China to tackle heavy smog

File picture: Andy Wong/AP

File picture: Andy Wong/AP

Published Mar 19, 2017

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Beijing - The Chinese government has pledged to tackle and win its ever growing battle against heavy smog, especially dire in winter.

This was according to Premier Li Keqiang, at a news conference held at the end of the National People’s Congress annual session this week, who said: “Blue skies will not be, and should not be, a luxury.”

He announced that a new fund would be set up to help the country’s top scientists research the cause of the smog.

The Ministry of Finance allocated more than R13 billion to air smog research last year. This new fund, the amount still to be announced, would be in addition to this amount.

In December major cities across northern China were covered under a blanket of smog so thick that industries were ordered shut down and air and ground traffic was disrupted.

At least 23 cities, including the capital Beijing, were issued red alerts as a swath of pollution hovered over much of the nation, China's Xinhua news agency reported.

 Alerts were put into effect for as long as three days at a time.

Hospitals were put on alert to deal with an influx of breathing-related illnesses.

Hospitals in the port city of Tianjin saw a surge in asthma and other respiratory issues, China's People’s Daily reported.

The pollution forced the city to close highways which caused delays and cancellations for dozens of flights, Xinhua said.

Dangerous smog levels are a recurring issue as the government struggles to balance industrial growth with environmental concerns.

Much of the pollution is blamed on coal burning for electricity, and smog levels often are worse in winter when cold weather drives up energy use.

During the two sessions the government announced plans to reduce its coal production capacity.

Newspapers here reported that China plans to slash 150 million tons of coal capacity, and eliminate or postpone the building of 50 million kilowatts of coal-fired power generation capacity this year.

He Yu, chairman of state-owned China General Nuclear Power Corp said the country needed to build between four and six nuclear reactors each year until 2020, China Daily newspaper reported.

China is trying to boost its use of nuclear energy. However, the country's ambitious nuclear plans have been subject to repeated delays, including a suspension of the approval process for three years from 2011, as the country carried out safety reviews in the wake of Japan's Fukushima disaster.

Without a faster roll-out of new third-generation nuclear reactors, he said China would fail to meet government plans to reduce emissions amid a broad crackdown on pollution.

In January the administration said it would plough R5 trillion into renewable power generation by 2020, as it shifts from coal power towards cleaner fuels.

Weekend Argus

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