Beijing scraps 13,000 outdated taxis to reduce pollution
11/12/2006 15:52
Beijing has shunted 13,000 outdated, polluting taxis onto the scrapheap
since the beginning of 2006 to try and reduce air pollution, said the local
legislature.
The taxis are cheap models with high emission levels, said Liu
Xiaochen, secretary general of the municipal government at the 33rd session of
the Standing Committee of the 12th Beijing Municipal People's Congress.
They
will be replaced by new taxis that meet the Euro-III emission norm, said
Liu.
Some 2,000 outdated buses will also go to the wreckers this year and
2,760 clean gas-driven buses will go into service.
The city renovated 330
coal-fuelled boilers and replaced 28,000 old taxis and 3,900 diesel-engine buses
in 2005.
Automobile emissions containing sulfur dioxide have become a major
factor in urban pollution. Sulfur dioxide emissions increased by 4.2 percent in
the first half of the year over the same period in 2005.
Statistics show that
Beijing has 2.8 million registered motor vehicles, including 67,000
taxis.
China will introduce new motor vehicle emission standards in 2007 that
will cut automobile pollutants by 30 percent, the State Environmental Protection
Administration (SEPA) has said.
The new standards match the EU's Euro III
standards. A more stringent standard, equivalent to Euro IV, will come into
effect in 2010.
China began enforcing Euro II emission standards nationwide
in September 2003.
Other measures -- including fume desulphurization at three
power stations and increased supervision of flying dust on construction sites --
will also be implemented next year to combat pollution.
Xinhua
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