Resource: Review of Beijing’s Comprehensive Motor Vehicle Emission Control Programs

A review of emission control programs that that were adopted in Beijing on January 1, 2015 has found that the program has delivered significant environmental and health benefits but the implementation of new standards will be key in helping Beijing prevent long-term emission control programs.

The white paper by the International Council on Clean Transport (ICCT) – with support from the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) – concludes that the implementation of Beijing 6/VI standards would reduce nitrogen oxide (NO_X), small particulate matter (PM_2.5), and black carbon by 77 percent, 64 percent, and 88 percent respectively by 2030. These pollutants threaten public health, degrade air quality, and contribute significantly to climate change.

Transportation is a key contributor to air pollution in urban areas. Beijing, a city with historically poor air quality, has implemented new standards and programs to combat vehicular emissions. Beijing’s early adoption of emission control and fuel quality standards (six years ahead of the countrywide timeline), along with its implementation of in-use emission reduction programs, makes it an innovative leader in city-level transportation air-quality policy.

Since 1997 Beijing has made tremendous progress in developing and implementing comprehensive motor vehicle emission reduction programs. These include new-vehicle emission standards, fuel quality standards, in-use vehicle emission control efforts, and other programs, such as alternative fuel vehicles and population control. Beijing’s proactive regulatory action in issuing new vehicle emission and fuel quality standards and in conducting scrappage programs, meant that 50,000 metric tons of NO_X and 3,000 tons of PM emissions were avoided in 2013 compared with the 2000 baseline level.

However inconsistency in the degree and speed of implementation between Beijing and surrounding cities and counties will diminish the expected real-world environmental and health benefits of more stringent standards. For example, the fuel quality gap between Beijing and surrounding cities not only increases vehicle emissions, but also contributes to engine wear, particularly catalytic converters and other soot filters and traps.

This paper offers three main conclusions:

1. Beijing’s vehicle emission control program has delivered significant environmental and health benefits, but the implementation of Beijing 6/VI will be key in helping Beijing prevent long-term emission growth.
2. Accelerating the pace of emission control in the areas surrounding Beijing will maximize the regional environmental impact. Beijing should focus on cooperating with the surrounding Jing-Jin-Ji (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) capital region to push for additional emission control programs.
3. Beijing’s vehicle emission control experience can be an inspiration for other cities. With the legal power to carry out most of the same actions as Beijing, other cities in China can draw lessons from not just the success stories but also the hard choices and trade-offs made as those cities seek out the routes most appropriate to their own situations to realize emission reductions.