Capital's Expensive Plan to Fight Air Pollution Misguided, Expert Says

An expert has cast doubt on a large spending plan the Beijing city government has announced to fight air pollution, saying it takes aim at the wrong problem.
Beijing's mayor, Wang Anshun, said in mid-January that the central government has given him an "ultimatum" to get air pollution under control within three years. As a result, the capital
announced plans to spend 760 billion yuan to reduce levels of PM2.5, small particles in the air that can cause lung disease.
However, Tao Guangyuan, executive director of the Sino-German Renewable Energy Cooperation Center, said that while the sum shows determination, the government's approach might be unnecessarily costly. (The center is supported by the governments of China and Germany.)
"Money is one thing," he said. "We also need to further clarify the objectives. The objective is to fight pollution, not necessarily to fight coal."
The capital unveiled plans in September to slash coal use by 2017. Natural gas will instead meet much of the city's energy demands.
Much of the 760 billion yuan will go toward converting coal-burning power plants into ones that burn natural gas. Tao says the government will need to invest heavily in equipment and production facilities, but doing this will also create a long-term financial burden because gas is more expensive than coal.
A more effective solution, Tao said, is to stick with coal but to make it cleaner.
"Technologies that can make coal cleaner are getting more and more advanced," he said. "It is not difficult to reduce particulate matter by 70 percent in coal-burning power plants."
On January 1, 2012, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said coal-burning power plants must not emit more than 30 micrograms of particles per cubic meter of air. Some plants have already met this target by implementing new technologies. Shanghai Waigaoqiao No. 3 Power Generation Co. has reduced emissions to 11 micrograms.
Upgrading treatment equipment in Beijing's coal-fired power plants would only cost several billion yuan, Tao said, and would be a much smaller project than converting them into plants that burn natural gas.
In addition, Tao said the government should also enhance regulations and improve environmental supervision.