Beijing gets clean air tips in RTP

The air that Olympic athletes breathe at the 2008 Games in Beijing could be cleaner because of something that happened in the Triangle this month.

A group of Chinese officials from Beijing's Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau completed three weeks of training at RTI International, the research institute based at Research Triangle Park, in using state-of-the-art computer modeling to forecast air pollution.

The coaching will help Chinese air modelers, engineers and meteorologists sharpen their skills to address Beijing's serious problem with smog, soot and other pollution, which is a concern to athletes who want top conditions to yield top performances.

"They have some pretty severe air pollution problems," said Bob Zerbonia, project director for RTI, which is providing technical support to a larger team that includes Chinese officials. "They have been addressing them but are still not where they want to be. The Olympics are the driving force now, but it's a long-term deal."

RTI scientists helped assemble computer models -- similar to pollutant forecasting programs used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency -- to help the Chinese environmental officials understand how emissions throughout the region contribute to poor air quality in Beijing. They'll also provide a technical basis for Chinese officials to decide which additional pollution controls to adopt and allow them to produce next-day air quality forecasts.

"We hope the effort of this project will help Beijing produce more scientific and economically efficient pollution control strategies," Shi Aijun, director of monitoring and pollution management for the city of Beijing said Tuesday in an interview. "Specifically, by using this modeling system, we can finally decide which are the major emission sources."

Beijing experiences air pollution problems despite concerted efforts since 1998. Progress has been hampered by the country's rapid growth, a high level of construction activity and increasing number of vehicles on the roads.

The primary pollutants of concern are ground-level ozone, particle pollution commonly called soot, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide.

Particle pollution, which can cause breathing problems and reduced visibility, comes from emissions from power plants, from diesel engines and from wind-blown dust. High ozone levels generally occur on hot, sunny days when nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons emitted by car tailpipes, power plants and factories react in the air.

Ozone, the main ingredient in smog, is unhealthy to breathe, particularly for children with developing lungs, people with asthma and adults who work outside.

The urban air currently does not meet China's national standards, especially for particle pollution. But Beijing's goal is to meet national air standards by the Olympics.

Shi said the number of days that Beijing's air quality meets standards had increased from 40 percent of the year in the late 1990s to about 65 percent last year, since the adoption of air pollution controls. He said special measures would be added before the Olympics, including a 30 percent cut in emissions from factories, replacement of old diesel buses and taxis and tighter emission standards for automobiles.

"The pollution problems of Beijing are caused by the whole region," said Li Yunting, an environmental engineer who also attended the training. "I really hope some day that the air in Beijing could be as nice as here."