During the four-day test period ahead of next August's Olympic Games in Beijing last month, the amount
of pollutants discharged was cut by 5815.2 tons, according to a
report released by Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau on
Saturday.
The atmospheric pollution in Beijing is caused by a combination
of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and
particulate matter, which largely came from exhaust emissions.
From August 17 to 20, about 1.3 million cars were barred from
the city roads each day to test the effect on air quality for the
Olympic Games.
Drivers with even-numbered and odd-numbered license plates,
excluding taxis, buses and emergency vehicles, were told to stay
off the roads on alternate dates or face fines.
During the test, the emissions of nitrogen oxides, carbon
monoxide and inhalant particulate matter (IPM), a major air
pollutant, were cut by 87 tons, 1,362 tons and 4.8 tons
respectively on each of the four days.
The report says the air quality was apparently improved in
Beijing based on monitoring on air quality carried out by China
National Environmental Monitoring Center, Chinese Academy of
Meteorological Sciences and Chinese Academy of Environmental
Sciences.
The densities of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and inhalant
particulate matter were reduced by 15 percent to 20 percent on
average, compared with the pertaining data on Aug. 16, the day
before the ban was enforced.
The nitrogen dioxide column density also dropped by 17 percent
to 29 percent in Beijing on each of the four days, compared with
that on August 16.
All About
Traffic ban
Green Olympics
(Xinhua News Agency September 30, 2007)
