In order to continue to fight the battle of blue sky, the "Action Plan for Continuous Improvement of Air Quality" (hereinafter referred to as the "Action Plan") was issued a few days ago, which clarified the overall idea, improvement goals, key tasks and responsibilities of air quality improvement. By 2025, PM2 will be achieved in cities at and above the prefecture level across the country5. The concentration will be reduced by 10% compared with 2020, and the proportion of days with severe pollution and above will be controlled within 1%.
Authoritative sources pointed out that this is the third "Ten Atmospheric Measures" issued by China after the "Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan" (referred to as the "Ten Atmospheric Measures") and the "Three-Year Action Plan for Winning the Blue Sky Defense War".
From "2+26" to "2+36" city
In order to solve the problem of urban air pollution in China, in September 2013, the "Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan" was promulgated and implemented, and 10 articles and 35 key tasks and measures were proposed. In 2017, the first phase of the "Ten Atmospheric Measures" was fully completed. In 2018, the "Three-Year Action Plan for Winning the Blue Sky Defense War" was introduced. Over the past decade, air quality has improved significantly, with fine particulate matter (PM25) The concentration and the number of days of heavy pollution have dropped significantly. Liu Bingjiang, chief engineer of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and director of the Department of Atmospheric Environment, said that the successful experience can be summarized as focusing on the three major structural adjustments of industry, energy and transportation, seizing the four major opportunities, and promoting the five major paths of "coal reduction, post-elimination, vehicle control, pollution control and dust suppression".
The reporter combed and found that compared with the "Three-year Action Plan for Winning the Blue Sky Defense War", the "Action Plan" has been adjusted in the key areas of air pollution prevention and control.
Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and its surrounding areas have been adjusted from the original "2+26" cities to "2+36" cities, with significant expansion. Luoyang City and Sanmenxia City in Henan Province have been adjusted from the Fenwei Plain area in the "Three-year Action Plan for Winning the Blue Sky Defense War" to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding areas in the "Action Plan". In addition, Qinhuangdao, Xinji and Dingzhou cities in Hebei Province, Zaozhuang, Dongying, Weifang, Tai'an, Rizhao and Linyi in Shandong Province, Pingdingshan, Xuchang, Luohe, Shangqiu, Zhoukou and Jiyuan cities in Henan Province have been added.
The Fenwei Plain region has added Hancheng City, which is managed by Weinan City, Shaanxi Province, and Taiyuan, Yangquan, Changzhi and Jincheng in Shanxi Province in this region were previously divided into Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas in the "Three-Year Action Plan for Winning the Blue Sky Defense War".
Shanghai and Jiangsu provinces in the Yangtze River Delta region have not been adjusted. Some areas of Zhejiang Province and Anhui Province were excluded and refined to specific cities, namely Hangzhou, Ningbo, Jiaxing, Huzhou, Shaoxing and Zhoushan in Zhejiang Province, and Hefei, Wuhu, Bengbu, Huainan, Ma'anshan, Huaibei, Chuzhou, Fuyang, Suzhou, Lu'an and Bozhou in Anhui Province.
Liu Bingjiang said at the regular policy briefing held by the Information Office a few days ago that on the whole, the total number of key cities in the country for air pollution prevention and control has not changed much, mainly from 80 cities to 82 cities, and the cities in the southern part of the Yangtze River Delta are PM25 is basically stable to meet the standard, so it is eliminated, which is determined according to the current situation of air quality improvement, as well as the characteristics of atmospheric transmission.
In the Yangtze River Delta region and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the surrounding areas, the border areas of Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong and Henan provinces are PM25. The concentration is the same as the PM2 of the original Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding areas, and the Fenwei Plain5. The concentration is similar, about 45 microgram cubic meters, and it has become a relatively prominent area of pollution. Liu Bingjiang further explained that every time the pollution process occurs, this place is the starting point, and as soon as the pollution occurs, it goes north to Jingtang and south to Suzhou and Hangzhou. According to this characteristic and the results of years of monitoring and observation, meteorological parameters and scientific research results, the cities that include the region in the key areas of national air pollution prevention and control will have greater support from the state, and the task will be heavier. In this way, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the surrounding areas and the Yangtze River Delta region will be connected as a whole, and the air pollution problem can be solved systematically and holistically.
Implement clean heating according to local conditions
In terms of energy, the Action Plan proposes to optimize the energy structure and accelerate the clean, low-carbon and efficient development of energy. It includes vigorously developing new and clean energy, strictly and reasonably controlling the total coal consumption, actively carrying out the shutdown and integration of coal-fired boilers, implementing clean energy substitution for industrial furnaces and kilns, and continuing to promote clean heating in the northern region.
In recent years, China has accelerated the popularization of clean energy heating methods such as nuclear heating, wind power heating, biomass heating, and geothermal heating, and various localities are constantly exploring new ways of clean heating.
Mahai Village, Chaidan Town, Dachaidan Executive Committee, Haixi Prefecture, Qinghai Province, is located in the Gobi Plateau, with an altitude of more than 3,200 meters above sea level, and the lowest temperature in winter can reach minus 30 degrees Celsius. In previous years, villagers used small boilers for heating and coal-fired self-heating. This year, the village has replaced the traditional heating method with an air-source heat pump boiler.
Villagers in Xiaosigou Town, Pingquan City, Chengde City, Hebei Province, have used the "distributed photovoltaic + electric heating" energy consumption model this year. The villagers installed electric heating equipment in their homes and installed rooftop photovoltaic panels, which can provide heating for the villagers.
The main urban area of Rushan City, Weihai City, Shandong Province, has adopted nuclear energy for heating this year. As China's first cross-prefecture-level city nuclear energy heating project, the State Power Investment Corporation's "Nuanhe No. 1" Phase III nuclear energy heating project was officially put into operation on November 25 this year.
Clean heating is connected to people's livelihood and blue sky. The 2023 budget report released by the National People's Congress and the National People's Congress in March this year pointed out that the ** fiscal air pollution prevention and control fund allocation is 33 billion yuan, and one of the key points is to support clean heating in the northern region in winter.
Liu Bingjiang pointed out that at present, 88 cities have been included in the scope of financial support for clean heating, and the cumulative special funds for clean heating are 1008800 million yuan, reducing coal consumption by more than 70 million tons and carbon dioxide emissions by more than 100 million tons, the people bid farewell to the era of smoky fire heating.
At present, the focus of clean heating work has shifted from the original large-scale increase in the proportion of clean heating to the consolidation of stock and orderly addition. In the future, we will earnestly grasp the continuous operation of clean heating, consolidate the achievements of clean heating, and continuously improve the long-term mechanism of clean heating, so as to ensure that the operation is managed, the support policies are continued, the heating safety is guaranteed, and the scattered coal is not burned. In addition, the new clean heating transformation will be implemented in an orderly manner, and the areas that are carrying out clean heating will be carried out in an orderly manner in accordance with the established implementation planIn areas that have not been renovated for the time being, they should persist in proceeding from reality and steadily implementing new clean heating renovations in accordance with local conditions. Liu Bingjiang said.
There is still a long way to go to improve air quality
Nowadays, China's air pollution control has entered a critical period of moving forward with heavy burdens and climbing over hurdles. It should be noted that the current situation of China's energy structure dominated by coal has not yet undergone a fundamental change.
The Action Plan proposes to strictly and reasonably control the total consumption of coal. On the premise of ensuring energy security, key areas will continue to implement total coal consumption control. By 2025, coal consumption in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding areas and the Yangtze River Delta region will drop by about 10% and 5% respectively compared with 2020, and coal consumption in the Fenwei Plain will achieve negative growth, focusing on reducing non-power coal.
Liu Bingjiang said that China has now become the country with the fastest improvement rate of air quality in the world, and the country's coal-source pollution has basically been solved, but the inflection point of air quality from quantitative to qualitative change has not yet arrived, and the performance is characterized by frequent heavy pollution. The industrial structure is biased towards chemical industry, the energy structure is biased towards coal, and the transportation structure is biased towards highways.
However, improving air quality through the green transition often takes a long timeframe.
According to data from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, from January to October this year, the average number of days with good air quality in 339 cities at and above the prefecture level was 851%, down 12 percentage points, and the average ratio of days with severe pollution and above is 16%, up 0. year-on-year8 percentage points, PM25. The average concentration increased by 3 year-on-year7%。
Regarding the fluctuation of China's air quality this year, Liu Bingjiang believes that there are two main reasons. One is extreme weather conditions. According to the statistics of the China Meteorological Administration, a total of 17 sand and dust weather processes have occurred in the country this year, the most in the past 10 years, 50% higher than the average, of which 5 sand and dust storms and above intensity processes have reached 5 times, which is about twice the average of the same period in the past 10 years. Second, the increase in air pollutant emissions after the epidemic is relatively large. Thermal power generation increased by 57%, the output of ten non-ferrous metals increased by 7%, and the processing volume increased by 112%, road passenger traffic and road freight increased by 235% and 82%, the significant increase in the amount of economic activity has led to an increase in pollutant emissions.
In this case, China's air quality does fluctuate a little this year, but this fluctuation is normal, which just reflects the long-term and arduous nature of air pollution control. The battle to defend the blue sky is not only a tough battle but also a protracted battle, which requires our perseverance and unremitting efforts. Liu Bingjiang said.
Zhu Lina, a reporter from China City Daily.