomorrow.html

Shenzhen Airport to Launch Second Runway tomorrow

on June 29, 2011 by jasmineyu

Shenzhen Airport opened a new cargo shipping air route for Shenzhen, Wuhan and Zhengzhou yesterday. The air route will be flown by the B737－300 plane, which will undertake five flights per week with payload capacity of 14 tons each. As of now, Shenzhen Airport has totally open 32 air routes for all-cargo service at home and abroad.

The expansion project of the flying area of Shenzhen Airport now has been approved by China Civil Aviation Bureau through inspection and acceptance test. The second runway of Shenzhen Airport will be formally launched on June 30, 2011, which indicate Shenzhen Airport will enter into a new age of operation with two runways.

As one of the major transportation facility projects in Shenzhen, the flying area expansion work of Shenzhen Airport was designed to construct the second runway, 3800 meters long and 60 meter wide, as well as its supporting facilities at the west of the existing runway. Started in 2002 for preparation work, the project was approved by the State Development and Reform Commission in June 2006 and was formally started on November 28, 2009 on the base of completing prophase land formation work. On May 11, 2011, the project finally passed the completion acceptance test.

The second runway will effectively relieve the current situation that the airport’s capacity is saturated and greatly improve the airport’s aviation transportation capacity, providing better infrastructure conditions for the successful holding of the Universiade and enabling high quality transportation services for Shenzhen and the Pearl River Delta regions.

Beijing’s new airport expects inaugural flight in 2017

Jun 21st, 2011
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http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/usa/china/2011-06/21/content_12752600.htm

Beijing has drafted the timetable for the construction of its new airport and it is expected the inaugural flight will take off in October 2017, the Beijing Business Today reported Tuesday, citing an unnamed insider.

According to this insider, a new airport is urgently needed in Beijing as the Capital International Airport can not absorb more passengers. The new airport plans to include nine runways, eight of which will be for civil aviation while the remaining one will be for military purposes.

The location of this new airport will be at the Yufa and Lixian township, Daxing district, in the far south of Beijing, according to previous reports.

The first phase of the project will occupy an area of 55 square kilometers and have a carrying capacity of 400 million travelers per year. In addition the passengers will be able to reach downtown Beijing by express rail within half a hour, the newspaper reported.

An aviation industry analyst said the new airport will attract investment, and promote industrial development and infrastructure building in southern Beijing. The huge passenger carrying and cargo loading capacities of the airport will have a significant effect on the economic growth and accelerate the integration of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province.

The division of the functions between this new airport and the Capital International Airport has been under hot discussion. Rumors have it that one airport will target domestic flight services while the other will focus on international flights.

But Wang Jian, secretary-general of China Civil Airport Association, told reporters that it is more feasible to divided airline companies by airline alliances and assigned them to one of the two airports. .

China to tighten emission rules for commercial vehicles

May 31st, 2011
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May 31, 2011, 02.07pm |China Association of Automobile Manufacturers

HONG KONG: China will soon strengthen rules for greenhouse gas emissions from commercial vehicles that run on diesel fuel as part of its commitment to reducing air pollution, an industry group said on Tuesday.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said a stricter emission regulation will be imposed on diesel vehicles smaller than 3.5 tons, starting July 1. After the new standard goes into effect, the traffic authorities will not accept applications for sales or registration of vehicles that fail to meet the requirement.

The tougher standard, which is on par with emission standards in Europe, limits carbon monoxide emissions to a maximum of 0.74 grams per kilometer for light commercial vehicles.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-05-31/news/29604264_1_emission-rules-china-association-diesel-vehicles

Air quality of major Chinese cities

Feb 9th, 2010
by AdminCTA.
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Xinhua,

9, February, 2010

Report on the quality of air in 47 major Chinese cities (12:00 Feb.8 to 12:00 Feb.9, Beijing Time), released by the China Environmental Monitoring Center:

City

Major Pollutant

Air Quality Level

Beijing

particulate matter

III1

Tianjin

sulfur dioxide

II

Shijiazhuang

particulate matter

II

Qinhuangdao

sulfur dioxide

II

Taiyuan

sulfur dioxide

II

Hohhot

sulfur dioxide

II

Shenyang

sulfur dioxide

II

Dalian

sulfur dioxide

II

Changchun

particulate matter

II

Harbin

particulate matter

II

Shanghai

——–

I

Nanjing

particulate matter

II

Suzhou

particulate matter

II

Nantong

particulate matter

II

Lianyungang

particulate matter

II

Hangzhou

particulate matter

II

Ningbo

——–

I

Wenzhou

particulate matter

II

Hefei

particulate matter

II

Fuzhou

particulate matter

II

Xiamen

——–

I

Nanchang

particulate matter

II

Jinan

particulate matter

III1

Qingdao

particulate matter

II

Yantai

——–

I

Zhengzhou

particulate matter

II

Wuhan

particulate matter

II

Changsha

particulate matter

II

Guangzhou

——–

I

Shenzhen

——–

I

Zhuhai

——–

I

Shantou

——–

I

Zhanjiang

——–

I

Nanning

——–

I

Guilin

sulfur dioxide

II

Beihai

particulate matter

II

Haikou

——–

I

Chongqing

particulate matter

II

Chengdu

particulate matter

III1

Guiyang

sulfur dioxide

II

Kunming

sulfur dioxide

II

Lhasa

particulate matter

II

Xi’an

particulate matter

III1

Lanzhou

particulate matter

III1

Xining

particulate matter

III1

Yinchuan

sulfur dioxide

II

Urumqi

particulate matter

III1

The center classifies air quality in China’s urban areas into five levels: level I or excellent (pollution reading: not exceeding 50), level II or fairly good (pollution reading: 51 to 100), level III or slightly polluted (pollution reading: 101 to 200), level IV or poor (pollution reading: 201 to 300), and level V or hazardous (pollution reading: over 301).

The 47 cities monitored by the center include the four municipalities of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing, provincial (or autonomous regional) capitals, and major cities in economically developed coastal areas, and tourist attractions.

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