Beijing, China has had a tough winter with air pollution increase of over 30% in 2013, when compared to the same period in 2012. The recent analysis led by the Boston-based health effects Institute estimated that air pollution in China was responsible for roughly 1.2 million premature deaths in China during 2010, ranking it just behind tobacco smoking. International schools are racing to buy covered domes to cover playgrounds, enabling children to play on days when it is unsafe to run outside, while sale of air purifiers in office buildings is up 300% in the first three months of 2013 due to air pollution concerns. Pollution over Beijing has resulted in Airlines cancelling flights due to poor visibility and even satellite photos show smog from outer space.
To reduce the pollution, China will spend 16 billion over the next three years to deal with Beijing’s pollution to defuse mounting public anger over environmental degradation. Politicians enacted a 48 hour closure of some polluting businesses while people were asked to stay off the roads due to health concerns. If it is any consolation to what Beijing endured during winter months this year, let us not forget that City of Los Angeles, even after 60 years of vast amount of progress has yet to meet U.S. Federal Air Quality Standards. In addition, Britain released Clean Air Act in 1956 and reached compliance about 50 years later.
In 1985, 40% of the world’s population was urban, and it is estimated that 60% of the global population will be urban by 2025. Although the overall land area covered by urban growth remains 2% of land surface, its ecological footprint can produce more than 78% of the global greenhouse gases. Understanding these challenges in Beijing can be beneficial to other developing urban centers throughout the world. One of the main reasons for Beijing Pollution is related to the rapid urbanization, where Beijing added 2.7 million people during 1990’s and additional 6 million inhabitants from 2000-2010. This does not even take into account migrant workers estimated to be additional 7 million not accounted for in the government Census. Beijing now ranks as the world’s 12th largest urban area and is larger than any urban area in the United States or Europe with the exception of New York.
In the middle of the rapid urbanization process, it is urgent for a nation to think about how such a process can press forward without compromising the quality of urban life and living environment. In Beijing, the number of vehicles increased from 0.5 million in 1992 to 5.2 million in 2013. The issue of pollution is sporadic and cannot be avoided during the process of industrialization. China is in process of urbanization and industrialization which we cannot change. The transformation of the infrastructure of roads, mass transit, housing, energy and production is a long-term goal, and cannot be realized overnight. Urbanization has always caused many ecological and environmental problems in all nations and not new to China. The difference today is that we have technologies that can be deployed to reduce the normal effects of urban sprawl on air, water and land pollution.
In the middle of the rapid urbanization process, it is urgent for a nation to think about how such a process can press forward without compromising the quality of urban life and living environment. In Beijing, the number of vehicles increased from 0.5 million in 1992 to 5.2 million in 2013. The issue of pollution is sporadic and cannot be avoided during the process of industrialization. China is in process of urbanization and industrialization which we cannot change. The transformation of the infrastructure of roads, mass transit, housing, energy and production is a long-term goal, and cannot be realized overnight. Urbanization has always caused many ecological and environmental problems in all nations and not new to China. The difference today is that we have technologies that can be deployed to reduce the normal effects of urban sprawl on air, water and land pollution.
Beijing is among the first major Chinese cities to start using Euro IV emission standards for automobiles but still there remain many trucks and buses running in the city which are using low-quality diesel. Over 26% of the air pollution is result of automotive emissions and to temporarily reduce the problem the City Administration has decided to restrict all public and private vehicles from operating for three months out of each year during rush hours of 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. This has resulted in large population daily commuters to shift from private cars to an already taxed mass transit subway and bus system. To the City’s credit they have also called for a plan to replace 1,000 of the 18,000 buses with electric buses within next twelve months. This commitment has also caused other cities like Shanghai, Tianjin, Chengdu and Hong Kong to adopt similar initiatives, considering that air pollution in these cities has also shown steady growth over the last decade due to high urbanization.
Recognizing this opportunity, U.S. manufacturers like Balqon Corporation, a California based company (www.balqon.com) has now setup offices in Central China and signed strategic partnerships with two large China bus manufacturers to rapidly deploy zero emission buses required under these new initiatives and regulations. Fast approaching regulatory deadlines in Beijing has politicians and city officials scurrying for zero emission solutions from the local bus manufacturers before another winter rolls by. Local manufacturers like BYD, F.A.W., SAIG and others have been demonstrating electric buses for over a year, yet only time will tell if the fear of Beijing’s upcoming winter will spring U.S companies like Balqon into an opportunity of a lifetime.
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