The Evolution of Sulfur Dioxide Pollution Control in China's PowerSector

2010 is the final year of what was one of China's "greenest" five-year plan (FYP) periods. The 11th FYP contained considerably stricter standards for SO2 and other pollutants and aggressive energy intensity standards have been touted as key in shifting the country to a more low carbon development path. However, skies over Chinese cities are still smoggy, which raises valid questions as to the effectiveness of China's air pollution control efforts. It is often too easy for outside assessments to blame the apparent poor air quality to lack of political commitment, limited action by Chinese local governments, low quality pollution control equipment, and untrustworthy data. At this September 15th CEF meetings our speaker— Jeremy Schreifels (U.S. EPA) and Xuehua Zhang (Independent Energy and Environment Consultant)-will dig into some of the complexities of pollution control efforts in China to help us understand some major progress in SO2 emission measurement and control in the power sector with thoughts on what led to this progress.

5th Floor Conference Room