China under pressure in meeting emissions targets

China is facing pressure in meeting the emissions cut targets set in its pollution control plan by 2015, an environment official said Tuesday. In the country's 12th five-year plan (2010-2015) for environment protection, China vowed to cut chemical oxygen demand (COD) and sulfur dioxide emissions by eight percent and ammonia nitrogen and nitrogen oxide emissions by 10 percent compared with 2010 levels. "Emissions of COD, sulfur dioxide and ammonia nitrogen have dropped by over seven percent in the past three years, basically as scheduled, but the nitrogen oxide emissions only dropped by about 2 percent, which has created great pressure for emissions-cutting tasks in 2014 and 2015," said Zhai Qing, deputy minister of environmental protection. The performance for the first half of 2011 was even more disappointing, as nitrogen oxide emissions rose by 6.17 percent year on year. But Zhai said he still believes the five-year reduction target will be met under the support of local authorities. Last year, emissions of major indicators including COD, sulfur dioxide and ammonia nitrogen kept declining, and nitrogen oxide emissions dropped by four percent year on year, he noted. He said that China has set a goal of at least a five-percent reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions in 2014, with emissions cut targets of two percent for other indicators this year. A total of 1,473 environment protection projects will be finished across the country this year, aimed at increasing sewage treatment capacity by 10 million tonnes and denitration capacity by 130 million kilowatts, the deputy minister said. China will also strive to eliminate 3 million vehicles that cause excessive emissions of pollutants, according to Zhai.