Claims made in a US report that
pollution from China is crossing the Pacific Ocean and
contaminating American air and soil have been slammed as unfair and
unreliable.
According to a report from the Associated Press, the US
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) estimates that on certain
days nearly 25 percent of particulate matter in the skies above Los
Angeles originates in China.
And some US experts even claim China could produce a third of all
California's airborne pollution on certain days. But a senior
Chinese environmental official poured cold water on the US EPA's
claims at a press briefing in Beijing yesterday.
"Pollutant movement is a very complicated process especially when
the route is across oceans and continents," said Li Xinmin, deputy
director of the Pollution Control Department of the State
Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).
"And how the 25 percent was figured out is a question which needs
more scientific scrutiny," said Li, a specialist in air pollution
control. The "irresponsible" report was not the first to blame
China for pollution in the US, he said.
When EPA administrator Stephen L. Johnson visited Beijing in April
he agreed that US reports blaming China's large-scale mercury
emissions for damage to air quality in America were not fair,
according to Li. But China's air pollution was still a serious
problem especially the nation's high sulphur dioxide (SO2)
emissions, said Li.
The country discharged a total of 25.49 million tons of SO2 in 2005
which is the largest amount in the world. Of the total 21.6 million
tons were produced by industry while 3.89 million tons came from
domestic sources. SO2 emissions have risen 27 percent since 2000,
according to SEPA figures.
Each ton of the SO2 discharged may cause up to 20,000 yuan
(US$2,500) of economic losses. On that basis China could have
suffered a total loss of 509 billion yuan (US$63 billion) in 2005
which is just under 3 percent of the year's 18 trillion yuan
(US$2,250 billion) Gross Domestic Product.
In the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10) China has
promised a 10 percent cut in the country's total SO2 emissions by
2010 compared with the figures at the end of 2005. To achieve this
goal the country's annual SO2 discharge must be brought down to a
maximum of 22.95 million tons.
The SEPA has signed a set of commitments with the six largest
electric power companies and the seven highest SO2 emitting
provinces which are responsible for more than 75 percent of the
country's total SO2 emissions.
"Reducing emissions is a compulsory task for them," said Li. "SEPA
expects the public and media to supervise them and make a joint
effort to alleviate the threat from acid rain."
Most of China's SO2 emissions come from coal burning.
Li said China's coal consumption increased by more than 800 million
tons during the 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-05) of which 500
million tons were consumed by the power industry.
Coal accounts for 70 percent of China's energy consumption and that
figure would be difficult to reduce in the short term, commented
Li.
(China Daily August 4, 2006)