It is reported that Beijing is to step up emission cuts and backward capacity elimination efforts in the new year and plans to dismantle 10 million tonnes of inefficient iron making capacity, 6 million tonnes of steelmaking capacity, 0.5 million tonnes of papermaking and 15 million KW of electric capacity this year.
Mr Zhou Shengxian, minister of the Ministry of Environmental Protection said that China is still plagued with the heavy pollution at the moment despite the drops in national chemical oxygen demand and sulfur dioxide emission last year.
Related government bodies have carried out a slew of measures on key pollutants emission last year and set strict restrictions on those enterprises falling short of the requirements. By the end of December, waste water treatment capacity has incremented by 12.8 million tonnes per day and installed capacity for coal fired desulfurizing machine units by 86 million kW, both breaking the initial targets.
Totaling 16.69 million kW of small thermal power stations has been shut down in the year, 1.3 times of the initial plans. Meanwhile, the closedown of outdated capacity in papermaking, cement, iron making and coking sectors etc has also attained the projected progress.
In 2009, Beijing aims to increase sewage disposal capacity by 10 million tonnes per day, desulfurizing installed capacity for coal fired power plants by over 50 million kW and add 20 units of new steel sintering machines flue gas desulphurization facilities.
Furthermore, the central government would perform online monitor of the operation of the applied 300 million kW coal fried power plants desulfurizing machine units, 1,300 sewage treatments plants and over 6,000 national key pollution sources in the year and will punish those breaking the regulations in pollutants emission severely.