NATIONAL, BEIJING, ENVIRONMENT: Shutting Down the Past to Clean Up the Future
By Shi Rui and Wang Yan
The contamination producer Beijing Coke Chemical Plant was officially off production on July 15th to serve the Green Olympics in 2008.
According to Beijing Olympic Action Plan, preventing coal-burning pollution is one of the environment pollution control tasks. The city aims at "fully meeting the standard for hosting the Olympic Games" by 2008.
The cease of production of the Beijing Coke Chemical Plant will annually reduce coal consumption by 2.96 million ton, the volume of industrial waste gas emission by 4.33 billion cubic meters, the volume of sulfur dioxide emission by 1.671 ton and the industrial Soot Emission by 64 ton.
Lin Guanming, senior engineer at the College Of Environmental Sciences of Peking University, analyzes that the plant was responsible for nearly 1% of the whole sulfur dioxide emitted into the city, and the reduction will help a lot to clean up Beijing.
According to Lin, the improvement of air quality will be more obvious in southeast Beijing where the coke chemical plant is located. The average volume of sulfur dioxide emission in the surrounding area was four times more than the city's average, and after the stop of operation the local sulfur dioxide pollution may decline by 79.6%.
BuilT in 1959, the plant was to replace then prevailing coal burning with cleaner manufactured gas in Beijing and had been the only manufactured gas supplier in the city for the succeeding 47 years. But burning coal to produce coke seriously contaminated the environment by releasing waste gas and dust.
"Cinder coming from the plant chimney was blown into the field, and black particles were found everywhere between cabbage leaves. Nobody wants to buy them. Even newly washed clothes are coated with black powder," Ms. Li, who lived near the plant, complained.
The close down was first put on schedule in 2002. From last Saturday on, the plant will take 3 to 6 months to fully stop production.
"I entered the plant at 17, and retired at 55. I've witnessed its whole development process. The building of the plant was to improve the city environment. Now the close down is also for environment purification." 66-year-old Li Guishu said, who was an old employee of the plant.
After the close down, manufactured gas will be replaced by natural gas in the city, which enables Beijing to be the first city with exclusive use of the clean energy.
The coking equipment and 1,400 workers of the original plant will move to the Seaport Develop Zone in Tangshan, Hebei, where the new Tangshan Jiahua Coal Chemical Industry Co., Ltd starts up and will begin supplying manufactured gas to Tangshan city beginning July 28.
This article by the authors first appeared in the South China Morning Post July 19 -- the editors
The contamination producer Beijing Coke Chemical Plant was officially off production on July 15th to serve the Green Olympics in 2008.
According to Beijing Olympic Action Plan, preventing coal-burning pollution is one of the environment pollution control tasks. The city aims at "fully meeting the standard for hosting the Olympic Games" by 2008.
The cease of production of the Beijing Coke Chemical Plant will annually reduce coal consumption by 2.96 million ton, the volume of industrial waste gas emission by 4.33 billion cubic meters, the volume of sulfur dioxide emission by 1.671 ton and the industrial Soot Emission by 64 ton.
Lin Guanming, senior engineer at the College Of Environmental Sciences of Peking University, analyzes that the plant was responsible for nearly 1% of the whole sulfur dioxide emitted into the city, and the reduction will help a lot to clean up Beijing.
According to Lin, the improvement of air quality will be more obvious in southeast Beijing where the coke chemical plant is located. The average volume of sulfur dioxide emission in the surrounding area was four times more than the city's average, and after the stop of operation the local sulfur dioxide pollution may decline by 79.6%.
BuilT in 1959, the plant was to replace then prevailing coal burning with cleaner manufactured gas in Beijing and had been the only manufactured gas supplier in the city for the succeeding 47 years. But burning coal to produce coke seriously contaminated the environment by releasing waste gas and dust.
"Cinder coming from the plant chimney was blown into the field, and black particles were found everywhere between cabbage leaves. Nobody wants to buy them. Even newly washed clothes are coated with black powder," Ms. Li, who lived near the plant, complained.
The close down was first put on schedule in 2002. From last Saturday on, the plant will take 3 to 6 months to fully stop production.
"I entered the plant at 17, and retired at 55. I've witnessed its whole development process. The building of the plant was to improve the city environment. Now the close down is also for environment purification." 66-year-old Li Guishu said, who was an old employee of the plant.
After the close down, manufactured gas will be replaced by natural gas in the city, which enables Beijing to be the first city with exclusive use of the clean energy.
The coking equipment and 1,400 workers of the original plant will move to the Seaport Develop Zone in Tangshan, Hebei, where the new Tangshan Jiahua Coal Chemical Industry Co., Ltd starts up and will begin supplying manufactured gas to Tangshan city beginning July 28.
This article by the authors first appeared in the South China Morning Post July 19 -- the editors
2 Comments:
At 3:52 PM , Anonymous said...
Another example of an article favorable to China being posted while others written by the same people not so favorable are not featured.
So much for no censorship, completely open, and so on.
Or am I now one of those people who is attacking the integrity of the adviser? Or unfriendly to the Chinese people? Perish these thoughts.
At 6:41 PM , Anonymous said...
Yes, anything that is critical is not only unfriendly, but an attack on their adviser, their famous school, and their country.
Have you learned nothing about China and this site, my friend?
Post a Comment
<< Home