China to snuff out small-scale coal black spots in pollution war
The northern provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi will be the focus of efforts to eliminate ‘scattered’ smog emitters over the next two years
China will shut down small-scale “scattered” coal burning in two heavily coal-dependent provinces by 2020 in the next stage of its war on pollution, a senior environmental official said on Wednesday.
Zhao Yingmin, vice-minister of ecology and environment, said the two northern provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi were chosen as key targets in the country’s anti-smog efforts over the 2018-2020 period.
Around 90 per cent of the two provinces’ energy needs were met by coal, and emissions of hazardous breathable particles known as PM2.5 were second only to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, he said.
“The readjustment of the target zones is a result of comprehensive assessment of the impact of PM2.5 in different regions,” Zhao said.
“Despite tremendous improvements in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region over the last five years, it still ranks as the most polluted.”