The rise of the air purifier industry
beijing wins battle for blue skies — but the poor are paying a price
by：Yovog
2023-05-26
A year ago, China\'s capital was caught in a choking and deadly haze that left people\'s lives miserable and breathing a breath of extreme danger.
This month, the air in Beijing is clear and the sky is blue.
Good wind and weather play a role, but this is not an accident.
Last year, Beijing\'s air quality has seen its biggest improvement in history.
Average concentration of tiny \"pm2.
According to Greenpeace East Asia, the particles fell by more than 20%.
Meet a year in a crazy sprint
Ending air pollution targets, cracking down on traditional winter smoke, employing 5,600 environmental inspectors from all over the country and being sent to industrial centres around the capital.
Thousands of polluting factories have been forced to clean up or shut down altogether, and millions of families have rushed to move from coal --
Heat up on natural gas.
There is a price: thousands of jobs are supported by closed factories.
Millions of people living around Beijing have lost coal.
Burn the heat to replace it without accepting the heat of the gas, and experience the cold weather.
With this social price, it is inevitable that there will be pressure to recover the cleanliness. air policy.
For the time being, however, this result represents a strong political will that subverts the political will that has long been
Standing hypothesis
The Communist Party always puts the economy ahead of the environment.
It raises expectations that the country may change when it comes to solving its notorious pollution problem.
\"We need to recognize that a very important battle has been won,\" Ma Yun, founder of the Beijing Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, said in June.
\"This could be a very important step in winning the war in the end.
On 2013, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang launched a \"Air pollution war\" in response to public anger \".
Then, under the stimulation of last winter\'s \"Air Force action\", Li Xingjun once again issued a call for weapons, promising at the annual meeting of the National People\'s Congress to \"resolutely fight the blue sky and defend the war \".
Xie Yanmei, China policy expert at Xie ekal dragnomics, said the past few months have been a \"shock and awe\" campaign.
On 2014, the mayor of Beijing said he had signed a \"life-and-death\" contract with the central government to reduce pm2. 5 in the city.
The concentration increased from about 90 at that time to 60 micrograms per cubic meter.
At the end of 2016, he was replaced because the target was clearly unattainable.
Li Shuo, a senior policy adviser at Greenpeace, said that even in recent months, few people will think Beijing will reach its goal.
\"There are too many actors involved and it is difficult to get law enforcement on the ground;
\"It\'s not just the energy sector, but also heating, steel and cement, construction and transportation,\" he said . \".
\"Who knows in which direction the wind will blow?
\"In difficult situations, with the help of the wind, the goal is achieved.
\"It\'s all very interesting, which allows us to revisit some of the assumptions we \'ve made before,\" Li added . \".
\"What if the leadership is determined to act, if they can really provide air quality?
\"In Beijing, sales of masks and air purifiers have reportedly declined as the number of\" heavy pollution days \"dropped from 58 in 2017 to 23 in 2013.
Some pm2. 5 due to weather.
Greenpeace calculated that Beijing\'s level 5 in the fourth quarter of last year was less than half that of the same period last year.
On bad days, students often stay indoors during recess and they are allowed to play outdoors more frequently.
But these measures are also double.
A sword with a blade, or a clumsy sword.
In Hebei province, around Beijing, factory workers complain that slowing down the economy threatens their incomes and livelihoods, while residents struggle for weeks in a cold environment because of their coal --
In the absence of an immediate supply of natural gas, the burning heater was removed.
This is the worst industrial center. air-
Pollution hotspots in the world, the province alone has more steel production than the entire Western Europe.
Here, the cement, ceramics and chemical factories spew thick smoke, and when the wind blows from the south, toxic clouds are sent to the north and flow to the capital.
Over the years, Hebei\'s leaders have been reluctant to do anything to undermine their economy, drive people out of work, and do anything that could cause social unrest.
Factories that pollute but also create taxes and jobs are considered untouchable, and inspectors from the Ministry of Environmental Protection seem to be powerless.
Things changed last year.
The middle class in Beijing is an important group that cannot be ignored. The bad air in Beijing makes the world feel embarrassed.
As part of the winter action plan, inspectors recruited from other parts of the country were given a stronger mandate to compete with each other to see how many offending factories they could close.
A large number of small factories have been shut down while large factories have been forced to switch from coal to natural gas and use filters to clean emissions.
Major construction projects were suspended,
The stoves of millions of families were demolished.
All over Hebei has \"coal-free\" zones.
\"The central government uses public pressure and public desire for clean air to combat local resistance,\" said Ma of the Institute for Public and Environmental Affairs . \".
In order to please the central government, some officials removed millions of coal-fired heaters before installing replacement equipment.
Other residents have installed the new system, but no gas is found in the line;
Factories that produce the same coalto-
Natural gas conversion has exhausted all available supplies.
With millions of people shaking in the cold and expressing anger through social media, the government changed its course in early December and relaxed its ban on coal.
For restaurant owner Jiao Changguo, the reversal came too late. he was 47 years old and lived in Xijiao village. Two months ago, the coal stove in the western suburbs was demolished.
One lunch time last week, his restaurant was cold and empty.
He has a gas cylinder and a patio.
Style heater, but it is too expensive to operate unless he has a customer.
As the inspectors closed all the glue factories nearby, he had few.
\"Since the introduction of environmental protection policy, people\'s income
\"Well, there is no comparison with the past,\" he said . \".
\"When it comes to the future, they don\'t see any prospect for ordinary people, especially in the countryside.
Langfang xinsidong Wood Industry Co. , Ltd. is located near the village of zuozhuang.
There are usually about 100 employees producing plywood and fine wood boards.
It took two months to 1 million yuan ($150,000)
Dismantled its coal last year.
Sales staff Zhang Caihong said that the boiler and installation of natural gas are burning, but after those two times, there is no natural gas now.
Due to the conversion, monthly production losses, the labor force was sent home before the Chinese New Year in February.
\"Zuozhuang is a mess now,\" she said . \"
Her company lost four more months of production.
Forced closure last year-
Sometimes to ensure that the sky is blue during the \"important meeting\" in Beijing --
If this year is so bad, it will probably be difficult to survive.
\"More than half of the companies here are not working properly now,\" she said . \".
\"If you come back next year, you will find that some of them do not exist.
\"These experiences have been replicated across Hebei, raising questions about whether the recent campaign will continue this year.
Recently, the pendulum has swung between the economy and the environment.
Coal consumption began to decline in 2014, which surprised many, but two years later the government launched a stimulus package to fund construction and heavy industry, discharge more pollutants into the air.
However, Xie said in Longzhou economic news that in general, under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, environmental issues are of greater importance.
But she says political will alone is not enough.
If progress is to continue, a radical transformation of the economy is needed.
Overall, the average pm2. 5 in the past four years.
Greenpeace calculates that five levels in 74 cities in China have fallen by 35%.
But recently, significant improvements in Beijing and Hebei in the fourth quarter have been offset by deterioration in other parts of China, including Anhui and Jiangsu, adjacent to Shanghai.
Liu Yang contributed the report.
This month, the air in Beijing is clear and the sky is blue.
Good wind and weather play a role, but this is not an accident.
Last year, Beijing\'s air quality has seen its biggest improvement in history.
Average concentration of tiny \"pm2.
According to Greenpeace East Asia, the particles fell by more than 20%.
Meet a year in a crazy sprint
Ending air pollution targets, cracking down on traditional winter smoke, employing 5,600 environmental inspectors from all over the country and being sent to industrial centres around the capital.
Thousands of polluting factories have been forced to clean up or shut down altogether, and millions of families have rushed to move from coal --
Heat up on natural gas.
There is a price: thousands of jobs are supported by closed factories.
Millions of people living around Beijing have lost coal.
Burn the heat to replace it without accepting the heat of the gas, and experience the cold weather.
With this social price, it is inevitable that there will be pressure to recover the cleanliness. air policy.
For the time being, however, this result represents a strong political will that subverts the political will that has long been
Standing hypothesis
The Communist Party always puts the economy ahead of the environment.
It raises expectations that the country may change when it comes to solving its notorious pollution problem.
\"We need to recognize that a very important battle has been won,\" Ma Yun, founder of the Beijing Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, said in June.
\"This could be a very important step in winning the war in the end.
On 2013, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang launched a \"Air pollution war\" in response to public anger \".
Then, under the stimulation of last winter\'s \"Air Force action\", Li Xingjun once again issued a call for weapons, promising at the annual meeting of the National People\'s Congress to \"resolutely fight the blue sky and defend the war \".
Xie Yanmei, China policy expert at Xie ekal dragnomics, said the past few months have been a \"shock and awe\" campaign.
On 2014, the mayor of Beijing said he had signed a \"life-and-death\" contract with the central government to reduce pm2. 5 in the city.
The concentration increased from about 90 at that time to 60 micrograms per cubic meter.
At the end of 2016, he was replaced because the target was clearly unattainable.
Li Shuo, a senior policy adviser at Greenpeace, said that even in recent months, few people will think Beijing will reach its goal.
\"There are too many actors involved and it is difficult to get law enforcement on the ground;
\"It\'s not just the energy sector, but also heating, steel and cement, construction and transportation,\" he said . \".
\"Who knows in which direction the wind will blow?
\"In difficult situations, with the help of the wind, the goal is achieved.
\"It\'s all very interesting, which allows us to revisit some of the assumptions we \'ve made before,\" Li added . \".
\"What if the leadership is determined to act, if they can really provide air quality?
\"In Beijing, sales of masks and air purifiers have reportedly declined as the number of\" heavy pollution days \"dropped from 58 in 2017 to 23 in 2013.
Some pm2. 5 due to weather.
Greenpeace calculated that Beijing\'s level 5 in the fourth quarter of last year was less than half that of the same period last year.
On bad days, students often stay indoors during recess and they are allowed to play outdoors more frequently.
But these measures are also double.
A sword with a blade, or a clumsy sword.
In Hebei province, around Beijing, factory workers complain that slowing down the economy threatens their incomes and livelihoods, while residents struggle for weeks in a cold environment because of their coal --
In the absence of an immediate supply of natural gas, the burning heater was removed.
This is the worst industrial center. air-
Pollution hotspots in the world, the province alone has more steel production than the entire Western Europe.
Here, the cement, ceramics and chemical factories spew thick smoke, and when the wind blows from the south, toxic clouds are sent to the north and flow to the capital.
Over the years, Hebei\'s leaders have been reluctant to do anything to undermine their economy, drive people out of work, and do anything that could cause social unrest.
Factories that pollute but also create taxes and jobs are considered untouchable, and inspectors from the Ministry of Environmental Protection seem to be powerless.
Things changed last year.
The middle class in Beijing is an important group that cannot be ignored. The bad air in Beijing makes the world feel embarrassed.
As part of the winter action plan, inspectors recruited from other parts of the country were given a stronger mandate to compete with each other to see how many offending factories they could close.
A large number of small factories have been shut down while large factories have been forced to switch from coal to natural gas and use filters to clean emissions.
Major construction projects were suspended,
The stoves of millions of families were demolished.
All over Hebei has \"coal-free\" zones.
\"The central government uses public pressure and public desire for clean air to combat local resistance,\" said Ma of the Institute for Public and Environmental Affairs . \".
In order to please the central government, some officials removed millions of coal-fired heaters before installing replacement equipment.
Other residents have installed the new system, but no gas is found in the line;
Factories that produce the same coalto-
Natural gas conversion has exhausted all available supplies.
With millions of people shaking in the cold and expressing anger through social media, the government changed its course in early December and relaxed its ban on coal.
For restaurant owner Jiao Changguo, the reversal came too late. he was 47 years old and lived in Xijiao village. Two months ago, the coal stove in the western suburbs was demolished.
One lunch time last week, his restaurant was cold and empty.
He has a gas cylinder and a patio.
Style heater, but it is too expensive to operate unless he has a customer.
As the inspectors closed all the glue factories nearby, he had few.
\"Since the introduction of environmental protection policy, people\'s income
\"Well, there is no comparison with the past,\" he said . \".
\"When it comes to the future, they don\'t see any prospect for ordinary people, especially in the countryside.
Langfang xinsidong Wood Industry Co. , Ltd. is located near the village of zuozhuang.
There are usually about 100 employees producing plywood and fine wood boards.
It took two months to 1 million yuan ($150,000)
Dismantled its coal last year.
Sales staff Zhang Caihong said that the boiler and installation of natural gas are burning, but after those two times, there is no natural gas now.
Due to the conversion, monthly production losses, the labor force was sent home before the Chinese New Year in February.
\"Zuozhuang is a mess now,\" she said . \"
Her company lost four more months of production.
Forced closure last year-
Sometimes to ensure that the sky is blue during the \"important meeting\" in Beijing --
If this year is so bad, it will probably be difficult to survive.
\"More than half of the companies here are not working properly now,\" she said . \".
\"If you come back next year, you will find that some of them do not exist.
\"These experiences have been replicated across Hebei, raising questions about whether the recent campaign will continue this year.
Recently, the pendulum has swung between the economy and the environment.
Coal consumption began to decline in 2014, which surprised many, but two years later the government launched a stimulus package to fund construction and heavy industry, discharge more pollutants into the air.
However, Xie said in Longzhou economic news that in general, under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, environmental issues are of greater importance.
But she says political will alone is not enough.
If progress is to continue, a radical transformation of the economy is needed.
Overall, the average pm2. 5 in the past four years.
Greenpeace calculates that five levels in 74 cities in China have fallen by 35%.
But recently, significant improvements in Beijing and Hebei in the fourth quarter have been offset by deterioration in other parts of China, including Anhui and Jiangsu, adjacent to Shanghai.
Liu Yang contributed the report.
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