CAI-Asia China Project E-Newsletter

Issue No. 10, 2009

 

Included in this issue:

- Sandstorm hits NW China

- MEP considers adding PM2.5 and ozone to main pollutants of API

- 4 power stations with renewable energy planned

- Guiyang promoting buses fuel change from gasoline to natural gas

- Environment expenditure to increase by 18.9% in 2009

 

AIR QUALITY

- Facts

Sandstorm hits NW China (March 12, 2009)

A cold front triggered a sandstorm that hit parts of northwest China's Gansu Province Wednesday.

The sandy weather emerged in downtown Jiuquan City at midday Wednesday, with a lowest visibility of 900 meters, according to Wang Xiwen, a chief forecaster with the Central Meteorological Station of Lanzhou, the provincial capital.

The sandstorm in downtown Jiuquan weakened by Wednesday evening, but there were still strong gales.

English link: http://www.china.org.cn/environment/news/2009-03/12/content_17427781.htm  

 

- Initiatives

Urumqi makes massive investment to clean dirty air (March 13, 2009)

Urumqi will invest 5 billion yuan ($731 million) to clean up wintertime pollution this year, Li Zhi, Party secretary of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region' capital, said.

The money will be spent on pollution control and infrastructure construction, Li, who is also a delegate to the ongoing Second Session of the National Committee of the 11th National People's Congress, said.

The 2009 input alone will equal the total sum the city had spent on the 'blue sky mission' - a project curbing Urumqi's air pollution - in the past few years.

English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2009-03/13/content_7574388.htm  

 

Polluting projects rejected or delayed (March 12, 2009)

The Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) had rejected or suspended approval of 14 heavily polluting or high energy-consuming projects by the end of February, since the government set about expanding domestic demand and ensuring economic development amid the financial crisis.

"The 14 projects are worth 104 billion yuan ($15 billion) in investment in such sectors as chemical, petrochemical, steel and iron production, and coal-fired power generation and papermaking," deputy minister of environmental protection Wu Xiaoqing said at a press conference yesterday.

English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-03/12/content_7570885.htm  

 

Beijing cancels waste-fueled power plant plan (March 11, 2009)

China's environment watchdog has called off a controversial waste-fueled power plant in Beijing until further environment impact study is done and subject to public scrutiny.

The Liulitun project in the northwest of the Chinese capital must go through further feasibility study by experts and public scrutiny on a larger scale, said Zhu Xingxiang, head of the pollution prevention division under the Ministry of Environmental Protection said on the sidelines of the parliament's annual full session.

English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-03/11/content_7569531.htm  

 

MEP considers adding PM2.5 and ozone to main pollutants of API (March 11, 2009)

Based on the information from news press of CPPCC, MEP is considering and researching on changing current air quality assessment system and adding air pollution index such as ozone, PM2.5, as well as the index of ambient visibility, said the authority from MEP. Because the fine particles (PM2.5) are regarded as main contributors to the haze, which is mainly caused by vehicle emissions and happens frequently in China cities.

Chinese link: http:/ /news.sina.com.cn/c/2009-03-11/131017385383.shtml

 

ENERGY

-facts

China power use decrease slows in first 2 months (March 10, 2009)

Beijing -- The volume of power consumption in China continued to dip in the first two months of this year but the downward pace was slower, said the Industry and Information Technology Minister Li Yizhong here Tuesday.

Combined power use in January and February fell 3.7 percent from the same period of last year, compared with a year-on-year drop of 17.5 percent last November and 8.7 percent in December, Li said at a press conference during the annual parliament session.

English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009npc/2009-03/10/content_7562633.htm  

 

Pollution levels, energy use drop (March 9, 2009)

China made progress in reducing its energy use last year, according to a government report.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)'s annual report, released late February, said energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) fell 4.59 percent in 2008, slightly higher than the bureau's previous 4.21 percent estimate.

English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-03/09/content_7553102.htm  

 

-Initiatives

4 power stations with renewable energy planned (March 13, 2009)

BEIJING -- China will construct two hydropower stations and two wind farms with a total capacity of 2,001 megawatts, a move to develop clean and renewable energy, the country's top economic planner has said.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has approved the construction of the Luding Hydropower Station in Sichuan Province and the Dongjing Hydropower plant in Guizhou Province, two southwestern regions rich in water resource, according to a statement on the top planner's website on Thursday.

English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-03/13/content_7577120.htm  

 

New energy should be 'top priority' (March 12, 2009)

Senior officials yesterday called on the government to treat the development of new energy as its top priority this year if it was serious about easing its energy shortage and improving the environment.

Zhang Guobao, head of the National Energy Administration, said on the sidelines of the annual session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC): "China should never falter in its effort to develop new energy, even though the current financial crisis temporarily cushioned the conflicts between energy supply and demand."

English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-03/12/content_7570853.htm  

 

Int'l expo on energy saving to open in late-March (March 10, 2009)

The 2009 China International Energy Saving, Emission Reduction and New Energy Science and Technology Expo will be held at the Beijing Exhibition Center, in central Beijing, on March 19-23.

The expo, the largest of its kind in China, will be co-sponsored by 13 central departments including the Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission, according to the organizer.

English link: http://www.china.org.cn/environment/news/2009-03/10/content_17418466.htm  

 

China oil reserve full, sea storage needed (March 9, 2009)

China has filled its first 100 million barrels of onshore emergency crude oil tanks and the government should use some of its foreign exchange reserves on floating storage, an industry executive said on Monday.

English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-03/09/content_7555941.htm  

 

China to import more LNG from Qatar to meet domestic demand (March 8, 2009)

A senior official with China's largest State-owned gas company said Saturday that China planned to import more liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar in the coming years to feed the huge demand of domestic market.

English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-03/08/content_7551495.htm  

 

TRANSPORT

-facts

Zhongshan: bus exhausts gets 99.13% of up-to-grade rate (March 13, 2009)

Recently, Public Transport Company of Zhongshan city, Guangzhou province, has awarded the name of "Advanced public transport enterprise on saving energy and reducing emission in China cities". Main reason is that their bus exhausts gets 99.13% of up-to-grade rate.

Chinese link: http://www.vecc-mep.org.cn/news/news_detail.jsp?newsid=30668  

 

-initiatives

Alliance of new energy automotives founded in Beijing (March 14, 2009)

An alliance of new energy automotives was founded Friday in Beijing with the aim of promoting the research and development of the vehicles.

Initiated by groups like the Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp, Beijing Bus Group and Beijing Institute of Technology, the Alliance of Beijing New Energy Automotives is a non-profit organization with more than 300 members.

English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-03/14/content_7579185.htm  

 

Guiyang promoting buses fuel change from gasoline to the natural gas (March 12, 2009)

According to the information from government, Guiyang is promoting the buses fuel change from gasoline to the natural gas. It is expected to upgrade 1200 buses accumulatively in this year to reach the annual aims of reducing 40000 tons exhausts, decreasing 3000 tons hazardous pollutants and substituting 21000 tons diesel and gasoline fuel.

Chinese link: http://www.cenews.com.cn/xwzx/zhxw/qt/200903/t20090312_599671.html

 

Boost for Xinjiang transport (March 10, 2009)

Xinjiang will boost efforts to improve its infrastructure this year in a move that could see the autonomous region spend 300 billion yuan ($44 billion) - 30 percent more than last year - on its fixed assets, an official said yesterday.

"The financial crisis gives Xinjiang an opportunity to turn its natural resources into business gains," Nur Bekri, chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, told China Daily. The investment will be made in transport, aviation and water projects.

English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-03/10/content_7558908.htm  

 

CLIMATE CHANGE

- initiatives

Hu, Obama set for green dialogue (March 13, 2009)

The global economic crisis will not be the only item high on agenda when President Hu Jintao meets his US counterpart Barack Obama for the first time next month - green issues will also figure prominently.

The two are scheduled to meet at the G20 summit in London in early April.

"I think President Hu will touch on climate change when he meets Obama," Qin Dahe, a scientist on the government's expert panel on climate change, told China Daily on the sidelines of the annual session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-03/13/content_7574468.htm  

 

OTHERS

Environmental cooperation urged (March 13, 2009)

The Yangtze River Delta area's governments are seeking more regional cooperation on environmental protection before the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, an environmental official said.

Environmental protection bureaus from Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and Shanghai municipality, will develop mechanisms to share air pollution data by the year's end as a first step toward developing regional air pollution treatment standards, Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau director Zhang Quan told China Daily.

English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2009-03/13/content_7574393.htm  

 

1.18 trln yuan from central govt is new investment (March 13, 2009)

BEIJING -- The 1.18 trillion yuan from the central government is totally new investment in China's stimulus package, said Premier Wen Jiabao here Friday.

He told reporter after the National People's Congress (NPC) annual session that the central government fund will be spent on promoting the social welfare, environment protection, key infrastructure facilities and technology upgrading.

English link:  http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009npc/2009-03/13/content_7576244.htm  

 

China's economic stimulus plans benefit environment (March 10, 2009)

A message from the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), or the parliament, tells saving energy and protecting environment is a big government agenda, though keeping a "steady and relatively fast" economic growth is a paramount task amid the global economic crisis.

English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009npc/2009-03/10/content_7565353.htm  

 

Int'l entities to participate in Macao's environmental exhibition (March 10, 2009)

The organizer of the 2009 Macao International Environmental Co-operation Forum and Exhibition (MIECF) Tuesday announced that it has by far received enrollment confirmation from 65 entities, and collected over 400 environmental projects for business matching.

Hosted by the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government and coordinated by the SAR's Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) and the Environment Council, the MIECF will be held from April 2 to 4 this year. The activities of 2009 MIECF include Green Forum, Green Matching and Green Showcase.

English link: http://www.china.org.cn/china/news/2009-03/10/content_17418787.htm  

 

Environment expenditure to increase by 18.9% in 2009 (March 10, 2009)

According to the reports to annual CPPCC submitted by NDRC and MOF, China environment expenditure will reach 123.662 billion yuan. Comparing with the expenditure of 104.03 billion yuan in 2008, taking 2.6% of total central financial expenditure, this year the input to environmental protection will increase by 18.9% and take 2.8% of total central financial expenditure. Besides, Central government will also add the investment of 49.5billion yuan on energy saving and emission reduction in 2009.

Chinese link: http://www.mep.gov.cn/hjyw08/200903/t20090310_135080.htm