"Ten Atmospheric Principles 3.0": a new round of tackling the key problems of gas control

We have been fighting the "battle" to defend the blue sky for 10 years.

Over the years, China's air pollution prevention and control has made historic and turning achievements. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party and the country have integrated the prevention and control of air pollution into the overall situation of social and economic development, and successively implemented the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution (hereinafter referred to as the "Ten Atmospheric Measures 1.0") and the "Three-Year Action Plan for Winning the Blue Sky Defense War" (hereinafter referred to as the "Ten Atmospheric Measures 2.0"), which has promoted the historic change in the prevention and control of air pollution in China, and has produced significant results, with significant reductions in the emission of major air pollutants and significant improvement in air quality.

The data shows that from 2013 to 2022, when China's GDP doubled, the average concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in comparable cities decreased by 57%, the number of heavily polluted days decreased by 93%, and 100% of cities reached the standard of sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide.

"It took only seven years for China to achieve the 30-year improvement in PM2.5 concentrations in the United States, making it the country with the fastest improvement in air quality in the world. He Kebin, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and dean of the Institute of Carbon Neutrality of Tsinghua University, said in the interpretation of the "Ten Atmospheric 3.0" that although the improvement is obvious, China's ambient air quality has not yet achieved a fundamental improvement, and there is still a long way to go in the prevention and control of air pollution.

From this point of view, it makes sense that there will be heavy pollution weather at the end of 2023. "Since 2023, the national air quality has rebounded year-on-year due to unfavorable meteorological conditions, the rapid recovery of the economy, the resumption of work and production of industrial enterprises and the acceleration of the recovery of social activities. He Kebin said.

According to the 2023 blue sky "report card" announced by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the proportion of good days in 2023 was 85.5%, and the average concentration of PM2.5 in cities at and above the prefecture level was 30 micrograms/cubic meter, while in 2022, the proportion of good days in the country was 86.5%, and the annual average PM2.5 concentration in cities above the prefecture level reached 29 micrograms/cubic meter.

"Air quality across the country did fluctuate in 2023, but frankly, stabilizing at this level has greatly strengthened our confidence in further improving air quality in the future. Liu Bingjiang used the phrase "steady progress" to describe the improvement of air quality in 2023.

"Stable" is because the average concentration of PM2.5 in the country has only increased by 1 microgram per cubic meter year-on-year, which is much better than the sharp rebound predicted at the beginning of the year, and "progressive" because the average PM2.5 concentration in the three major regions of the country - Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas, the Yangtze River Delta region and the Fenwei Plain has improved.

Although the air quality continues to improve, it still faces a serious situation. In the interview, Lei Yu, director of the Institute of Atmospheric Environmental Planning of the Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, believes that China will face the dual pressure of increasing pollutant emissions and relatively unfavorable meteorological conditions.

2023 is the first year for the full implementation of the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and it is also the first year for China's economic recovery after three years of the impact of the epidemic. "As the economic operation maintains a positive trend of recovery, air pollutant emissions will also increase significantly compared with the epidemic period. Lei Yu told reporters that at present, one of the major difficulties facing the continuous improvement of air quality is the significant increase in pollutant emissions brought about by new external conditions.

Take a few data as an example to illustrate: in 2023, China's thermal power generation will increase by 6.1% year-on-year, the output of ten non-ferrous metals will increase by 7.1%, the crude oil processing volume will increase by 9.3%, and the passenger traffic and freight traffic will increase by 66.5% and 8.2% respectively...... The obvious increase in the amount of social and economic activities will inevitably lead to an increase in pollutant emissions.

Another major pressure comes from relatively unfavourable meteorological conditions. Lei Yu analyzed to reporters that 2014-2016 is a continuous El Niño year, 2017-2019 is a normal year, and during the three-year epidemic period from 2020 to 2022, it happens to be a La Niña year. According to the monitoring results of the National Climate Center, a new round of El Niño events has formed in 2023, and the possibility of warm winter and high summer temperatures in subsequent years is greater, which is not conducive to PM2.5 and ozone pollution control. In addition, the Asian winter monsoon has a cyclical change of about 20 to 30 years, which has a great impact on the formation of sand and dust, which may also be an important reason for the increase of sand and dust weather processes in 2021 and 2023 after the active period of sand and dust in China at the beginning of this century.

Only by reducing more pollutants can the adverse effects of meteorological fluctuations on air quality be effectively compensated. Therefore, since 2023, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, together with relevant departments and localities, has stepped up efforts to reduce emissions in engineering, structure and management, and has achieved significant emission reduction results. For example, the ultra-low emission transformation of the national steel industry has completed a total of 400 million tons, of which the completion in 2023 is equivalent to the sum of previous years.

Over the years, China's air pollution prevention and control policy has always focused on the core goal of improving air quality. Although the improvement is obvious, there is still a gap with the construction goal of "Beautiful China", PM2.5 concentrations will continue to decline, and heavy pollution must be basically eliminated. As a result, the "Ten Atmospheric Principles 3.0" was introduced.

The "Ten Atmospheric Measures 3.0" inherits the effective practices of the blue sky defense campaign in the past 10 years, and at the same time adds some new content in combination with the new situation and challenges faced by air pollution control since the 14th Five-Year Plan. In general, the "Ten Atmospheric Measures 3.0" requires improving air quality as the core, reducing heavy pollution and solving the outstanding atmospheric environmental problems around the people as the focus, reducing PM2.5 concentration as the main line, carrying out regional coordinated governance, combining research and planning air pollution prevention and control paths from near and far, and solidly promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of industry, energy and transportation.

Wang Jinnan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, former president of the Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and deputy director of the Human Resources and Environmental Protection Committee of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, made a further interpretation: "In terms of governance strategy, we will focus on the two main lines of promoting structural adjustment and strengthening terminal governance, continue to deepen the structural transformation of industry, energy, transportation and other fields, strengthen the comprehensive treatment of VOCs and the transformation of ultra-low emissions in key industries, and effectively ensure the effectiveness of emission reduction." In terms of the concept of governance, we will adhere to precise pollution control, scientific pollution control, and pollution control in accordance with the law, maintain strength, extend depth, and expand breadth, continue to fight the battle of blue sky defense in depth, and continuously improve the people's sense of blue sky. ”

"The 'Ten Atmospheric Principles 3.0' is in line with the current situation and responds to the requirements of the times. In Lei Yu's view, the previous emphasis on "air pollution prevention and control" has been upgraded to "continuous improvement of air quality", reflecting the characteristics of the times with air quality improvement as the core, actively acting and promoting the construction of a beautiful China.

Lei Yu told reporters that the first two "Ten Atmospheric Measures" focused more on "tackling tough problems", and "Ten Atmospheric Points" 3.0 was inclined to "continuous improvement" on the basis of emphasizing "tackling tough problems", "which is a very important change". In terms of time, the target node proposed in the "Ten Atmospheric Measures 3.0" is 2025, which is connected with the time node of the "14th Five-Year Plan". As a phased goal, its positioning is to play a long-term role and serve the construction of a beautiful China. ”

A few days ago, the "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Comprehensively Promoting the Construction of a Beautiful China" was issued, requiring that according to the new needs of high-quality economic and social development and the new expectations of the people for the improvement of the ecological environment, we should increase the efforts to solve outstanding ecological and environmental problems, and accelerate the improvement of the quality of the ecological environment from quantitative to qualitative changes.

As we all know, PM2.5 is the most important factor causing heavy pollution, and the impact on public health is more prominent. Even if the average concentration of PM2.5 in China reaches 29 micrograms per cubic meter in 2022, it is 2-4 times that of developed countries in Europe and the United States, and there are still 1/4 of the country's urban PM2.5 concentrations exceeding the national secondary standard, covering more than 1/3 of the population.

"Although there are still many cities that do not meet the standard, there are more and more cities that meet the standard. Chai Fahe, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences, chief scientist in the field of atmospheric environment, and deputy director of the National Joint Center for Air Pollution Prevention and Control, has his own opinions on "reaching the standard". He told reporters that China's PM2.5 standard limit is relatively "relaxed". "Achieving our standards, while it can solve a lot of air pollution problems visually, from the perspective of protecting the health of the public, our standards need to be further improved. ”

To this end, the "Ten Atmospheric Measures 3.0" proposes to implement urban air quality compliance management, requiring municipalities directly under the central government and cities divided into districts that do not meet air quality standards to prepare and implement air quality compliance plans, clarify the road map and key tasks for meeting standards, and disclose them to the public.

Therefore, at present and in the future, reducing PM2.5 concentration will still be the main direction and core goal of China's air pollution prevention and control. In order to ensure the achievement of the target and the responsibility of compaction, the "Air Ten 3.0" further breaks down the PM2.5 concentration improvement target and the ratio of heavy pollution days to the region.

He Kebin said that the promulgation of the "Ten Atmospheric Measures 3.0" fully reflects the firm determination of the CPC Central Committee to continue to declare war on air pollution, and reflects China's adherence to the people-centered development concept and promoting the harmonious coexistence of man and nature. The document clearly puts forward the "14th Five-Year Plan" air quality improvement goals and specific tasks and measures for the construction of a beautiful China, and draws a timetable and roadmap for continuous air quality improvement actions.

To improve the quality of the atmospheric environment, we must be good at moving forward in summing up experience.

With the in-depth promotion of ecological and environmental protection, the emission reduction space of traditional air treatment methods is gradually compressed. According to the assessment of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, compared with the implementation stage of the "Ten Atmospheric Measures" 1.0 (2013-2017), the emission reduction range of major air pollutants in China in the implementation stage of the "Ten Atmospheric Measures" (2017-2020) has been significantly narrowed. In order to support the continuous improvement of air quality, it is necessary to explore greater potential for pollutant emission reduction in terms of structural adjustment in addition to traditional governance methods.

China's ecological and environmental problems are essentially high-carbon energy structure and high-energy-consuming, high-carbon industrial structure problems, and green and low-carbon development is the fundamental policy.

The "Ten Atmospheric Measures 3.0" emphasizes the purpose of promoting high-quality economic development through continuous improvement of air quality, and clearly requires that the green and low-carbon transformation of industry, energy and transportation be solidly promoted, and the prevention and control of sources should be strengthened to achieve a win-win situation for environmental, economic and social benefits. In terms of task deployment, from the three aspects of "optimizing the industrial structure and promoting the green upgrading of industrial products", "optimizing the energy structure and accelerating the clean, low-carbon and efficient development of energy", "optimizing the transportation structure and vigorously developing the green transportation system", the major tasks and measures of the three major structural adjustments under the framework of continuous air quality improvement action were elaborated in detail, and the relevant departments and the division of responsibilities were clarified.

In Lei Yu's view, there are two keywords in the "Atmospheric Ten 3.0" - "new" and "fine". The new is embodied in keeping pace with the times, and almost every chapter has new content and new requirements; the detailed means that the measures for structural adjustment are becoming more and more precise and meticulous, which is equivalent to checking and filling in the gaps in the past, with the aim of achieving full coverage as much as possible.

Lei Yu further explained that in the part of the industrial structure, the implementation of the carbon emission peak target and other related requirements will be included in the project access requirements for the first time, reflecting the requirements of coordinating air pollution prevention and control and the "double carbon" goal, and carrying out the synergy of air pollution reduction and carbon reduction; in the energy structure part, it is proposed that "electric energy accounts for about 30% of the final energy consumption", which reduces the pollutant emissions more efficiently by reducing the end use of coal; in terms of the integration of coal-fired boiler shutdown, it is proposed that "35 steam tons will be basically eliminated in key areas/ coal-fired boilers and tea stoves, operating stoves, grain storage and drying equipment, agricultural product processing and other coal-fired facilities of hours and below".

"These requirements have never appeared in the first two 'atmospheric ten', and they are more specific and targeted. Lei Yu said.

The "Ten Atmospheric Principles 3.0" highlights the green and low-carbon transformation of the transportation sector. At present, mobile source pollution is becoming more and more prominent, and nitrogen oxides have become the main factor driving the rapid rise of PM2.5, and mobile sources are the main contributors to nitrogen oxide emissions.

"It used to be about finding experience and opening up new paths, but now it's a period of comprehensive governance. Liu Bingjiang said that in the "Ten Atmospheric Measures 3.0", the low-carbon green transformation in the transportation sector has the most ink, the most quantitative indicators, and the most detailed and specific measures. In the next few years, the adjustment of freight structure will focus more on key areas, the clean development of motor vehicles will emphasize new energy, the non-road mobility will be more strengthened, the comprehensive management will be strengthened, the quality of refined oil will be more prominent, and the whole chain supervision will become a huge opportunity.

In addition to stricter tasks and higher target requirements, the "Air Ten 3.0" has also optimized and adjusted the key areas of air pollution prevention and control based on the actual work in recent years, taking into account factors such as regional pollution transmission contribution, air quality status, and administrative management needs.

The first is to include cities in southern Shandong and central and southern Henan with high PM2.5 concentrations in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and its surrounding areas, which is more conducive to regional joint prevention and control; second, to adjust some cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding areas and the Fenwei Plain, so that a province is only in one key area to reduce administrative costs; third, some cities in southern Zhejiang and southern Anhui, where PM2.5 concentrations are basically stable and meet the standards and contribute less to pollution in the Yangtze River Delta region, will be transferred out to highlight the key points and make precise efforts.

In addition, one of the outstanding innovations of the "Ten Atmospheric Principles 3.0" is that it pays more attention to the relationship between high-quality development and high-level protection.

In the past, some people said that improved air quality was affecting economic development, and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment has recently responded positively.

"There is a statistic that our country's GDP has doubled in this decade, but PM2.5 has fallen by 57%. The improvement of air quality is obvious, and the GDP growth is also very good, so air pollution control has achieved a win-win situation in economic, environmental and social benefits. Liu Bingjiang said that according to the preliminary statistics of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the national air pollution control directly and indirectly drove about 4 trillion yuan of investment, driving GDP growth of 5 trillion yuan.

Clean air is the most inclusive of people's livelihood and well-being, and the fairest public good. Promoting continuous improvement of air quality is an important part of the construction of a beautiful China. With the full implementation of the "Ten Atmospheric Measures 3.0", China's road to improving the quality of the air environment will usher in a new chapter, and it will also promote the goal of Beautiful China to become a reality step by step.