On July 3, the State Council issued the Three-Year Action Plan for Winning the Blue Sky Defense War, which clearly defines the timeline and roadmap for winning the battle. The release and implementation of the Action Plan has sounded the clarion call for the whole nation to take action and continue its efforts to win the Blue Sky Defense War. Then, what is the current situation of China’s atmospheric environment? How to fight this battle well in the next three years? In this regard, the reporter interviewed relevant officials of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and related experts.
The Three-Year Action Plan for Winning the Blue Sky Defense War is the second action plan for air pollution prevention and control following the "Ten Measures for Air Pollution Prevention and Control" (Air Ten Measures).
The Action Plan proposes that by 2020, the proportion of days with good air quality in cities at and above the prefecture level should reach 80%; the proportion of days with severe or worse air pollution should decrease by more than 25% compared with 2015. After three years of efforts, it aims to further significantly reduce the concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), substantially decrease the number of heavy pollution days, noticeably improve ambient air quality, and remarkably enhance the people’s sense of blue-sky happiness.
Addressing Key Shortcomings
Over the five years since the implementation of the "Ten Measures for Air Pollution Prevention and Control" (Air Ten Measures), China has achieved remarkable results in air quality improvement, and all three air quality improvement targets set by the plan have been fulfilled as scheduled.
In 2017, the average concentration of PM10 in cities at and above the prefecture level nationwide decreased by 22.7% compared with 2013; the annual average concentration of PM2.5 in key regions such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) Region, the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) Region, and the Pearl River Delta (PRD) Region dropped by 39.6%, 34.3%, and 27.7% respectively from 2013 levels; and the annual average concentration of PM2.5 in Beijing fell from 89.5 micrograms per cubic meter in 2013 to 58 micrograms per cubic meter.
An official from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment stated that through the promotion and implementation of the "Ten Measures for Air Pollution Prevention and Control" (Air Ten Measures), China has explored a new path for air pollution prevention and control that suits its national conditions.
"However, the situation of China’s atmospheric environment remains severe, and the emissions of air pollutants still rank among the highest in the world," the official pointed out. He further noted that only 29% of the 338 cities at and above the prefecture level in China have met the national ambient air quality standards; the annual average concentration of PM2.5 in regions such as cities along the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) air transmission channel and the Fenwei Plain exceeds the standard by approximately 100%. Particularly in autumn and winter, heavy pollution weather still occurs frequently in northern China.
Wang Jinnan, President of the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning under the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told reporters that the target setting of the Action Plan continues the approach of the "Ten Measures for Air Pollution Prevention and Control" (Air Ten Measures) — taking the reduction of particulate matter concentration as the main goal while decreasing the number of heavy pollution days. This will promote the overall improvement of ambient air quality.
The specific targets defined in the Action Plan include: by 2020, the total emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides will decrease by more than 15% respectively compared with 2015 levels; the concentration of PM2.5 in cities at and above the prefecture level that have not yet met the standard will drop by more than 18% compared with 2015; the proportion of days with good air quality in cities at and above the prefecture level will reach 80%; and the proportion of days with severe or worse air pollution will decrease by more than 25% compared with 2015.
Focusing on Structural Pollution
Wang Jinnan explained, taking the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) Region and its surrounding six provinces/municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan) as an example, that although their total land area accounts for only 7.2% of the national total, they consume 33% of the country’s coal, and produce 43% of the national steel output, 45% of coke, 31% of flat glass, 19% of cement, 60% of bulk pharmaceuticals, 40% of pesticides, while their crude oil processing volume accounts for 28% of the national total.
Take another example: in regions such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) Region and its surrounding areas, the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) Region, and the Fenwei Plain, the coal consumption per unit of land area is 4 to 6 times the national average. Moreover, the prominent phenomenon of "heavy and chemical industries surrounding cities" exerts a significant impact on the local environment and air quality.
At the same time, in urban-rural fringe areas, towns, and vast rural regions, there are a large number of "dispersed, chaotic, and polluting" enterprises. These enterprises severely pollute the environment, disrupt market order, and occupy development space, leading to a prominent phenomenon of "inferior products driving out superior ones."
In response to this, the Action Plan identifies the optimization and adjustment of industrial structure as a key breakthrough for promoting high-quality development in China, and has made specific arrangements including optimizing industrial layout, strictly controlling the production capacity of high-energy-consumption and high-pollution (two high-energy and high-pollution) industries, extending the comprehensive remediation of "dispersed, chaotic, and polluting" enterprises and clusters to the whole country, deepening industrial pollution control, and vigorously fostering the green and environmental protection industry.
At the same time, it takes accelerating the adjustment of energy structure and building a clean, low-carbon, and efficient energy system as important measures. It adheres to the simultaneous development of non-fossil energy and the clean and efficient utilization of fossil energy, and focuses on addressing shortcomings such as resource and environmental constraints, low quality and efficiency, and weak infrastructure.
The Action Plan proposes that by 2020, China’s national railway freight volume will increase by 30% compared with 2017, with the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) Region and its surrounding areas, the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) Region, and the Fenwei Plain seeing growth rates of 40%, 10%, and 25% respectively.
In 2017, road freight accounted for 76.8% of China’s total freight volume, while railway freight only made up 7.7%. Notably, the proportion of container sea-rail intermodal transport at major ports was merely around 2%, far lower than the global average of 20%.
"From the perspective of freight turnover per unit, the energy consumption and pollutant emissions of road transportation are 7 times and 13 times those of railway transportation respectively. According to the results of ambient fine particulate matter source apportionment, motor vehicles—especially diesel vehicles—have become the primary source of pollution in many large and medium-sized cities," said Ding Yan, Deputy Director of the Vehicle Emission Control Center under the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
He added that nationwide, diesel trucks account for 7.8% of the total number of motor vehicles in China, yet their emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter account for 57.3% and 77.8% of total vehicle emissions respectively. "Adjusting the freight transportation structure, increasing railway freight volume, and reducing the use of diesel trucks are important measures to control air pollution."
Regarding the adjustment of land use structure, the measures outlined in the Action Plan include: promoting comprehensive improvement of open-pit mines and implementing restoration and greening initiatives; reducing exposed ground and increasing green space area; reducing open-field straw burning and enhancing comprehensive utilization of straw; and decreasing chemical fertilizer application and increasing the use of organic fertilizers.
Implementing Emergency Emission Reduction Measures
"At present, in the emergency response plans of the '2+26' cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) Region and its surrounding areas, the required emergency emission reduction ratios for yellow, orange, and red alerts are in principle no less than 10%, 20%, and 30% of the total social emissions respectively," Chai Fahe said.
He added that the number of enterprises required to implement emergency emission reductions has increased from less than 9,000 in the past to nearly 50,000; and all previous emission reduction measures—such as improving pollution control efficiency and reducing production hours, which were unenforceable and unmeasurable for assessment—have been replaced by practical and effective measures like suspending production, halting specific production processes, or stopping loading, unloading, and transportation links. Moreover, a detailed list-based management system has been implemented to facilitate supervision and inspection.
Relevant data shows that during the autumn and winter of 2017-2018, the "2+26" cities achieved positive results in responding to heavy pollution weather, with the number of heavy pollution days decreasing by 55.4% year-on-year.
However, in the emergency response plans of cities in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) Region and the Fenwei Plain, there is still no unified requirement for the emission reduction ratio of emergency measures. These measures lack targeting and effectiveness, and have poor operability—making it difficult to implement them. Furthermore, the intensity of emission reduction under these measures is generally insufficient, which seriously undermines the effectiveness of the response. Even when high-level emergency responses are activated, the results remain insignificant.
Chai Fahe said that in the next step, guidance will continue to be provided to key regions to further improve their emergency response plans for heavy pollution weather and increase the emission reduction ratios of emergency measures—with the ratios for yellow, orange, and red alerts to be no less than 10%, 20%, and 30% respectively in principle.
Emergency emission reduction measures will be refined and implemented in each production process of enterprises, and a "one enterprise, one policy" list-based management system will be adopted. During the yellow or higher-level heavy pollution weather alerts, emergency transportation responses will be implemented for key vehicle-using enterprises involving bulk material transportation in industries such as iron and steel, building materials, coking, non-ferrous metals, chemicals, and mining—ensuring effective response to heavy pollution weather.
The Three-Year Action Plan for Winning the Blue Sky Defense War proposes the following targets by 2020:
The total emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides will decrease by more than 15% respectively compared with 2015 levels;
For cities at and above the prefecture level that have not yet met the PM2.5 standard, the PM2.5 concentration will drop by more than 18% compared with 2015;
The proportion of days with good air quality in cities at and above the prefecture level will reach 80%;
The proportion of days with severe or worse air pollution will decrease by more than 25% compared with 2015.
By 2020, the proportion of coal in China’s total energy consumption will drop to below 58%; the total coal consumption of five provinces/municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Henan) will decrease by 10% compared with 2015, that of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) Region will fall by 5%, and the Fenwei Plain will achieve negative growth in coal consumption; new coal-consuming projects will implement coal reduction and replacement.
In accordance with the principle of centralized coal use and clean utilization, priority will be given to cutting non-electric coal consumption and increasing the proportion of coal used for power generation. By 2020, the proportion of coal used for power generation in China’s total coal consumption will reach over 55%. The promotion of replacing coal and fuel oil with electricity will continue, with the replacement scale reaching more than 100 billion kilowatt-hours.
The Action Plan puts forward task measures in six aspects:
Adjust and optimize the industrial structure to promote green industrial development;
Accelerate the adjustment of the energy structure to build a clean, low-carbon, and efficient energy system;
Actively adjust the transportation structure to develop a green transportation system;
Optimize and adjust the land use structure to advance the control of non-point source pollution;
Implement major special campaigns to significantly reduce pollutant emissions;
Strengthen regional joint prevention and control to effectively respond to heavy pollution weather.
