China Environ Prot (EP) Industry, Technology, Solid Waste Mgt, Liquid Treat: News & Discussions

[JSCh]

Ammonia Emissions Unlikely To Be Causing Extreme China Haze
Posted October 3, 2017 • Atlanta, GA

As China struggles to find ways to remedy the noxious haze that lingers over Beijing and other cities in the winter, researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology have cast serious doubt on one proposed cause: high levels of ammonia in the air.

The wintertime air pollution has gained attention in the scientific community in recent years, prompting some scientists to propose that ammonia, emitted into the air from agricultural activities and automobiles, could be a precursor that strongly promotes the formation of the haze.

Georgia Tech researchers countered that theory in a study published September 21 in the journal Scientific Reports. The study was sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

“With China and other countries exploring ways to reduce air pollution, it’s important to understand the chemistry behind how that haze forms,” said Rodney Weber, a professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences. “What we’ve found is that the atmospheric ammonia is not a large driver of those air conditions, as has been proposed.”

The researchers used advanced computer modeling to examine the chemistry of how sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide – two gases pumped into the atmosphere from coal-burning power plants and other fossil fuel combustion – interact to form sulfate aerosol, one major cause of the haze that can wreak havoc on human and ecosystem health.

“Typically, sulfate aerosol is produced through a chemical reaction that oxidizes sulfur dioxide to form sulfate particulates,” said Athanasios Nenes, a professor and Johnson Faculty Fellow in the School of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences and the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. “In that process, water is absorbed by the sulfate as it is produced and tends to make the particle very acidic, which shuts down certain pathways for further sulfate formation.”

Some scientists have recently suggested that Beijing’s high levels of ammonia – which is a base, or on opposite side of the acidity scale – could subvert the normal sulfate process, keeping the particle neutral long enough to form much higher concentrations of sulfate through a new chemical pathway.

The researchers at Georgia Tech tested that theory with a computer model that performed a thermodynamic simulation of the aerosol conditions over cities in the East China Plains. The researchers tested numerous atmospheric scenarios by altering the mix of aerosols, gases and meteorological conditions several ways. Consistently, the model showed that elevated ammonia had relatively little impact on the acidity of the pollutant particles. Even a 10-fold increase in ammonia above normal conditions made the aerosol only a tiny amount – only one pH unit – less acidic. The effect was also true in the reverse; lowering ammonia 10-fold made the air only slightly more acidic. The researchers concluded that particles remain too acidic, even for the very high levels of ammonia in Beijing, for sulfate haze to be formed through the proposed new pathway.

“If ammonia played a big role in the production of sulfate, efforts to control it could have wide-ranging implications, such as considering limiting agricultural activities to improve air pollution of this kind,” Weber said. “But, we show that this is likely to be largely ineffective, in this case.”

The researchers found that the mildly acidic air over Beijing could promote high rates of sulfur dioxide oxidation through interaction with transition metals such as iron, copper and manganese emitted into the air from local sources such as car brakes, fly ash and mineral dust, which could be another important contributor to extreme pollution events and a source of intense particle toxicity.

Other researchers at Georgia Tech have attributed the extreme haze in China in recent years to changing weather patterns as a result of climate change.

“Controlling ammonia emissions overall seems to be the proposed strategy for mitigating air quality problems in many regions of the globe, but our work shows that it is not necessarily the most cost effective way to go,” Nenes said. “You certainly don’t want to ignore ammonia emissions, but there can be other ways to get the biggest bang for the buck in terms of air quality improvement, such as limiting sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from coal burning power plants.”

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. AGS-1360730. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

CITATION: Hongyu Guo, Rodney J. Weber and Athanasios Nenes, “High levels of ammonia do not raise fine particle pH sufficiently to yield nitrogen oxide-dominated sulfate production,” (Scientific Reports, September 2017). http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-11704-0



Ammonia Emissions Unlikely To Be Causing Extreme China Haze | Research Horizons | Georgia Tech's Research News

 

[TaiShang]

China’s Coal Hub Bans Coal

By Coco Feng

Taiyuan coal ban is expected to cut 2 million tons of coal used for heating in the northern Chinese city, which is notorious for its awful air quality linked to burning the fossil fuel. Above, a pedestrian in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, holds up a smartphone showing the Air Quality Index reading of 452 in the city just shy of 11 a.m. on Nov. 18, 2016. Typically, the index, which measures the level of air pollution, is considered hazardous if it exceeds 300. Photo: IC

Taiyuan, the capital of China’s coal production hub, has banned sales, transport and use of coal by most plants to try to reduce serious air pollution.

The city in northern Shanxi province contributed 24.3% of last year’s coal output nationwide last year. The ban went into effect on Sunday, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

Taiyuan is one of the most polluted cities in China and was the absolute worst last year in terms of sulfur dioxide (SO2), which can cause serious heart and respiratory problems. The head of the city’s environmental protection bureau Dou Lifen said that coal remains the biggest source for air pollution in winter in the city.

The ban will apply to all individuals and companies excluding several state-owned steel and power plants.

Taiyuan’s efforts to battle air pollution also includes renovating the heating equipment of 134,000 households in rural and urban areas, as well as replacing coal furnaces with electric or natural gas heaters before the heating season starts this year.

The ban is expected to cut 2 million tons of coal used for heating, or 90% of the total coal consumption for heating, Dou said.

Taiyuan is among a group of cities in northern China, including Beijing, that are notorious for awful air quality linked to their heavy use of coal, especially during the heating season.

Beijing, which suffered air pollution on nearly half of all days last year, rolled out similar regulations in 2013. Beijing promised to close its four major coal power plants by 2017, which it did in March. That will cut coal use by 9 million tons each year. The city also plans to renovate factories and households to use facilities that don’t burn coal by the end of the year.

Following years of effort, coal consumption in Beijing fell to 9.5 million tons last year, versus 30 million tons in 2005. However, the usual time of heavy pollution, which usually starts after the heating season in November, is expected to come early this year due to weather and climate reasons, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said in early September.

The ministry has made air pollution a priority this autumn and winter. The authority recently sent groups of officials to inspect whether local governments and companies have taken environmentally friendly measures, and it has imposed strict penalties on violators.

http://www.caixinglobal.com/2017-10-03/101153185.html

 

[JSCh]

Beijing carries out energy conservation renovation on public buildings
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-07 14:57:25|Editor: Liangyu



BEIJING, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Beijing authorities said the city will complete energy conservation renovations on at least six million square meters of public buildings before the end of 2018.

Beijing has a total of 170 million square meters of public buildings that are considered inefficient in energy consumption. Most of these buildings were built in the 1980s and have remained operational through older means of energy consumption, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

These buildings use incandescent light bulbs and manually adjusted heating and refrigeration equipment, with no water conservation or recycling systems, and temperature control systems are inadequate, said the commission.

After the renovation, the public buildings will be equipped with LED lights and automatic light adjustment systems, as well as intelligent refrigeration and temperature control systems to reduce energy use.

 

[JSCh]

Saihanba National Forest Park inspires art exhibit
chinadaily.com.cn | 2017-10-11 10:48

A photo of Saihanba showcased at the exhibition, Oct 10, 2017. [Photo by Chen Jie/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

An exhibition featuring paintings and photos of Saihanba National Forest Park is open at the hall of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles in Beijing till Oct 15.

Located in North China's Hebei province, bordering the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Sanhanba National Forest Park is the largest of its kind in China. Some 55 years ago, forestry workers started to work there to change what was a desert into a forest.

China's Artists Association and Photographers' Association organized more than 40 artists to stay there for a week.

The selected works created during their visit were shown in the exhibition.

Two paintings featuring people in Saihanba at the exhibition, Oct 10, 2017. [Photo by Chen Jie/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

 

[JSCh]

China cleans silt-clogged Yellow River
(People's Daily Online) 17:33, October 12, 2017

Notable for the large amount of silt it carries, the Yellow River, China’s second longest river, has become a limpid waterway in recent years, thanks to the country’s progress in hydraulic engineering and ecological construction.

Considered both as the cradle of Chinese civilization and the country’s ecological malady, the Yellow River is vital for China’s agriculture, yet the large amount of sediment it carries can clog reservoirs, break levees, and even cause potentially catastrophic floods. According to statistics, if it runs to the sea with sufficient volume, more than 1.1 billion tons of silt can be carried to the sea annually.

Though being rampant with silt for thousands of year, the river has been tamed in the past two decades, thanks to China’s water conservancy projects, including the Xiaolangdi Dam, which have been purging the silt-clogged river since 2002.

“The river has been clean for over ten years, sometimes the color of the river even turns into crystal green. Once a river with great power that can churn up waves as high as 2 meters, it now appears to be quiet and peaceful,” Jia Changzhi, a peasant from Yonghe, Shanxi province, who has been living along the river for his whole life, told the China Youth Daily.

According to experts, ever since the Xiaolangdi Dam started impounding water from the Yellow River in 1999, the slit in the river has reduced significantly. The downstream of the river carried only 64 million tons of silt annually from 2000 to 2015, reducing 1.1 billion from the average since 1950 to 1999.

“The Yellow River has become clean 43 times in history, with the longest clean period of over 20 days in 1727. Since 2000, the river has been clean for even longer periods,” Li Erong, a geological history expert, told the China Youth Daily.

Desludging the Yellow River has always been a dream for many Chinese scientists and the public. Zhu Xianmo, a renowned scientist from the Chinese Academy of Science who died on Oct. 11, has devoted all his life to the cause, pointing out that the permeability of the soil is the key to purge the river.

“If the management of the Yellow River runs smoothly, even elderly people like me may witness emerald water running in the Yellow River,” said Zhu at the age of 88, a dream that has become true as 80 percent of the river remains clean during the non-flood season now.

 

[JSCh]

China monitors CO2, methane in South China Sea
By Zhao Yusha Source:Global Times Published: 2017/10/16 22:38:39

The first greenhouse gas monitoring system in the South China Sea has started the test run, an important move for research on, and the environmental protection of, the South China Sea area.

The system will be used for continuous, precise measuring of carbon dioxide and methane emissions, the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) told the Science Daily on Sunday, adding that the system was designed in accordance with Global Atmosphere Watch standards.

The climatic, geographical and ecological conditions around Nansha Islands and neighboring areas make it prone to ocean carbon-cycle and ocean acidification exposure, Lin Hongmin, an adviser to South China's Hainan Provincial Maritime Environment Protection Association, told the Global Times on Monday.

Lin said that ocean acidification and warming temperatures are the major cause of coral reef damage, which is largely found in the waters around Nansha.

"Since the 1970s, the area has lost 80 percent of its coral reefs while the mangrove losses could add up to 73 percent. The general situation is serious," Wang Xiaoqiang, a deputy director at the Oceanic Administration, said in May 2016.

Oceanol.com, an SOA affiliated news site, said that the administration already had a greenhouse gas monitoring system on Nansha and Xisha islands, Beishuang Island near Fujian Province and Shengshan Island off Zhejiang Province, in preparation for building a network of monitoring sites across the country.

The greenhouse gas monitoring system for the South China Sea is a clear sign of China's seriousness about dealing with global warming, because the oceans are the biggest carbon trap, or storehouse for greenhouse gases, said Lin.

In addition to greenhouse gas emissions, the government has focused on other environment protection aspects in the ocean, he noted.

Last year, China put about 470 million yuan ($71.48 million) into scientific research on protecting the ocean environment and deep-ocean technology, according to Wang.

And it started a red-line system to mark ecological protection areas that include over 30 percent of China's marine areas and over 35 percent of the mainland's coastline in 11 provinces to build a comprehensive ocean management system, he concluded.

 

[JSCh]

Oil workers make "heart" of China's largest desert green and vibrant
Source: Xinhua | 2017-10-27 09:28:20 | Editor: huaxia

An aerial view of Tazhong Township. (Xinhua photo/Hu Huhu)

By Zhao Tianshu, Gu Yu, Bai Jiali, Xue Yanwen

In the hinterland of China's largest desert Taklamakan, there's not just wind and sand. In Tazhong Township, or center of Taklamakan, oil workers and scientists have brought green to the desert after decades' efforts.

Deep in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the 337,000-square-km Taklamakan Desert is the world's second largest shifting sand desert and is known as the "sea of death" across China. In the Uygur language, its name means "go in and you won't come out." Oases in it once served as important trading spots along the ancient Silk Road.

The place was unpopulated until oil workers marched deep into the Tarim Basin in 1990s. The Tarim Oil Field Branch of China National Petroleum Corporation settled a work zone here. Since then, the "heart of the desert" started beating, showing vitality and hope. In 2015, Tazhong Township was established.

The work zone of the China National Petroleum Corporation. (Xinhua photo/Hu Huhu)

Workers check oil pipelines in the desert. (Xinhua photo/Hu Huhu)

Seen from the air, Tazhong is like an isolated island in the sandy "sea of no return". It connects the northern and southern parts of Tarim Basin. To the south, the town leads to two major silk road trading posts, Qiemo and Hotan counties, while, to the north it leads to Aksu and Korla cities and to the inland of China.

Many vehicles traversing this treacherous land often take a stop here. Along the roads are dozens of scattered shops, most of which are convenient stores and restaurants of cuisines nationwide, serving hurrying visitors. Two KTV clubs are the only places of leisure for local residents.

Dust is blown about when vehicles whirl on the road. "Roads afford a livelihood to us," says Yusupjan Yasin, who sells noodles by the roadside. At lunchtime, cargo trucks and shuttle coaches gradually pull over. Restaurants are crowded with travelers from all over the country.

"Apart from oil workers and passersby, more tourists are coming to Tazhong in recent years," says Guan Hongyu, owner of a hostel. "The desert has become a tourist destination."

A highway traverses the desert. (Xinhua photo/Hu Huhu)

It was hard to imagine the "no man's land" would embrace residents and even tourists decades ago. While the annual precipitation is only 25cm, the amount of evaporation in Tazhong is 150 times as much. Sand and dust strike the town for more than 180 days out of a year. The lowest temperature can reach -26 degrees Celsius, while the highest 46 degrees Celsius, resulting in dramatic daily temperature swings.

Yet, despite the cruel climate, oil workers and scientists has managed to plant greeneries here. In 2002, a 436-kilometer-long afforestation project was launched and a botanical garden was built in Tazhong. It is the world's only botanical garden in the center of desert.

The 436-kilometer-long belts of tree on both sides of the highway. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)

The botanical garden in Tazhong. (Xinhua photo/Hu Huhu)

Botanist Chang Qing (R) works in the botanical garden. (Xinhua photo/Hu Huhu)

"We are the first residents here," says oil worker Tan Hui. "The desert now is no longer a barren land."

 

[JSCh]

China Launch First Carbon Emission Assessment Engineering Lab
Oct 27, 2017

China is planning to launch its first engineering laboratory dedicated to carbon emission assessment, the Qingdao Carbon Data and Carbon Assessment Engineering Laboratory (QCEL), according to information from the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

As a pioneering lab, QCEL aims at acquiring and evaluating local carbon emission data, studying and establishing methods, tools and modeling, and proposing practical proposals for low-carbon strategy of Qingdao. This municipal carbon data/assessment engineering lab is supposed to address such bottlenecks as inaccuracy and decentralization of fundamental data and inapplicability of international mature approaches, during Qingdao and China's decision-making on climate change and low carbon development.

Currently, QCEL has good foundation on carbon emission data collection, measurement and analysis, data platform construction, strategic planning, and related method and tools development, after working for over three years in this field. However, such work could not be singly accomplished without national and international cooperation. QIBEBT, where QCEL is based, is coordinating well with Qingdao government to access carbon emission data from different sources before initiating this lab. QIBEBT has worked actively with partners domestic and aboard, such as the Energy Foundation China (EFC), C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40), Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), Institute for Sustainable Community (ISC), Alliance of Peaking Pioneer Cities of China (APPC), and Renmin University of China, to cooperate on projects on climate change.

QCEL is now open to more international collaboration.

Qingdao, a host city for regatta competitions of 2008 Olympic Summer Games, has paid much attention to climate change. The establishment of the lab is of great significance to evaluate the carbon emission and propose reduction solutions for this city and for other ones. As one of the most livable cities in China, Qingdao leads the low-carbon life and, more foresightedly, low-carbon research in the country.

Note that the abovementioned carbon emissions measure the total emissions of greenhouse gases in a certain context of economy, society, and environment over a period of time. The carbon emissions count six types of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). Each type of greenhouse gas is converted to an equivalent value of carbon dioxide.

Qingdao Carbon Data and Carbon Assessment Engineering Laboratory (Image by QCEL)



China Launch First Carbon Emission Assessment Engineering Lab---Chinese Academy of Sciences

 

[Asian.Century]

How China Is (Surprise!) Winning Its War On Air Pollution
But the country isn't in the clear yet.
01/07/2016 10:51 am ET

• Matt SheehanChina Correspondent, The WorldPost

Don’t let the "red alerts," smog-shrouded buildings or blotted-out sun fool you: Beijing and China on the whole appear to be gaining real ground in the war on pollution.

In 2015, Beijing saw a 16 percent annual fall in the concentration of the most deadly type of air pollutant, according to an analysis by the Paulson Instituteand Greenpeace of air quality data from the United States Embassy in Beijing. Though virtually all of those gains were registered during the summer and early fall, they still proved enough to make 2015 the cleanest year since the embassy began publishing data in 2008.

COURTESY OF THE PAULSON INSTITUTE
Beijing's average monthly concentrations of cancer-causing PM2.5 particulates in micrograms per cubic meter (note: not AQI levels) from 2008-2015. The data is from the United States Embassy pollution monitoring.

 

[JSCh]

Plant fiber turning desert to oasis
By Tan Yingzi | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2017-11-06 14:54

Turning a desert into an oasis is not a dream anymore. Yi Zhijian, a professor at Chongqing Jiaotong University, and his team have invented a plant fiber binder to transform sand into soil for farming, and the experiment is going smoothly in Inner Mongolia, Chongqing Daily reported.

The Ulanbuh Desert, about 14,000 square kilometers in area, lies on the west bank of the Yellow River in Alshaa League, Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Every spring, Beijing's sandstorms originate here.

In May 2016, the team successfully made about 16,667 square meters survive in the edge of the Ulanbuh Desert, two kilometers from the west bank of the Yellow River. In 2017, another experimental area of 2 square kilometers is now covered with hundreds of plants planted in February, such as trees, grass and crops.

video -> China daily video

 

[JSCh]

Hidden Potential for Farmers to Mitigate Climate Change and Increase Food Production
Nov 15, 2017

A study conducted by scientists from Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences reveals that improved agricultural practices could secure a triple win for food security, ecological resilience and climate change – including removing over a billion tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere per year.

In the debate over climate change, agriculture is often seen as part of the problem: agricultural expansion can drive deforestation, and both livestock and chemical fertilisers contribute to emissions of the potent greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide. However, the new study shows that simple changes to the management of crop lands around the world could sequester 0.9 to 1.85 billion tonnes of carbon every year for the next 20 years.

"Soils can act as both sources and sinks of carbon" explained lead author Dr. Robert Zomer from the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KIB/CAS).

"In fact, if you measure the carbon contained in only the first meter of soil around the world, this global stock of soil carbon is over three times greater than all the carbon stored in the earths atmosphere."

According to the new report, because many agricultural soils have been depleted of their carbon – for example through erosion and intensive tilling - there is massive potential to take carbon out of the air and store it in the earth.

This could be done, the author say, through the use of low-tech, practical farming methods such as organic manures, mulching, conservation tillage, fertility management, agroforestry (using trees on agricultural land), and rotational grazing.

"These techniques all increase the amount of organic matter and therefore carbon which is stored in the soil." explained Dr. Deborah Bossio, Lead Soil Scientist at The Nature Conservancy and co-author of the paper.

"And unlike other methods for carbon sequestration such as carbon capture and storage, or establishing plant large plantations of fast-growing trees, promoting them would actively help food production and resilience to climate change by improving soil health".

The research team mapped the sequestration potential of crop soils around the world. Their results showed that the biggest increases in carbon storage would be found in North America, South Asia and Europe. By country, the United States showed the highest total annual potential for increased soil carbon, followed by India, China and Russia.

The new research could have implications for how the international community aims to meet agreed targets for climate change and carbon sequestration. For example, the 4p1000 initiative on Soil for Food Security and Climate aims to sequester approximately 3.5 billion tonnes of carbon annually in soils. The new study suggests that from 26% to 53% of this target could be achieved through improved farming practices.

"Our research reveals a safe, cost-effective route towards significant climate change mitigation", said Dr. Rolf Sommer, principal soil scientist at the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and co-author of the paper.

"But in order to seize this opportunity, we need to invest in farmers and farming methods which will give us healthier, more productive and more resilient soils".

The results were presented on Wednesday 15 November at the UN COP23 climate talks currently underway in Bonn, Germany.

The new research is published in Scientific Reports entitled: "Global Sequestration Potential of Increased Organic Carbon in Cropland Soils".

Funding for this study was provided by the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE), with additional support provided by The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the Centre for Mountain Ecosystems Studies (CMES), Kunming Institute of Botany and the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.



Hidden Potential for Farmers to Mitigate Climate Change and Increase Food Production---Chinese Academy of Sciences

 

[JSCh]

China, US researchers team up on climate lab
By Xie Chuanjiao in Qingdao, Shandong | China Daily | Updated: 2017-11-17 08:11

Scientists say facility will provide better data about Earth's changes

Top research institutions in China and the United States announced on Thursday that they will build an international laboratory to more accurately measure and predict global climate change.

The International Laboratory for High-Resolution Earth System Prediction will concentrate on simulations to provide reliable data at both regional and global levels, and is expected to enhance extreme weather forecasting and disaster prediction for the benefit of stakeholders and policymakers, experts said.

The lab will be jointly operated by Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, the US-based National Center for Atmospheric Research and Texas A&M University. The three parties, who signed an agreement in Qingdao, Shandong province, have been global leaders in climate change research.

The lab will have two offices－in Qingdao and Texas.

"Each side brings its advantages to this cooperation," said Michael Benedik, vice-provost of the university, located in Corpus Christi. "It's exciting. This is an example of the two countries really partnering with their expertise."

In the cooperation, the US atmospheric research center, with many years of experience, will provide state-of-the-art oceanic and climate modeling; the Texas university has expertise in regional ocean modeling; and the Qingdao marine technology lab owns the fastest supercomputer in the world for marine research.

"This new laboratory is going to be critical for improving the ocean component of our modeling systems," said James Hurrell, director of the US center.

He added that it's important because when thinking about climate variability and longer-term climate change－from seasons to decades and even longer time scales－much of the memory of Earth's systems and climate resides in the ocean.

One of the major goals for the China-US lab project is to simulate global climate change between the years 1400 and 2400－500 years before and after 1900－by using high-performance computers.

Before 1900, humans intervened less in nature. After that, as the modern industrial revolution took place, people had an increasing impact on nature and climate.

"Only when we learn how climate evolved in the past can we improve precision in the future," said Ping Chang, a professor of atmospheric science at Texas A&M.

Wu Lixin, director of the Qingdao marine technology lab's executive committee, said China has become a leading global force in combating climate change, and it's significant for a Chinese research institution to establish a branch such as the new lab in a country with powerful research abilities.

"As the first national laboratory for marine research in China, our lab is making efforts to undertake major strategic tasks, build a global network with innovative force for marine research and transform the marine governance system worldwide," said Wu, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The Qingdao lab is planning to partner with the renowned Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to build a center on deep-sea research and join hands with a Russian research center on Arctic studies, Wu added.

 

[TaiShang]

Beijing air pollution notably reduced in winter
Xinhua, December 03, 2017

Air pollution has been notably reduced in Beijing, especially during the winter months, and the city is likely to meet its smog control target of the year, a cabinet minister said Saturday.

Minister of Environmental Protection Li Ganjie told attendees of an environment forum in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, that Beijing's levels of PM2.5 dropped about 27 percent year-on-year in the March-November period this year.

The PM2.5 measures the density of particulate matter in air and is often used to determine smog severity.

He said it worths mentioning that the PM2.5 levels plunged 40 percent in October and November. The winter months are known to have Beijing's worst smog because winds slow and residents turn on coal-fired furnaces for heating. Progress in winter is key to winning the battle against smog.

The government has taken a series of measures to fight air pollution: closing factories, limiting cars and replacing coal with clean energy.

Li said China saw "unprecedented" improvement of environment over the past five years.

In the first eleven months, 338 Chinese cities saw a combined 20.4 percent reduction in PM10, compared to that in 2013. The PM2.5 levels in three main metropolitan areas: Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta were down 38.2 percent, 31.7 percent and 25.6 percent respectively, Li said.

For Beijing, which catches much more attention than others on pollution control, a target has been set to lower the year-round PM2.5 average to 60 micrograms per cubic meters in 2017.

Li said the government is confident that the target will be met.

"We have drawn important lessons," he said. "Despite the challenges, we will redouble the efforts to fight and win the war against pollution to make the sky blue again."

http://www.china.org.cn/china/2017-12/03/content_50082901.htm

 

[TaiShang]

China sees 4% drop in carbon intensity in first three quarters of 2017

By Sun Wenyu (People's Daily Online) 14:19, November 30, 2017

(File photo)

China is expected to over-fulfill its reduction target of greenhouse gases emission by 2020, given a 4-percent drop in the country’s carbon intensity in the first nine months of 2017, said Li Gao, an official with the department for climate change under China’s National Development and Reform Commission.

Li made the remarks at this year’s Asia-Pacific Forum on Low Carbon Technology held in Changsha, Hunan, on Nov. 29.

According to him, the annual growth of energy consumption, which stood at 5.1% from 2005 to 2015, had supported an average annual economic growth rate of 9.5% over the same period. The country has cut 4.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions, preliminarily unhooking the connections between economic progress and carbon emissions.

In 2016, non-fossil energy accounted for 13.3% of the primary energy consumption, Li said, adding that energy consumption per GDP unit and carbon dioxide emissions have dropped 5% and 6.6%, respectively.

The carbon emission trading system will be initiated at the end of this year, and a national carbon market will be gradually established, Li noted.

He remarked that China will keep playing a constructive role in global climate governance and lead international cooperation on climate change.

 

[JSCh]

Saihanba Forest Farm nominated for 2017 Champions of the Earth
CGTN
2017-12-04 14:36 GMT+8
Updated 2017-12-04 15:05 GMT+8

A group of Chinese forest guards working to protect Saihanba Forest in north China’s Hebei Province has set out to the Kenyan capital Nairobi for the third UN Environment Assembly, after Saihanba Forest Farm was nominated for the 2017 Champions of the Earth awards.

The world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment is gathering from December 4 to 6 in the African country to discuss the overarching problem of pollution, which has posed severe menace to the earth, its resources and human health.

CGTN Photo

Outstanding organizations and individuals who have contributed greatly to environmental protection or have impacted the environment in a positive way are given the awards annually.

Saihanba Forest

Saihanba Forest stretches along the borders of Hebei Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It was a royal hunting ground over 300 years ago, and during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), the emperors hunted there almost every year.

Saihanba Forest before trees were planted. /Photographer Huai Fengming

After the Qing Dynasty collapsed, the area was turned into a wasteland due to deforestation, wildfires and years of wars. Starting 1962, China began to restore the vegetation of the area, and over the past 55 years, three generations of forest guards have worked on its preservation.

The forestry workers have overcome extreme weather and living conditions over the years. The highest temperature in the area is around 33 degrees Celsius, while the lowest is around -43 degrees Celsius. Some areas are covered in snow for seven months a year, and others are affected by gale and sandstorm.

Tourists visit the Qixing Lake Scenic Area of Saihanba National Forest Park. /Xinhua Photo‍

After years of hard work, Saihanba Forest now enjoys an area of 94,000 hectares, and at least 73,000 hectares are covered with thick forestry. There are over 600 kinds of vascular plants, belonging to 312 genera and 81 families. The forest coverage rate is nearly 80 percent.

Tourism developed in the area in the past years, and a wetland park of 1,000,000 square meters has been established. The park is paved with 5,000 meters of boardwalks and has eight attractions.

Annually, over 500,000 tourists visit the area, bringing in 40 million yuan (six million US dollars).

Saihanba Forest. /Xinhua Photo

The Champions of the Earth awards have been awarded to people in different categories of political leadership, grassroots action, scientific innovation, or entrepreneurial vision since 2005.

This year, the three-day event will feature sidebar events to fight pollution in various forms.

The UN Environment vowed that "a number of tangible commitments to end the pollution of our air, land, waterways, oceans and safely manage chemicals and waste" would be delivered.