Beijing phases out old vehicles to curb pollution

Out of concern for its air quality, Beijing has stepped up efforts to phase out

old, heavy-polluting motor vehicles, the local environmental watchdog said

Tuesday.

A total of 515,000 obsolete motor vehicles have been taken off the

city's roads over the past two years, exceeding the goal of removing 400,000

such vehicles that was set in a municipal five-year development plan

(2011-2015), according to the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau.

Motor vehicles contribute to about 22.2 percent of a city's PM2.5 data,

a gauge monitoring airborne "fine" particles 2.5 microns or less in diameter,

and old vehicles release more pollutants, said Fang Li, a spokesman with the

bureau, citing an analysis of the city's pollution sources.

Beijing is suffering from poor air quality, with this year's average

PM2.5 data reaching 70-80 micrograms per cubic meter, twice the regulated

standard of 35 micrograms per cubic meter.

Fang said motor vehicles that have been in use for more than eight years

account for about 20 percent of the city's car population, but they create more

than 60 percent of the air pollution.

"Phasing out obsolete motor vehicles is of great significance in

lowering Beijing's PM2.5 data," said Fang.

In the meantime, Beijing has been working to improve the quality of its

fuel supply and rolling out stricter emissions standards.

According to a municipal plan on air pollution control, Beijing hopes to

implement the stricter State VI emissions standard, which is equivalent to the

Euro VI standard, by 2016.

The Beijing municipal government will also push for the use of green

vehicles in the future and expand public transport to make it account for half

of all traffic.

In a bid to ease the city's chronic traffic jams, Beijing started a car

plate lottery scheme in 2011, allowing a maximum of 240,000 new cars to be put

on the road each year.