Air pollution levels in Beijing have seen a noticeable decline during the year of 2020. This has allowed the city to reach its air quality target goals almost a decade earlier than planned.
The plan, implemented by the government, involved the reduction of national coal consumption and transportation, as well as encouraging more people to switch to electric vehicles. Coal-fired boilers were swapped for cleaner gas-fired boilers for winter heating in many homes.
Other heavy polluting industries were re-located to other areas to further reduce air pollution. All of these measures combined have resulted in a 13% drop compared to the previous year in 2020, helping levels to drop and meet the governments targets.
In addition to their latest achievement, the city also wants to host a ‘green’ Winter Olympics for 2022 and power all their 26 Olympic venues entirely by renewable energy.