Beijing meets "blue sky days" target early

Beijing officials announced that the city had met its 2008 target of "blue sky days" a month in advance. The Chinese city had 256 days of Grade I and Grade II air quality between January and November.

Government officials attributed the achievement to pollution control regulations in effect since 1998 and recent temporary measures such as the license plate-based car plan used to reduce pollution during the Olympics.

In October Beijing raised fuel prices to pay for using fuel that meets the Euro-IV emission standard (see Beijing hikes fuel prices to pay for cleaner blend). Beijing and Shanghai have also implemented new laws designed to reduce the number of cars on the roads (see Chinese cities set car bans).

To further reduce pollution and fuel imports, China, the second-largest worldwide consumer of oil, announced plans to have 60,000 vehicles using hybrid and fuel-cell technology on the road in 10 cities by 2012.

Chinese officials said the new vehicles are expected to replace buses, taxis and cars for government use over the next three years in selected cities such as Chongqing, Nanjing and Shenzhen.

As part of the project, the Chongqing, China-based Chang'an New Energy Automotive company received RMB 20 million ($2.9 million USD) from the state government to develop hybrid vehicles. The Chongqing State Ministry of Finance announced it will also offer subsidies to buyers of such alternative energy vehicles.

The decision to promote cleaner car technologies comes on the heels of the nation's environmental protection minister's warning to local governments that polluting in the name of economic progress would no longer be tolerated.

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