China to remove over 5 million cars to cut air pollution

The Chinese government is planning to remove over five million vehicles that are past their shelf lives in 2014 in an effort to improve the quality of air in the country. About 330,000 cars are set to be decommissioned in Beijing alone.

A Reuters report noted from a Chinese government document that as many as 5.33 million vehicles that fail to meet fuel standards of the country will be “eliminated” this year. Apart from 330,000 cars to be removed from Beijing roads, another 660,000 will also be withdrawn from Hebei, one of China’s seven most polluted cities in 2013.

The Chinese government has also set new targets for closure of coal-fired heating systems and have installed equipment to reduce sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions at power stations, steel mills and cement plants.

China aims to cut carbon emissions per unit of economic growth by more than 4 percent this year and more than 3.5 percent in 2015 as it tries to meet a binding 17-percent target set in its 2011-2015 five-year plan.

While many Indian cities ban the operation of vehicles (including taxis and buses) that are over 15 years old, the addition of new cars continues to add to air pollution in cities like Delhi and Mumbai. What worsens the situation is that the lack of monitoring of in-use vehicles.

New Delhi still remains one of the worst affected cities despite being the only one in which public transport has shifted totally to CNG thanks to a Supreme Court order of 2004