Starting Wednesday higher-emission vehicles will be barred from driving on Beijing’s roads. Cars that are light duty and gas powered but have failed to pass the National Emission Standard III will be banned from driving inside the Fifth Ring Road during weekdays, Xinhua reports.
The fine for not complying with the new law will be RMB100 per every 4-hour period the banned vehicles drive on the roads. Certain cars will be removed from the capital’s streets based on whether or not they pass annual inspections.
In Beijing all new cars must now comply with what is known as the "Beijing VI" emission standard, which is the strictest standard in China.
There are 5.7 million vehicles on the capital’s roads, and together they produce roughly 500,000 tons of harmful pollutants. They are also responsible for creating 31 percent of the toxic PM2.5 particles that originate in Beijing.
Higher-polluting vehicles are significant contributors to Beijing's notorious smog problem. While they only make up 10 percent of the vehicles that are found on the capital’s roadways, they actually emit more than 30 percent of the nitrogen oxide and 25 percent of the volatile organic compounds found in Beijing’s air, Xinhua reports.
Lately Beijing has been making great efforts to deal with its smog problem. Earlier this week China requested that 20 cities located along three “pollution highways” coordinate efforts to reduce emissions which ultimately flow up to the capital. Beijing has also vowed to invest USD2.6 billion to combat pollution.
The immediate goal is to help Beijing to reduce PM2.5 levels to 60 micrograms per cubic meter this year. In 2016 the daily average of PM2.5 in the capital was 73.
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