Major Causes of Air Pollution of Beijing
editor：gdmachinepopularity：4931pubtime：2017-09-06 10:10:32
In the urban districts of Beijing the average annual concentration of carbon monoxide rises by 16 percent annually and NOx by 52 percent each year. For the year 1996, average values for the concentrations of suspended particles (364 micrograms/cubic meter), sulfur dioxide (100 micrograms per cubic meter) and NOx (118 micrograms per cubic meter) exceed all WHO and Chinese air quality standards. The major causes of air pollution of Beijing can be attributed to three general causes. The high pollution industries, especially those of the core urban area, make most of the pollution gases. A great deal of the low quality coal has been used in the past many years produced a great lot of gases, such as carbon monoxide, NOx, sulfur dioxide and so on, which are the main gases that cause the air pollution. Today, most of Beijing’s [28 million ton per year] coal supply comes from Shanxi and Hebei Provinces. This coal has an ash content of 20 - 25 percent, sulfur content of 1 percent, and a heat content of 5500 kilocalories per kilogram. A good many use of motor vehicles, which are more than two million also generate many poison gases that cause the air pollution.
In order to alleviate the air pollution, Beijing must take the following several steps. Beijing needs to shift from coal to natural gas. When the 3 billion cubic meters/year goals for the year 2010 is achieved, this will enable Beijing to cease burning coal within the third ring road at Beijing’s urban core. Bring electricity to Beijing from power plants in Inner Mongolia and replace coal consumption with electric power consumption. And reduce the proportion of high pollution industries, move industry out of the core urban area. Improve public transportation and limit motor vehicles. Beijing should have no more than two million motor vehicles in the year 2010. Plant more trees and grass to reduce the amount of dust in the air.
reference：Severe Beijing Air Pollution Information Emerges
(A February 1988 report from U.S. Embassy Beijing)
