MEE reminds emission reduction is the core
Over the next few years, Hebei province in North China will eliminate at least 40 million tonnes/year of steel capacity, Liu told Chinese media at a press conference on March 5. However, those steelmakers continuing to operate, especially those in Beijing, Tianjin, and 26 smaller cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region – the so-called 2+26 cities catchment area – will be required to implement “rectification” to achieve ultra-low emissions, he warned.
Not only steelmakers but all operators of industrial furnaces in this region including coke makers and cement producers will be obliged to introduce clean energy solutions in place of existing polluting energy sources (such as coal and diesel, for example) and will be required to reinforce existing facilities for pollution control or face the prospect of their plants being included among those set for elimination, Liu disclosed.
The press conference was a reminder to the industry that the MEE is finalizing a pollution reduction plan which will likely have a major impact on their business, particularly when enterprises are budgeting for future capital expenditure, Mysteel notes.
In a draft plan the ministry released in May last year, it said that all new steel projects in the 2+26 cities, together with those in the Yangtze River Delta in East China and Fenwei Plans in North China, will be required to reach new ultra-low emission standards by the end of October 2020, as Mysteel reported. Those steel-related enterprises covered by the plan comprise iron ore mining and processing, sintering, pelletizing, coking, ironmaking, steelmaking, steel re-rolling and related transportation, according to the draft plan.
In reply to a question from China Metallurgical News, the news service close to the China Iron & Steel Association, Liu indicated that the official ‘ultra-low emission’ work plan for China’s steel industry would be released within a month or so.
Liu is sympathetic to each side’s position in the pollution dilemma, namely that of the industries struggling with emissions and of the local governments in areas where they operate, Mysteel notes.
“Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and its surrounding region accounts for 7.2% of China’s land area...(while) a third of the country’s plate glass capacity, 39% of electrolytic aluminium capacity, 43% of crude steel capacity, 49% of coking capacity and 60% of bulk pharmaceutical chemicals capacity are all located here,” Liu acknowledged. “Thus, the pollutant emission density (in this region) is four times the country’s average.”
He also pointed that as for transportation, trucks carry 84% of the goods in this region – much higher than the national average of 75% – because the local railway capacity is insufficient to cope with the massive volume of commodities transported there. Liu acknowledged that pollution levels in the region far exceed the atmosphere’s capacity to cope.
Air pollution has become an increasingly serious challenge for governments across much of China in recent years but levels in the 2+26 cities region are clearly among the worst affected. Thus, measures to curb pollution in this region have been prioritized as key to the country’s wider battle to secure clear skies, Mysteel notes.
Written by Sean Xie, xiepy@mysteel.com
Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com
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