Vehicle Pollution Control Critical for Cleaner Air

Vance Wagner, a senior researcher from the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) believes stringent controls to mitigate the pollution impacts of China's motor vehicles must be a key priority in Beijing's strategy to clean up its air.

He believes Beijing has made a series of impressive steps towards controlling pollution within its own boundaries in recent years. For example, Beijing already has the most stringent vehicle standards and the highest fuel quality standards in the country, and has scrapped over 500,000 high-polluting vehicles over the past two years.

However, the city still struggles to improve air quality because perhaps 34 to 70 percent of Beijing's pollution is regional, coming from dirty vehicles and industrial sources from the surrounding provinces.

To combat the problem, Wanger suggested China must take similar actions at the national level.

"Vehicles are typically by far the largest source of human exposure to air pollution in densely packed urban areas. Plus, the contribution of vehicle emissions to air pollution in China is increasing as the population of motor vehicles in Beijing and around China continues to grow rapidly," he wrote in his blog.

The Air Quality Index for PM2.5, minute particles which can damage the lungs, in most parts of the capital exceeded 500, the highest possible index rating, for several days this past month.

The Beijing Municipal government adopted emergency response measures in some areas to deal with the heavy pollution, including halting outdoor sports activities for primary and middle schools and suspended operations at polluting construction sites and businesses.

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