Xinjiang works together to protect the blue sky and white clouds, and persevers to paint an ecological picture

The supervision and assistance team of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Ecological and Environmental Protection Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement Bureau recently went deep into Urumqi City and Changji Prefecture to carry out assistance and inspection of relevant enterprises, check the company's pollutant discharge permits and other materials on the spot, inspect the enterprise's pollution control facilities, and monitor the operation online.

The environment is the people's livelihood, the green mountains are beautiful, and the blue sky is also happiness. This is the personal experience of the people living in the "Wu-Chang-Shi" area of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region since 2023.

At the beginning of the new year, the "Wu-Chang-Shi" regional atmospheric environment control work came with good news. According to the data, in 2023, the proportion of days with good air quality in the six cities and counties in the "Wu-Chang-Shi" region will be 80.4%, an increase of 3.5 percentage points, the average concentration of PM10 and PM2.5 (deducting sand and dust) will decrease by 3.8% and 10.4% year-on-year, respectively, and the number of heavily polluted days will decrease by 41 days year-on-year.

Especially after entering the winter, under the unfavorable meteorological diffusion conditions, the quality of the atmospheric environment has improved significantly, and Urumqi City has the longest duration of 61 days of good days in the same period since the monitoring data are available.

Behind the dazzling data is the fruitful results of Xinjiang's continuous promotion of the "Wu-Chang-Shi" regional atmospheric environment improvement, ensuring the implementation of key governance tasks, and winning the battle to defend the blue sky, demonstrating the efforts and firm determination of Xinjiang's air pollution prevention and control.

High-level promotion and in-depth research to find the crux of the problem

"The Wu-Chang-Shi region is an important part of the urban agglomeration on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains, with a total area of about 69,000 square kilometers, which accounts for 4.1% of Xinjiang's land area and carries 23% of Xinjiang's population, 36% of its GDP and nearly half of Xinjiang's coal consumption, and emits more than half of Xinjiang's sulfur dioxide, about 1/3 of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, and 1/4 of volatile organic compounds. "In the past five years, although the air quality in the Wu-Chang-Shi region has shown an improvement trend, the problem of heavy pollution in winter is still very prominent. ”

In the winter of 2022-2023, the proportion of heavily polluted days in the "Wu-Chang-Shi" region reached 23.8%, making it the region with the highest frequency of heavy pollution in winter in China, and also a prominent environmental problem restricting the high-quality development of Xinjiang.

According to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment's (MEE) Conference on Responding to Heavy Pollution Weather in Key Areas of Xinjiang, Wu-Chang-Shi, from January to February 2023, the number of heavily polluted days contributed by key areas such as Wu-Chang-Shi accounted for 26% of the country's total, making it the region with the highest frequency of heavy pollution in winter.

In order to continuously meet the needs of the people for a beautiful ecological environment, the party committee and government of the autonomous region attach great importance to and promote it from a high position, and list the "Wu-Chang-Shi" regional atmospheric environment governance as one of the "Top Ten People's Livelihood Facts in 2023".

To win the battle of "Wu-Chang-Shi" regional atmospheric environment management in winter, "identifying the causes and implementing precise policies" is the key. In order to accurately grasp the "pain points" and difficulties of atmospheric environmental governance, at the beginning of 2023, the leaders of the autonomous region in charge of ecology and environment led a team to go to Hebei, Gansu and other provinces to inspect and learn the work experience of air pollution prevention and control. On April 17, 2023, the leading group went to Shirenzigou Village, Shuimogou District, Urumqi City, Tuyao Village, Changshanzi Town, Midong District, Xialiugong Village, Liugong Town, Changji City, and Tuliang Village, Dianba Town, Changji City to investigate the situation of loose coal governance in Urumqi City and Changji Prefecture, especially the work of "coal-to-electricity" and "coal-to-gas", and on May 24, 2023, they went to Urumqi City and Changji Prefecture to investigate Ganquanbao Logistics Park, Xinte Energy Company, Guoneng Xinjiang Chemical Company, Huatai Heavy Chemical Company, Yankuang Xinjiang Coal Chemical Co., Ltd., Huadian Midong Thermal Power Co., Ltd., Changji Fukang Tianshan Cement Co., Ltd., and Shenhuo Carbon Products Co., Ltd. formulated the "one enterprise and one policy" plan for air pollution control and the implementation of the established measures in 2023, and investigated the progress of the clean heating project in Tianshenggou Village and 12 East Villages in Sandaoba Town, Midong District;On May 28, 2023, he went to the State Grid 750 kV Shihezi Substation, the Eighth Division of the Corps Tianfu Group, Tianshan Aluminum Company, Xinjiang Daqo New Energy Company, The Shandanhu Station of Mashi Railway investigated the formulation and implementation of the "one enterprise and one policy" plan of the enterprise, power guarantee and special railway construction in Shihezi City.

Extensive research is not only a process of discovering the crux of the problem, studying and formulating specific work measures, but also a process of continuously deepening ideological understanding and clarifying work ideas.

For "Wu-Chang-Shi" The overall level of regional industrial governance is low, the emission and contribution rate of major pollutants are always at a high level, the problem of scattered coal emission pollution has not been fundamentally solved, the proportion of railway transportation is low, the adjustment of transportation structure is slow, there are shortcomings in heavy pollution weather early warning and emergency response, and the lack of accurate and scientific response ability. One work goal" (i.e., to reduce the total amount of air pollution emissions), focus on the "three key pollution sources" (i.e., industrial and mining enterprises, scattered coal users, and transportation), focus on the "four major pollutants" (i.e., sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, VOCs, and particulate matter), grasp the "one enterprise, one policy" emission reduction management plan for key enterprises, strengthen the support and guarantee of electricity and natural gas, and strengthen the work ideas of precise and scientific pollution control and regional joint prevention and control.

The Department of Ecology and Environment of the Autonomous Region has taken the lead in compiling the 2023 Action Plan for the Improvement of the Atmospheric Environment in the Wu-Chang-Shi Region and the Measures for Interviewing the Atmospheric Environment Improvement in the Wu-Chang-Shi Region of the Autonomous Region (for Trial Implementation) to clarify the work tasks and consolidate the main responsibilities;

A complete ban on loose coal and a new air in the homeland

"The area under the jurisdiction of the 12th Division, which is located in the 'Wu-Chang-Shi' area, no longer has coal-burning facilities. Qian Lianguo, Secretary of the Party Group and Director of the Ecological Environment Bureau of the 12th Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, said happily that with the solid progress of air pollution prevention and control in the "Wu-Chang-Shi" region, the 12th Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps has achieved full coverage of clean energy and bid farewell to the "coal-burning era".

"Not to mention saving money after switching from coal to electricity, there is no coal ash and the house is clean. Nursa Wulie Naslibay, a herdsman from Erdaoshui Village, Ashli Township, Changji City, praised everyone he met.

If it is suitable for gas, it will be gas, and if it is suitable for electricity, it will be electricity. In 2023, Changji City will implement clean energy heating in combination with rural revitalization and local conditions, and implement the "coal-to-gas" project in Jinshuiba Village, Ashli Village, Avitan Village and Huagen Village in Ashli Township, and the "coal-to-electricity" project in Nurga Village and Erdaoshui Village.

These are the results of the "Wu-Chang-Shi" regional scattered coal management. In 2023, all prefectures, cities and divisions in the "Wu-Chang-Shi" region plan to complete the clean heating transformation of 58,000 households and the clean energy transformation of 3,087 coal-fired facilities for agricultural production, which can reduce coal consumption by 450,000 tons and pollutant emissions by more than 6,000 tons per year.

Corporate Governance Traces the Origins of Transmission Transformation and Adjustment of Energy Structure

In 2023, the Department of Ecology and Environment of the Autonomous Region will make every effort to promote the desulfurization and denitrification of enterprises in key industries under all working conditions, and the clean energy substitution of industrial furnaces and kilns, focusing on the improvement of the atmospheric environment in the "Wu-Chang-Shi" region, and investigate and remediate 50 enterprises that use inefficient pollution control facilities to promote the environmental protection of enterprises.

In terms of in-depth pollution control in key industries, in 2023, 135 key enterprises in the "Wu-Chang-Shi" region will invest 6.7 billion yuan to complete 831 air pollution control projects, reducing air pollutants by about 10,400 tons. 63 coal-fired boilers below 65 steam tons/hour were eliminated in the region, and 244 low-nitrogen gas-fired boilers were renovated. 9 coal-fired power units were transformed into "three reforms". Continue to carry out the work of "creating A to B", and have completed the A and B level assessment of 40 enterprises.

In terms of adjusting the energy structure, Xinjiang has intensified the construction of 750 thousand volt backbone grids, and the Wuchang 750 thousand volt power transmission and transformation project, the 750 thousand volt Wubei-Fenghuang second circuit line reinforcement project, the 750 thousand volt Yazhong-Fenghuang second circuit line reinforcement project, and the third main transformer expansion project of the Dabancheng 750 thousand volt substation have been put into operation.

Effort pays off. Since November 2023, the benefits of civil loose coal treatment and deep emission reduction of industrial sources have emerged, with the contribution of civil loose coal treatment to the reduction of regional near-surface PM2.5 concentration by about 30%, and the contribution of pollutant emission reduction by measures such as industrial pollution treatment to the reduction of regional PM2.5 concentration by about 26%. The two measures contributed about 56% to the reduction of regional PM2.5 concentrations (in addition, meteorological factors contributed 40% and mobile sources contributed 4%), and the emission reduction from scattered coal sources and industrial sources became the main driving factors for the improvement of regional ambient air quality.

Dust reduction, combustion ban, road to rail, improve environmental supervision and early warning capabilities

"The energy consumption of new energy buses has been reduced by 80% compared with before, and we will gradually eliminate old buses in the later stage to meet the needs of the masses for green travel. Zhao Yan, deputy director of the operation service department of Changji Public Transport Group Co., Ltd., said.

In 2023, 2,590 diesel trucks with emission standards of China III and below will be phased out, 1,862 clean energy vehicles will be updated for enterprise transportation, and 536 new energy vehicles for official use will be added or renewed. The construction of charging infrastructure for 8 pairs of 16 highway service areas and G312 highway service areas has been completed. Mashi railway special line Shihezi to Shandan Lake section to Qingquan section, Majiaping contact line, Shandan Lake Station, Qingquan station, Jiuzhou Hengchang station to complete the acceptance and operation, the sixth division of Xinfa station to Kunxin station railway line to be put into operation after acceptance, Tianzu Investment Co., Ltd. Chemical New Materials Industrial Park railway line project has been completed and completed pre-acceptance.

In terms of pollution source monitoring and supervision, 5,603 sets of online dust monitoring and video monitoring facilities have been installed in 692 construction sites, and an emergency emission reduction list of heavy pollution weather from industrial sources from 2023 to 2024 has been compiled, and refined control and upgrading of the atmospheric environment have been carried out in Changji City, Changji National High-tech Industrial Development Zone, Changji National Agricultural High-tech Industry Demonstration Zone and other places. 2,073 sets of electricity metering equipment were installed in key gas-related enterprises in the region, and 203 sets of DCS (working condition distributed control system) were installed in 101 enterprises. The construction of an emergency platform for early warning of heavy pollution weather in Wuchang has been completed, the construction of 21 automatic air quality monitoring and encryption stations has been implemented in Changji Prefecture, and the construction of 76 automatic air quality monitoring and encryption stations in key areas on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains has been approved. Promote the construction of a precise supervision platform for regional atmospheric environment remediation, and organize CECEP, Invision Ruida, and China Tower Corporation to compile and complete the project feasibility study report.

Pollution and carbon reduction, synergy and promotion of high-quality development

Xinjiang has taken the synergy of pollution reduction and carbon reduction as the starting point, and has steadily promoted the green, low-carbon and high-quality development of the "Wu-Chang-Shi" region.

Continue to optimize the EIA approval. Deepen the reform of "delegating power, delegating power, delegating power, and providing services" for environmental impact assessment, study and issue the "Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Construction Project Environmental Impact Assessment Document Grading Examination and Approval Catalogue (2023 Edition), and delegate 15 approval authorities in 13 categories to improve the efficiency of examination and approval. Research and formulate policies and measures to further optimize the environmental impact assessment, deepen the guarantee of environmental impact assessment elements, continue to release the effectiveness of reform, and serve the construction of a new development pattern. Pay close attention to the construction of major projects in the region, adhere to early intervention and active service, guide the construction unit to optimize site selection, technology and environmental protection facilities, solve the problems of policy, planning, and total volume that restrict project approval, and promote the acceleration of project construction. Throughout the year, the Department of Ecology and Environment of the Autonomous Region approved 246 EIA projects at the same level, involving a total investment of 322.514 billion yuan, environmental protection investment of 16.037 billion yuan, 46 post-environmental impact assessment of construction projects, 42 review and planning EIAs, and 162 projects approved by the EIA notification and commitment system in the autonomous region.

Strengthen access to the ecological environment. Resolutely curb the blind development of "two highs and one low" projects, strengthen the dynamic connection between ecological and environmental zoning control and land spatial planning, and expand the application of "three lines and one order" in the industrial layout and structural adjustment of "two high" industries and the site selection of major projects , deeply tap the potential of emission reduction, broaden the channels of alternative sources of major air pollutants, and minimize the contradiction between the new air pollutant emissions of new projects and the insufficient total alternative sources to restrict the approval of environmental impact assessment.

Proactive tracking of docking services. Focusing on the eight major industrial clusters and key projects in Xinjiang, we will actively connect with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and actively coordinate and accelerate the approval of environmental impact assessments for major projects and the review of environmental impact assessments for coal mining area planning. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) has strongly supported the environmental impact assessment of the land and spatial planning of the Zhundong Development Zone, Xinjiang Shanneng Chemical, Xinjiang Dongming Plastics with an annual output of 800,000 tons of coal-to-olefins project, the environmental impact assessment of coal mining area planning and the environmental impact assessment of coal projects. Solidly promote the work of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. Issuing and implementing supporting documents such as the Implementation Plan for Synergy in Pollution Reduction and Carbon Reduction in the Autonomous Region, and accelerating the construction and improvement of the "1+N" policy system in the Autonomous Region. Actively participate in the national carbon emission trading, and improve the long-term mechanism for the quality management of carbon emission data. The Action Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change of the Autonomous Region has been prepared and issued.

Improve the efficiency of ecological and environmental supervision and law enforcement. Organize and complete six rounds of joint guidance and assistance and actual combat competitions for air pollution sources in key areas from 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024, helping 690 enterprises (times) and discovering 954 environmental problems. The autonomous region held a meeting to promote air quality improvement and law enforcement in autumn and winter, and issued the "10 Measures on Further Strengthening Atmospheric Supervision and Assistance in the Autumn and Winter Heating Period", actively helping enterprises solve outstanding ecological and environmental problems, and investigating and punishing environmental violations in accordance with the law. The autonomous region handled a total of 1,111 cases of environmental administrative punishments, an increase of 87 percent year-on-year, and handled 110 cases of non-administrative punishments. Give full play to the role of the "12369" environmental reporting platform, effectively solve the ecological and environmental petition problems reported by the masses, and accept a total of 784 complaints from the masses, and close 764 cases, with a completion rate of 97%.

At the beginning of 2024, the Department of Ecology and Environment of the Autonomous Region has researched and formulated the "2024-2025 Action Plan for the Improvement of the Atmospheric Environment in the Autonomous Region" Wuchangshi Region, and in 2024, it will adhere to the problem-oriented, goal-oriented, and result-oriented, further strengthen organizational leadership, consolidate governance responsibilities at all levels, focus on loose coal governance and the "one enterprise, one policy" pollution control mode, continue to promote the construction of the "Wu-Chang-Shi" regional atmospheric environment supervision capacity platform, and effectively improve the "Wu-Chang-Shi" We will unswervingly follow the path of ecological priority and green development, make concerted efforts to consolidate the achievements of the blue sky defense campaign, and make greater contributions to the construction of a beautiful Xinjiang.