Air Pollution in Beijing

IA 701: Proposal

Leonidas Ocampo

General Problem/Issue:

Air pollution. It’s a hotly contested issue that plagues our urban centers, their

populations and the environments surrounding them. The scope of arguments explaining

why are complex and numerous; regardless of which factors are most to blame, it is now

common knowledge that industrialization and economic development have contributed to

a continuous neglect of the environment and sustainable practices within the past century.

Each city is slightly different depending on the location, topography, population size and

their habits, economic status, policy orientation etc., however studying various examples

can shed light on understanding reasons for air pollution and ways to combat its

existence.

This phenomena has rapidly evolved over the past 150 years due to

industrialization periods where manufacturing industries and the development of

economies was held as a principal concern for many countries in order to grow in power

and influence. Living in a globalized world requires the active participation of states in a

global market place thus the amount of economic power they hold plays an important role

in their stability of power and influence over other nations. Unfortunately the act of

boosting an economy and its level of productivity has negative consequences on the

environment that often times go unlooked. It is important for not only the political

officials and the higher ups of government but also the public citizenry to have a

perspective on this issue as it effects their immediate lives in numerous ways. A larger

sense of awareness across the board is needed to understand the problem, realize how it’s

affecting their lives in the present and future as well as ways of initiating change on an

individual level.

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For the purposes of this paper I wish to examine why there is air pollution in

Beijing, China, specific pollutants, sources contributing to its pollution and effective

mitigating strategies that have the potential for success after implementation.

Literature Review:

Reviewing different cities and their situations, policy objectives and their

outcomes can provide a better theoretical understanding of air pollution in a global

context. I’ve organized my information based on the eminent literature in circulation by

categorizing it into four themes of research: Early literature on the subject and those that

cover the broad issue of air pollution in a global context, global examples of different

policy mechanisms, and particular models or systems of monitoring or analyzing air

pollution. My last theme, China and Beijing specific literature on air pollution will be

covered in my case study.

An article written by Palomba in 1979 provides a very broad description of early

views to air pollution and health effects. Palomba provided basic economic burdens and

health analyses to air pollution in urban centers. He highlighted automotive and industrial

emissions that were most prevalent in studies depicting air pollutant contributors. He also

provided a unique sense of the views scientists and policy makers had toward air

pollution in 1970 and how the Clean Air Act of 1970 and a subsequent amendment in

1977 were able to address the issue more effectively.1

Richman’s article discussed various sources of urban air pollution and common

air pollutants amongst three North American, three South American, one African, 11

1 Joseph Palomba, “Air Pollution Control.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 444 (1979) 67-77

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Asian and two European cities.2 This paper noted the impacts of air pollution on humans

and the environment, addressed issues surrounding air quality monitoring and how to

bolster the effectiveness of these systems. It reflected upon various control technologies

and techniques that can be re-addressed within urban centers. These two study’s

pertinence to my articles was especially beneficial in providing a theoretical framework

to my issue and the various contexts extant around the world. They brought up sources of

emissions, pollutants and mitigating strategies that I saw reoccur throughout subsequent

research.

Narain’s article on air pollution in India created a semi historical analysis of air

pollution policy within India. It covered the issues that prompted initial policies, legal

and institutional frameworks, policies for stationary and mobile sources, area based

approaches, successful enforcement measures and a more specific study on the overall

experience of tackling air pollution Dehli.3

Stone’s study concerning air pollution across 50 North American cities prompted

the question of what is the association between temperature change and urban ozone

formation? He also explained the fundamentals of O3 formation, health impacts, and its

contributions to air pollution, studied recent trends in urban climate and ozone formation

and how emission levels did not satisfy Clean Air Act amendments in the 1990's goals.4

Kelly and Vollebergh’s progressive study on adaptive policy mechanisms

highlight why varied forms of adaptive policy mechanisms are necessary and valuable to

2 Barbara T. Richman, “Air Pollution in the World’s Megacities.” Environment. 2 (1994): 53 Urvashi Narain, "Urban Air Pollution in India." Review of Environmental Economics and Policy. 2 (2008): 276-2914 Brian Stone Jr. "Urban Heat and Air Pollution: An Emerging Role for Planners in the Climate Change Debate." Journal of the American Planning Association. 1 (2005): 20

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addressing trans boundary pollution. Designing flexible policy mechanisms where built

in policy adjustments are present can aid in mitigating externalities, unforeseen

circumstances/changes all without ruining the integrity of the policy's goals/purpose or

legitimacy.5

Kukla-Gryz’s study analyzes the impact of economic growth and international

trade on the level of air pollution in developing and developed countries. Results suggest

that in developing countries both international trade and per capita income lead to

changes in the structure of economic activity and thus an increase in air pollution.6 They

concluded more open economies experience faster structural change in which on the first

stage of growth can lead to high pollution.7 These four articles represent the various more

literature I’ve read and they assist my understanding of air pollution in urban centers

around the world by providing specific policy mechanisms and recommendations from

both scientists and policy makers that have been implemented. They offered various

global examples and different aspects of air pollution studies and mitigation policies

thereby enlightening me on the dynamic and diverse nature of air pollution, its negative

effects and policies addressing them.

Schwela’s study introduces an epidemiological air management information

system dubbed AMIS where participants are able to provide and access data being logged

about similar or different issues occurring around the world so they can then learn from,

create new initiatives with or compare their results from their location to that of others.

5 J. Andrew Kelly and Herman R. J Vollebergh, "Adaptive Policy Mechanisms for Transboundary Air Pollution Regulation: Reasons and Recommendations." Environmental Science & Policy. 8 (2012): 73-83.6 Anna Kukla-Gryz, "Economic Growth, International Trade and Air Pollution: A Decomposition Analysis." Ecological Economics. 5 (2009): 13297 Ibid, 1338

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This study is able to provide a link between exposure to air pollutant mixtures and

individual compounds and the observed health effects, thus better illustrating a cost-

benefit analysis to assess the magnitude of health effects and their causal agents. 8

A similar strategy introduced by Hordijk et al addressing European problems of

acidification, eutrophication and O3 formation create the Regional Acidification

INformation and Simulation (RAINS) model.9 It acts as a model to input questions of

action or inaction that will then generate long term, low cost strategies for policy makers

and scientists to deliberate. This helps in improving the communication between essential

actors in the policy making process for more accurate policies.

Sarzynski’s research examines the correlation between urban air pollution and

socioeconomic and geographical factors. [(I.e. population, GDP per capita, population

density, share of emissions from energy production, industry and transport, growth rate,

climate and development status).10 She introduced an influential concept of "social

metabolism", a biological metabolism metaphor to society and its environment that does

well to explain society’s behavior and role in air pollution. These last three studies focus

more on particular models that are groundbreaking in the pursuit of policies that can

better address air pollution in urban centers, increase multi-discipline communication and

coordination and create effective and more grounded policies that can have better long

term successes.

Research Questions:

8 Dietrich Hermann Schwela, “Public Health and the Air Management Information System (AMIS).” Epidemiology. 5 (1999): 647-6559 Leen Hordijk and Markus Amann, "How Science and Policy Combined to Combat Air Pollution Problems." Environmental Policy and Law. 4 (2007): 336-340.10 Andrea Sarzynski, "Bigger is not Always Better: A Comparative Analysis of Cities and their Air Pollution Impact." Urban Studies. 14 (2012): 3121-3138.

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The big issue with urban air pollution lies with the various contributing factors

embedded in our society that make it difficult to regulate or provide policy to control the

demand and consumption of energy. The use of energy literally fuels our way of life in

the 21st century and it will take many comprehensive, coalition based policies to

effectively mitigate air pollution. Motor vehicle use and resultant traffic are significant

sources of air pollution while power generation and energy intensive industries follow.11

A startling figure of an economic burden can be found in the US Environmental

Protection Agency’s estimate that the federal air quality policies impose annual costs in

excess of $80 billion as of 2010.12

My area of focus lies within the Asia Pacific region that has seen great industrial

and socioeconomic development across the board for the past 50 years. I wish to target

the city of Beijing, which is the face to the Chinese super power role in the global

political economy. The city that holds not only a substantial proportion of political power

within China but is also the hub of Chinese history, tradition and culture makes up my

primary quandary. How and why is a city of such influence and power within China and

in the global context so hindered with environmental issues? My main inquiry for the

purposes of this paper centers on why is Beijing so polluted?

I’ve designed my research question in a general way that addresses the broad

problem of air pollution in Beijing. This broad question can be addressed further by

inquiring what makes up air pollution there? What sorts of pollutants are present in

Beijing? What are the primary contributing factors that continue to degrade the air quality

11 Barbara T. Richman, “Air Pollution in the World’s Megacities.” Environment. 2 (1994): 2512 Michelle L Bell, Richard D. Morgenstern and Winston Harrington, "Quantifying the Human Health Benefits of Air Pollution Policies: Review of Recent Studies and New Directions in Accountability Research." Environmental Science & Policy. 4 (2011): 357

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in Beijing? Have there been initiatives implemented either in China or in other parts of

the world that have addressed issues? Which policies can have the potential to effectively

mitigate the issue of air pollution in Beijing?

It should be noted that air pollution is a trans boundary problem and that means

coalition-based approaches are needed to address this problem on a global scale, as it will

affect the global population in the years to come. This is an important issue not only for

the Chinese as a nation but to nations around the world. Air pollution and its degradation

have the potential to permanently harm the urban centers around the world and the areas

surrounding it. Additionally urban centers hold a significant amount of a nation’s

population, which creates a bigger problem of negative health effects spreading to an

exorbitant amount of people. With air pollution comes other environmental issues that

accumulate and end up damaging various parts of a society or environment. Although

policy makers have the most influence over immediate changes regarding environmental

regulations, it is also important to note the role of the citizen and the way they can

contribute positively to the deterrence of air pollution. Increasing global awareness is the

first step in addressing this problem therefore it is my intention for this paper to provide a

clear perspective of the primary issues related to air pollution in Beijing that can also be

further understood in a global context.

Research Design and Methodology:

Addressing the broad issue of urban air pollution is no easy feat and can be

answered in many different ways. In order to understand air pollution in Beijing, I must

first investigate the type of air pollution that remains ubiquitous. By identifying the

primary pollutants present in Beijing, I can understand not only specific health issues

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associated with them but also environmental and economic implications. The classes of

pollutants are important to differentiate because policies vary according to the type of air

pollution present. Megacities around the world don’t all suffer from the exact type of air

pollution therefore it is important to distinguish the situation of Beijing from that of other

countries.

Identifying the specific pollutants present directs me to the factors that bring them

about. My research will address these factors and how it is that they have contributed to a

massive deterioration of air quality. One way to go about this is by looking at the

transportation and energy sectors within Beijing specifically. Isolating these two sectors

is necessary to understand the issue because they come as a result of rapid economic

development, poor policy planning and a weak environmental policy design.

Due to China’s rapid economic development, energy consumption and the

transportation sector has sky rocketed in conjunction with the economy to accommodate

the ever-increasing populations of the Chinese that live and work within the city. The

mere presence of automotive vehicles within Beijing is bringing about an increase in air

pollution. Reviewing the “economic growth first” mentality, a study on the regulation of

vehicle use during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and one on vehicular emissions in

the Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing region will provide adequate explanation towards the

way transportation adds to pollution.

Along with considering the transportation sector it is important to look into

energy consumption and the way it plays into this issue. Reviewing some figures from

energy intensive industries as well as the consumption of energy by residents within their

homes does well to elucidate the association of energy consumption habits to air

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pollution. It is estimated that the Chinese consumption of coal accounts for 75% of all

energy sources and coal smoke creates the principal air pollutants of PM’s and SO2.13

After identifying the primary air pollutants and their contributors, I will take a

look at potential policy mechanisms that target the transportation and energy sectors in a

global context, China and more specifically in Beijing. Analyzing different policy

recommendations from around the world as well as domestically will aid in providing

mitigating strategies. Addressing a tradable permits program and examining the inspiring

story of the ChongQing Blue Sky Program will help frame effective strategies to combat

air pollution. These recommendations may not consist entirely of targeted systems or

mechanisms but may resemble suggestions towards policy makers for redirecting a policy

focus.

There are many different factors that contribute to air pollution in Beijing that do

not solely revolve around the transportation and energy sector examples within this

paper. I chose to limit my research to these two factors and more specifically, certain

issues within each, because they make up the primary sources. In explaining air pollution,

alternative explanations can be found by analyzing more closely individual policy makers

and their relation to successful and failed policies, the psychology of the Beijing’s

inhabitants and their perception on environmental problems, the need for technological

innovation towards cleaner fuels and technologies for processing them and various

transportation planning initiatives to bolster the public transportation industry and

participation as well among many other things. I will also not be going into depth on the

13 Haidong Kan, Bingheng Chen and Chuanjie Hong, “Health Impact of Outdoor Air Pollution in China: Current Knowledge and Future Research Needs.” Environmental Health Perspectives. 5 (2009): A187

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interrelated nature of the Environmental Protection Bureau of Beijing and multi-

jurisdictional issues relating to other bureaus. Although I mentioned before that air

pollution is a trans boundary issue, for the purposes of this paper I am limiting my

research and case study to two central factors and taking mitigating strategies from

various sources and applying them to the case of Beijing in the hopes of provided more

alternative policies that can be directly applied or modified slightly in confronting air

pollution in Beijing.

Argument and Evidence

Pollutants:

Beijing in the eyes of the Chinese is seen as the cultural and traditional epicenter

of China. It is home to historical locations and tourist hotspots such as the Forbidden

City, the Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square, some sections of the Great Wall of China

and more recently the Birds Nest of the 2008 Olympics. It is the seat of Chinese politics

and has much influence over domestic affairs in the economy. It is a city that has been

extremely important to the Chinese for over 3000 years and one that has seen increased

attention and involvement in international affairs since the turn of the 20th century.

Although a very developed city, the issue of air pollution is notoriously associated with

its name. Its air pollution exists as a result of poor policy planning and contentious policy

prioritizations. It is important to note that the level of air pollution varies according to

season so we often see the levels higher in the winter and summer months while lower in

the fall and spring due to energy consumption factors.

Addressing the problem of air quality and its pollution requires us to examine the

various elements that contribute to its effluence. Sources of urban air pollution can be

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attributed to the combustion of fossil fuels for domestic heating, power generating motor

vehicles, industrial processes, the disposal of waste by means of incineration and the

everyday use of automobiles among other things.14 As a result the pollutants that spawn

from these contributors can react with each other in ways that have negative impacts on

our environments. For example, due to the emissions of power stations, vehicles and

agricultural processes, acid rain is created by being absorbed by water droplets in clouds

that then fall in the form of rain, snow, mist, dry dust, hail or sleet and end up

deteriorating both water and land ecosystems, the soil and materials on buildings.15 One

Japanese study indicated about 30% of acid rain falling in the Western region of Japan

can be traced to SO2 emissions from coal burning in China, which is a perfect example of

the trans boundary nature of the problem.16

There are many different pollutants extant in Beijing all according to what

specific source you examine; however the most detrimental to human health remain PM10

and PM2.5. These fine particles are 10 and 2.5 millimeters in size and are deemed very

dangerous to the public because of their size and ability to lodge themselves into lungs

increasing the chances of cardiac and respiratory morbidity and mortality.17 PM10 comes

as a result of “smoke, dirt and dust from factories, farming and roads, as well as mold

spores and pollen,” while PM 2.5 is “linked to toxic organic compounds, heavy metals

14 Barbara T. Richman, “Air Pollution in the World’s Megacities.” Environment. 2 (1994): 615 Leen Hordijk and Markus Amann, "How Science and Policy Combined to Combat Air Pollution Problems." Environmental Policy and Law. 4 (2007): 336-340.16 Tim Zimmermann, Susan V. Lawrence, Brian Palmer and Philippe B. Moulier, "China takes a deep breath: After Decades of Breakneck Economic Growth, Beijing Confronts an Environmental Disaster." U.S. News & World Report. (1996): 3717 Jin-Feng Wang, Mao-Gui Hu, Cheng-Dong Xu, George Christakos and Yu Zhao, "Estimation of Citywide Air Pollution in Beijing." PLoS ONE. 1 (2013): 1

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(from smelting,

processing and

others), burning of

plant material and

forest fires.18

Estimates of nearly

500,000 deaths occur

worldwide as a result

of PM2.5 pollution.19

Generally PM levels

are higher in the

North of China than in the South due to the concentration of manufacturing and energy

intensive industries in the north and emphasis of more agricultural and service industries

in the south.20 The systems in place to monitor and inform the public of the Air Quality

Index (AQI) on a daily basis is split between the Beijing Environmental Protection

Bureau and the US Embassy’s monitoring stations as seen by the map in Figure 1.21

The most significant pollutants that are emitted from automotive vehicles and

energy consumption are Sulfur Dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen Oxides (NO & NO2), Carbon

Monoxide (CO), Ozone (O3), Hydrocarbons (HC) and Volatile Organic Compounds

18 Ibid19 Ibid

20 Haidong Kan, Bingheng Chen and Chuanjie Hong, “Health Impact of Outdoor Air Pollution in China: Current Knowledge and Future Research Needs.” Environmental Health Perspectives. 5 (2009): A18721 Jin-Feng Wang, Mao-Gui Hu, Cheng-Dong Xu, George Christakos and Yu Zhao, "Estimation of Citywide Air Pollution in Beijing." PLoS ONE. 1 (2013): 1

Figure 1: Location of Beijing EPB Station and U.S. Embassy

Jin-Feng Wang, Mao-Gui Hu, Cheng-Dong Xu, George Christakos and Yu Zhao. "Estimation of Citywide Air Pollution in Beijing." PLoS ONE. 1 (2013): 3

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(VOC).22 O3 is formed in the sunlight through a chemical reaction with NOx and VOC’s,

which are two pollutants that are produced from the combustion of fossil fuels in

automotive vehicles.23 Automotive emissions also contribute CO and HC: CO is the result

of the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and decreases the amount of oxygen in the

air while HC’s contribute to the formation of O3.24 Acid rain is created as a result of the

combination of SO2, NOx’s and ammonia.25 VOC’s are the result of man made sources

therefore road traffic, production and use of organic chemicals such as solvents; transport

and use of crude oil, the use and distribution of natural gas, waste disposal sites and waste

water treatment sites contribute as well.26

Contributing Factors:

Economic growth was primary to sustainable development and environmentally

conscious policies, and in a statement loosely announced in China’s 1994 environmental

action plan, “The precondition for sustainable development is development.”27 This

mentality has changed in the modern day as more regulations come about for emission

standards, however pollution still remains. Most of Beijing’s air pollution is brought by

cars and the “rapid income growth, falling car prices, stimulated by imports and

membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and in 2003 China saw demand for

22 Barbara T. Richman, “Air Pollution in the World’s Megacities.” Environment. 2 (1994): 623 Brian Stone Jr., "Urban Heat and Air Pollution: An Emerging Role for Planners in the Climate Change Debate." Journal of the American Planning Association. 1 (2005): 15.24 Joseph Palomba, “Air Pollution Control.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 444 (1979) 7125 Leen Hordijk and Markus Amann, "How Science and Policy Combined to Combat Air Pollution Problems." Environmental Policy and Law. 4 (2007): 33626 Barbara T. Richman, “Air Pollution in the World’s Megacities.” Environment. 2 (1994): 727 Tim Zimmermann, Susan V. Lawrence, Brian Palmer and Philippe B. Moulier, "China takes a deep breath: After Decades of Breakneck Economic Growth, Beijing Confronts an Environmental Disaster." U.S. News & World Report. (1996): 37

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cars grow by 75%.”28 During the period of 2005-2010, the number of personal vehicles

within Beijing grew from 1.34 million to 3.57 million. 29 Due to economic development

more Chinese citizens have the potential to own private vehicles, which is appealing due

to the, at times, inconvenience of using public transportation. The catch 22 however

obviously is that although public transportation is at times an inconvenience compared to

owning a personal vehicle, it alleviates the congestion of them on a daily basis thus

decreasing certain emissions over a longer period of time. This is all dependent however

on the type of technology extant in both public and private vehicles. Newer vehicles with

more up-to-date technologies in their exhaust and fuel consumption capacities will

contribute more positively to air pollution reduction then having a larger number of dated

vehicles on the road.

Within a study conducted in 2010 that examined the Summer Olympics in 2008,

Beijing saw a policy of permitting vehicles to be used every other day based on the last

digit of the license plate number.30 After that initial measure, Beijing switched to a “one

day per week” tactic. The study found that long-term initiatives and extended schedules

for these policies can work best and implementing this type of regulation in the short

term will not contribute to a positive correlation between traffic congestion and reduced

air pollution as the government expected it would during the Olympic games.31 Initially

there was a 12%-18% reduction in air pollution during the first months, however shortly

thereafter, the study saw an increase in pollution as a result of behavioral adaptations to

28 Alasdair MacBean, "China's Environment: Problems and Policies." The World Economy. 2(2007): 29529 Cong Sun, Siqi Zheng and Rui Wang, "Restricting Driving for Better Traffic and Clearer Skies: Did it Work in Beijing?" Transport Policy. 32 (2014): 3430 Ibid31 Ibid

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the policy.32 This further hammers down the need for widespread awareness of the

negative effects of air pollution as well as more stringent, long term policies to address

the pollution and possible circumvention strategies citizens attempt. Controlling the

human condition and desire to live comfortably (which is not a bad thing) is important in

deliberating environmental policy because often times policies forget to compensate for

human behavior in adapting to new policies.

32 Ibid, 35

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According to another study conducted from 1999-2010 on vehicular emissions

across three cities in China including Beijing, “vehicular emissions account for 20–67%,

12–36% and 12–39% of the total CO, NOx, and VOC emissions in China,

respectively.”33 This study examined passenger cars (PC), light duty vehicles (LDV),

heavy-duty trucks (HDT), buses (BUS) and motorcycles (MC) present in the three cities.

PC’s make up nearly 88.8% of the total population of vehicles within Beijing and the

study found they were the primary sources for CO and VOC emissions and contributed

over 50% and 45%, respectively.34 Although there was a decrease in emissions from PC’s

due to more rigid emission standards, the prevalence of so many PC’s is of major concern

to future policy planning. The emissions standards mentioned target the class of vehicle

based on the European scale (EURO I - EURO IV), which is determined by the type of

exhaust emissions on newer vehicles. As the years progressed from 1999-2010, Beijing

saw an increase in these standards as evidenced in Figure 2.35 Encouraging the sale and

33 Jianlei Lang, Shuiyuan Cheng, Wei Wei, Ying Zhou, Xiao Wei, Dongsheng Chen, "A Study on the Trends of Vehicular Emissions in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) Region, China." Atmospheric Environment. 62 (2012): 60534 Ibid, 61035 Ibid, 607

Figure 2 Vehicular Emission Standards Implementation timetable in BTH, China

Jianlei Lang, Shuiyuan Cheng, Wei Wei, Ying Zhou, Xiao Wei, Dongsheng Chen. "A Study on the Trends of Vehicular Emissions in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) Region, China." Atmospheric Environment. 62 (2012): 607

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ownership of more high-class vehicles according to the European standard will bring up

the efficient use of fuels within automobiles thus decreasing the potential for more

emissions that result from poor combustion or exhaust technologies. Beijing has drawn

their environmental policy focus towards the presence of personal vehicles within Beijing

after the massive increase of them in the 2000’s.

The energy sector plays another central role to air pollution in Beijing and as

estimated by the World Bank, total health costs of outdoor air pollution in urban areas in

2003 were between 157-520 billion Chinese Yuan.36 In a study focusing on 6 out of 37

EEI’s in the nation, the group consumed 13.77 billion tonnes of standard coal equivalent

(SCE) in 2007, which accounts for about 72% of energy consumption within industrial

sectors.37 This kind of energy consumption contributes to nearly 50% of all CO2

emissions and taking a look at the production and supply of Electric Power, Steam and

Hot Water industry shows it to be 50% of direct Co2 emissions.38 Within Beijing more

specifically, energy consumption in 2009 was estimated to have been near 65.70 million

tonnes of standard coal.39 As for total electricity generation, “coal-fired power plants,

pumped storage power stations, hydraulic power plants, oil-fired power plants, and waste

incineration power stations contribute 2,897, 800, 180, 655, and 24 MW, respectively.”40

36 Haidong Kan, Bingheng Chen and Chuanjie Hong, “Health Impact of Outdoor Air Pollution in China: Current Knowledge and Future Research Needs.” Environmental Health Perspectives. 5 (2009): A187

37 Zhaohua Wang, Bin Zhang, and Jianhua Yin, "Determinants of the Increased CO2 Emission and Adaption Strategy in Chinese Energy-Intensive Industry." Natural Hazards. 1 (2012): 1938 Ibid39 C Dong, G.H. Huang, Y.P. Cai and Y. Liu, "An inexact optimization modeling approach for supporting energy systems planning and air pollution mitigation in Beijing city." Energy 7 (2012): 67640 Ibid

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A study in 2010 attempting to identify environmental impacts of consumption by

examining direct and indirect energy uses found in looking at the energy cost of living for

Beijing residents, a figure in 2007 estimated 1 urban resident in Beijing used, on average,

52 gigajoules of total primary energy supply as seen in Figure 3.41

Figure 3 Annual household environmental impact (HEI) of an average urban resident in Beijing by main consumption categories (share of total)

Anders Arvesen, Jingru Liu and Edgar G. Hertwich. "Energy Cost of Living and Associated Pollution for Beijing Residents." Journal of Industrial Ecology. 14 (2010): 895

Corresponding annual emissions resulted in 4.2 tonnes of CO2, 27 kilograms SO2 and 17

kilograms of NOx’s, and of this 18%-31% were used/emitted by households.42 The

increased use of energy related to these consumption categories is a direct result of rapid

economic development. Urban households in Beijing are more “affluent” thus allowing

them to own more goods when compared to the urban national average.43 The average

total living expenditure in Beijing increased 120% between 1996-2006.44 The basic

41 Anders Arvesen, Jingru Liu, and Edgar G. Hertwich, "Energy Cost of Living and Associated Pollution for Beijing Residents." Journal of Industrial Ecology. 14 (2010): 89542 Ibid, 89043 Ibid, 89244 Ibid

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assumption within this article is “when populations become more affluent, they adopt the

lifestyles of populations that already enjoy the higher level of affluence” therefore in

planning for the future, Beijing must understand that “future growth in the average per

capita income can be thought of as populations moving from one income group to

another.”45

The significance of analyzing causes related to the transportation and energy

sector is that they are all a result of rapid economic development and an increased

capacity to live a higher quality of life. With a more developed economy comes increased

income levels and individual spending power. For these reasons, Beijing residents are

able to spend more on products or services that increase their quality of life and when a

certain level of comfort is achieved, people are generally unwilling to revert to lower

standards. This is explained by the increase in energy consumption from private vehicles

and household appliances among other things.

Recommended Mitigating Strategies

Along with identifying particular sources for air pollution and the significant

pollutants that spawn from them, one must also look at the actual implications that result

from air pollution. This environmental issue causes damage to animals and vegetation,

soiling and corrosion of materials and structures, depreciation of property values and the

interference with air and surface transportation methods due to the reduction in

visibility.46 NOx’s contribute to lung irritation; crop and plant damage and causes smog

formation. 47O3 is linked to acute asthma, reduced cardiopulmonary function, and

45 Ibid, 89646 Barbara T. Richman, “Air Pollution in the World’s Megacities.” Environment. 2 (1994): 647 Joseph Palomba, “Air Pollution Control.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 444 (1979) 71

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aggravated respiratory disease and premature mortality in both children and adults.48 In a

study that reviewed the correlation between air pollution and unscheduled hospital

outpatient and emergency room visits, it was found that there is a statistically significant

relationship between increased levels of SO2 and daily hospital internal medicine and

pediatrics outpatient visits.49 In Beijing, a large proportion of internal and pediatric visits

are related to acute respiratory infection: in the winter seasons consisting of cold and

influenza while the summer sees more acute digestive disorders with diarrhea being most

prevalent.50 Although these figures are from 1995, it still brings into perspective the all-

pervading nature of air pollution and negative health effects and just why it is imperative

to place more weight on addressing these problems.

Effectively managing the issue of air pollution involves addressing many different

parts of society. In the global context, a way of addressing air pollution to primarily

consider its economic burden in society is through an incentive program in tradable

emission permits. This type of program has been implemented in the LA Basin, Dehli,

India and European countries among other places throughout the years with varying

success rates. A tradable permit program targets the people that control the sources of air

pollution. By establishing emission caps and telling business that they need to reduce

emissions or economic sanctions because of non-compliance, it provides an incentive for

the business to restructure. As seen in a study of polluters in the LA Basin, market

incentives were introduced to target SO2, NOx’s and HC’s. Permits were provided to emit

48 Brian Stone Jr., "Urban Heat and Air Pollution: An Emerging Role for Planners in the Climate Change Debate." Journal of the American Planning Association. 1 (2005): 71.49 Xiping Xu, Baoluo Li and Huying Huang, “Air Pollution and Unscheduled Hospital Outpatient and Emergency Room Visits.” Environmental Health Perspectives. 3 (1995): 28850 Ibid

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specified amounts of HC or NOx’s, and each year they had to reduce emissions by 5%

and 8%, respectively, from pre-established baselines of emissions. 51 If polluters reduced

more, they could save the permits for the following year or sell to other polluters creating

positive money saving or earning incentives. Enforcement was carried out by an agency

regulating for specific pollutants as well as for the trade in credits to make sure no

fraudulent activity was occurring.

This type of policy is controversial due to the reliance on consistent compliance

from polluters and honesty in trades and emissions reporting, however it also provides

benefits in tax incentives, potential for future revenue in trading permits as well as if

emission reduction is met according to the baselines each year, there is more flexibility

with their own emissions so long as standards are consistently met on an annual basis.

This can be applied to industries in the north of China on the outskirts of Beijing.

Establishing baseline pollution caps, onboarding enough manufacturing and energy

intensive industries to create a market for trade as well as creating a monitoring and

enforcement agency that will regulate compliance fervently can all contribute to the

potential for success in this program.

A program that has seen great success in a northern city of Chongqing is dubbed

the Chongqing Blue Sky program. It was the first of its kind because it introduced the

concept of multi-jurisdictional cooperation amongst agencies within China. The idea of

interagency coordination seems simple, yet when it comes to defining policy objectives,

periodic goals and monitoring and enforcement jurisdictions, the plan becomes much

more complex. Interagency coordination improves information sharing, mutual

51 John P. Dwyer, "The use of Market Incentives in Controlling Air Pollution: California's Marketable Permits Program." Ecology Law Quarterly. 1 (1993): 103-117.

21

enforcement of responsibilities for performance and ongoing discussion to deal with

unexpected contingencies as they arise. This program focuses on the organization of

environmental protection bureaus (EPB) and their cooperation with different agencies

within a municipality such as transportation, construction, gardening and forestry,

planning bureaus etc. The Blue Sky Program established supervision, operation and

enforcement committees that were responsible for coordinating between multiple

agencies for equal representation. These committees then outlined policy objectives,

methods of how to coordinate on a day-to-day basis and how best to maintain this

coordination across agencies and districts. They established a finance bureau to set up a

special fund for the program, set up measures to uphold accountability and created a

monitoring network for pollution diagnoses and warning system to locate specific

pollution sources and corresponding pollutants.

This program was groundbreaking not only for the results that the city saw after

three years but also for the methods of interagency coordination and accountability

practices. Due to the accomplishments of Chongqing’s EPB’s, they were able to

successfully move or close 50+ highly pollutant factories between 2005-2006 (which

included chemical plants, small coal fired plants, cement factories etc.)52 They also

managed to increase the amount of inspection stations to measure exhaust emission

levels, construction sites around the city adopted better management practices and they

moved a large portion of taxis and buses to cleaner fuels.53 This program was able to

employ media and direct public involvement towards accountability and non-compliance

52 W Li and Hon S. Chan, "Clean Air in Urban China: The Case of Inter-Agency Coordination in Chongqing's Blue Sky Program." Public Administration and Development. 1 (2009): 6553 Ibid

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issues. For example, the city government would hold media conferences to praise or

“name and shame” government agencies, polluting firms or individuals who failed to

produce proper or expected results. This type of policy is unique because it includes

nearly all people effected by air pollution in the policy enforcement process thus creating

more open and uniting environment within the city, which certainly wouldn’t hurt levels

of optimism and positive support towards public officials and for the city overall. This is

a very progressive measure that has seen very positive results. It took into consideration

the inherent fact of air pollution being a trans boundary issue and used a coalition-based

strategy to effectively combat it.

Conclusion

This paper is not meant to provide an in-depth analysis to every pollutant present

in Beijing or to the primary factors of air pollution and each emitter as it relates to the

transportation and energy sector. To cover the issue of air pollution within Beijing in its

entirety would require a much more comprehensive study. The purpose of this paper is to

bring to light the pervasiveness of air pollution in such an influential city as Beijing and

to provide a basic understanding of the issue at large to create more awareness. In

conducting my research, I learned that common to all the policy recommendations

offered after every study was the need for a focus on more progressive mitigating

policies. The increase of multi-disciplinary cooperation in conducting initial research on

any subject, and designing policies that can address accurately environmental, economic

and political factors is the direction environmental policy is heading towards.

Progressive policy recommendations as evidenced by the AMIS and RAINS

models and flexible policy mechanisms can unite scientists and policy makers by having

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an information hub to which they can refer to for data and assistance from participants all

around the world. They are able to examine different situations of air pollution in order to

provide solid cost-benefit analysis to costs of control measure to reduce pollution

compared to costs of health effects. International policy makers act in complex, dynamic,

collaborative and uncertain settings and creating policies can be daunting when

calculating for a specific issue. The legality of policies make thinking about policy cost-

effectiveness and environmental sustainability aspects much more difficult. These

mechanisms, if designed and implemented properly and consensually would allow the

general accepted outcome to remain consistent and unchanged as defined by (inter)

national objectives of reduced health impacts, economic burdens and ecosystem damage.

The importance of cooperation from public officials who have the power to

address these issues in a more comprehensive way is just as important as empowering the

public citizenry, creating widespread awareness and encouraging a sense of collective

accountability. Air pollution will forever be a global problem therefore increasing

awareness on an individual level and bolstering positive and sustainable practices in

reducing emissions from the bottom up can influence great change as a long-term

strategy.

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