Why does atmospheric governance always focus on motor vehicles?
"Buy a gas truck or a tram?" This issue was very hotly discussed on social platforms, and both sides held their own opinions and could not argue.
From a policy perspective, whether it is car purchase subsidies, facility construction, or Beijing's lottery and traffic restriction management measures, they all overwhelmingly favor the latter. In order to "fight the battle to defend the blue sky", the future "wind" will definitely blow to new energy vehicles.
In this regard, some oil truck fans can't figure it out: "Why do you always stare at motor vehicle exhaust when controlling the atmosphere?" They believe: "The 'pot' of air pollution is not the responsibility of car exhaust!"
Is car exhaust the "culprit" of air pollution? Let's take a look at the relevant data first-according to Beijing's latest round of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) Source analysis report shows that the "major local emissions" are mobile sources, accounting for 46%. Among them, the main "contributions" come from diesel vehicles and gasoline vehicles.
This conclusion may surprise many people. Because, in the impression of many people, when it comes to the sources of air pollution, coal burning should be the absolute "boss".
Indeed, Beijing was once the world's largest coal-consuming capital, accounting for 75% of the city's energy consumption. Coal combustion emits a large amount of smoke, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides, which are important causes of serious air pollution. Remembering from the pain, Beijing launched a tough battle to reduce coal consumption 20 years ago. The city's total coal consumption dropped from 30.69 million tons in the peak year to less than 1 million tons in 2023, and the proportion of coal in energy consumption dropped to less than 1%. At the same time, the proportion of renewable energy such as photovoltaics, wind power, and geothermal energy increased to 14.2%, and the scale of green power transferred from other ports accounted for more than 30% of the city's external electricity dispatched.
With the great efforts to control it, the absolute contribution of various local pollution sources such as mobile sources, domestic sources, and dust sources in Beijing City has been "slimmed down." After the "abdication" of coal combustion, automobile exhaust has become the absolute "main force" of pollution sources in Beijing.
Perhaps some people in the automobile industry will question: In recent years, old vehicles in Beijing have been phased out in batches, and the exhaust emission standards of new vehicles and the quality of oil products have been continuously improved. Why are they still talking about the exhaust gas of oil trucks?
Let's look at another set of figures-as of the end of 2023, there are more than 6.4 million cars in Beijing City. The per capita passenger car ownership in the city is about 1.5 times that of Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, and the per capita motor vehicle ownership in the core area is more than twice that of international metropolises such as Tokyo and London. This is still the result of insisting on the implementation of the passenger car indicator control policy and the growth rate of cars.
Environmental experts gave an example. Suppose a fuel-fueled car drives 11,000 kilometers a year, it consumes about 1 ton of fuel and emits about 2.5 tons of carbon dioxide; if it is replaced by a new energy vehicle, it will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by at least 1.5 tons. Compared with the emissions of pollutants such as particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, new energy vehicles have the advantage of "zero emissions".
It can be seen that if Beijing wants to retain a "lasting blue sky" and continue to "take a step forward" in pollution control, it must further tap potential, and vehicles, oil and roads need to be managed together.
Let's talk about the car first. In recent years, Beijing has implemented policies to regulate and control passenger car indicators. This year, the proportion of new energy in the new passenger car indicators has reached 80%. As of the end of April this year, the city has promoted a total of 827,000 new energy vehicles. The absolute number may not sound small, but placed in the city's motor vehicle ownership, the proportion of new energy vehicles is still low. There is still huge room for the "oil-for-electricity" and the green transformation of the vehicle structure.
Of course, it is definitely not possible to get consumers to give up oil trucks and switch to trams by simply "shouting". It is also necessary to increase policy support and supporting facility guarantees to eliminate "mileage anxiety" and make up for service shortcomings. For example, to truly realize the "Three 5" charging layout, that is, to allow car owners to find charging piles within 500 meters, the charging queue time should not exceed 5 minutes, and the service fee should not exceed 0.5 yuan; to provide new energy vehicles with parking fee exemptions and high-speed tolls. Fee discounts; solve the problem of unbalanced development of charging supporting facilities in different cities and regions, allowing new energy car owners to dare to travel long distances; encourage private charging piles to share, etc.
In the public sector, we will accelerate the comprehensive zero-carbonization of buses, taxis, postal express delivery, and official vehicles, and introduce "oil-for-electricity" economic incentives for trucks as soon as possible. Further adjust the transportation structure and replace road transportation with railways, waterways and other methods.
Let's talk about oil. In order to reduce pollution emissions from motor vehicles, good oil quality is also indispensable. Beijing City took the lead in using unleaded gasoline nationwide in 1997, and formulated and implemented the second-phase local standard for vehicle fuel in 2004, which is stricter than national standards. Since then, Beijing City's oil products standards have continued to lead the country by one to two stages. In 2005, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2021, oil products landmarks of stages 3, 4, 5, 6 and 6 B were successively issued. It also requires detergents to be added to vehicle gasoline, which helps slow down the formation of carbon deposits and further reduces particulate matter emissions.
In terms of oil and gas emission control, as early as 2008, Beijing completed the oil and gas recovery and renovation of the city's gas stations, oil storage warehouses, and oil tankers to reduce VOCs emissions and pollution. In this regard, many car owners have an intuitive feeling-they no longer smell the pungent smell when refueling. Starting from April 1 this year, three local oil and gas standards, including the newly revised "Gas Station Oil and Gas Emissions Control and Limits", have been officially implemented, further strengthening the control of oil and gas emissions from pollution sources such as oil storage warehouses, tanker trucks and gas stations, and helping Improve air quality, reduce pollution and carbon. Entering summer, the environmental protection department has also advocated and promoted oil companies to adopt methods such as refueling gifts, full reductions, double points, and oil price discounts to encourage citizens to refuel at night and off-peak periods.
Finally, talk about the way. Over the years, Beijing has continued to advocate "driving less for one day" and encourage "green travel." In order to increase the attractiveness of green travel, the city has vigorously developed public transportation, and the total operating mileage of urban rail transit ranks first in the country. In 2023, the proportion of green travel in Beijing's central Urban area will reach 74.7%.
In the future, if we want to attract more people to join the ranks of low-carbon travel, relevant departments should also focus on promoting the optimization and connection of various transportation methods around the track layout, while making public transportation more convenient and comfortable, and increasing the population around the track stations., job coverage, promote the balance of employment and housing, and take multiple measures to reduce citizens 'dependence on passenger cars.
"Wearing masks" on motor vehicles is to get children to "take off masks"-in a popular article on automobile pollution, this sentence from the environmental protection department expresses the sentiments of many people.
Controlling motor vehicle pollution requires us to continue to change and make efforts. This is a step that must be taken to build a beautiful China, and also to allow our next generation to breathe more freely.
