Source: CCTV News
Acting quickly against the high levels of smog, the Beijing government called on a number of industrial plants to close or reduce their production. Carnegie-Tsinghua’s Wang Tao appeared on CCTV News to discuss these regulations and their effectiveness in combating air pollution. Wang suggested that authorities need to establish stricter standards and more diligently enforce these regulations by shutting down factories that fall short of the standards, adding that poorly implemented regulations decreased the efficacy of such policy measures.
Wang also discussed the importance of improving China’s coal power infrastructure in order to reduce pollutants. Citing Germany as an example of a coal-dependent nation with good air quality, Wang explained that improved technology and equipment could lead to cleaner coal energy and fewer emissions. In the long term, China will need to shift toward natural gas, which is more efficient and much cleaner than coal. However, he cautioned against the use of synthetic coal-to-gas, which actually emits more pollutants than coal alone.