Beijing Confirms It Will Implement Stage 6 Emissions Rules In 2019 aimed at motor vehicles to slash carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions
Beijing has some of the worst air pollution of any city in the world. In an effort to combat that problem, it has established a series of pollution regulations for the motor vehicles that use its streets. Currently, Stage V rules — based primarily on regulations promulgated by the European Union — are in force.
The issue here is the focus on high volume vehicle traffic found in congested city streets. We can all learn from China and hopefully start preventative actions now before our other cities reach similar levels in future. The "clean diesel" marketing campaigns of a few years back resulted in many diesel vehicles arriving on roads, and which emit invisible toxic nitrogen oxide. Air pollution is NOT just about the smoke you see coming from a factory or refinery smokestack or the car in front of you with smoke coming from its exhaust. Have you noticed that many polluting factories only operate at night when they have visible smoke? It is about the fine particle matter that is often invisible.
Hence why there are often government incentives to move drivers to EVs, and why EV is not solely around the price of the car. Governments are generally charging a carbon tax now to polluting industries (or polluting vehicles) and are supposed to be using that to provide incentives and discounts to EV purchasers. Of course in South Africa, all our tax revenue goes into a central revenue fund and it is not ring-fenced for EV incentives, which is why we see so little incentives (is zero the same as a little?) and EV sales have not taken off. The carbon tax is NOT supposed to be used as a revenue generator. Ideally, the carbon tax should balance to zero vs the incentives paid out.
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Beijing Confirms It Will Implement Stage 6 Emissions Rules In 2019 | CleanTechnica Beijing says it will implement Stage VI emissions rules this year. They will cut carbon and nitrogen emissions by 50% and particulates by 40% compared to existing rules. Exhaust sniffers will be deployed throughout the city to enforce compliance. |