Beicology: Fewer Clunkers in Beijing, More Trees in China

Original Joey Knotts theBeijinger

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How bad is the smog these days, really? Who is keeping tabs on the state of our drinking water? What has the government done about carbon emissions lately? In Beicology we turn our focus toward environmental news in the capital.

Beijingers cash in on their dirty old clunkers

In July 2009, a freshly inaugurated Obama administration spearheaded a program to subsidize owners of crappy old cars that were polluting the atmosphere with pre-emissions standard systems, swapping them for new Toyota Corollas, or another eco-friendly ride. The “Car Allowance Rebate System,” or CARS – also known to the public as the “Cash for Clunkers” program – was more successful than anyone imagined, prompting Congress to tack on an additional USD 2 billion when funds ran out in November due to high demand.

We’re not sure whether it was the program’s massive success or the fact that it had not one but two excellent names, no matter the reason, however, the Beijing municipal government decided in March of this year to adopt a similar program, hoping to combat vehicle emissions in the city. Now, the numbers are in, and despite the city’s failure to think of a snappy nickname, the program was still able to facilitate the swapping out of 37,000 clunkers for vehicles that meet the current national standards, with which all newly manufactured cars have had to comply since 2008.

The program as it stands will remain in effect through year-end, allowing swappers to snatch up a subsidy of RMB 1 million. Those who wait, however, will lose out big, as the subsidy for 2021 will plummet to a mere RMB 8,000.

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China’s tree-planting pays off much better than expected

Climate scientists have recently discovered that China’s forestation efforts are helping to reduce carbon at rates that far surpass expectations.

Their study, published late last month in Nature, measured the amount of CO2 captured by young forests in southern China from 2009 to 2016. Their results revealed that the forests captured the equivalent of a whopping 45 percent of the country’s carbon emissions – a figure that significantly alters our understanding of China’s net impact on the environment.

The study discovered a massive carbon sink in southern China

One caveat, however, was raised by Professor Shaun Quegan of Sheffield University who told the BBC that the forests' ability to capture carbon will become less effective with age as tree growth declines.

The news comes as China doubles down on its goal to go carbon neutral by mid-century, a plan that involves not only massive reforestation but a shift toward nuclear power and other forms of renewable energy.