China released a three-year action plan to reduce air pollution by 2020. Measures that China has taken so far, did not bring positive results, so the country decided to impose stricter limits and a switch to cleaner fuels and alternative power.
The plan will go to cities in the Fenwei plain in Shanxi, Shaanxi and Henan provinces, where air pollution is getting worse. The action plan will have as a priority the district heating with coal-based combined heat and power plants, as well as switch to gas or electricity.
These new measures are based on previous ones, as it will decommission inefficient coal power units under 300MW, or build high efficiency and low emission units to replace them. Namely, Henan and Guangdong will shut down one GW each this year.
In this plan, an environmental friendly transport system, which will incorporate high fuel efficiency and low emissions, is key. To achieve this system, China will attempt to increase the use of railways and waterways and reduce that of road transport.
However, there is one problem. Many of the commodities that are needed for this plan to succeed, are imported, while a large amount of the current capacity will need further supervision and environmental compliance.
