Prof. Duncan Laxen, Managing Director of Air Quality Consultants Ltd., recently joined a delegation of air quality experts to China, to share experiences of assessing and managing PM2.5 in the UK.
The visit was organised by the UK Royal Academy of Engineering and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, with support from the British Embassy. Events were held in Beijing, at which both the UK and Chinese experts gave presentations and exchanged views. The main event was the ‘China-UK High Level Symposium on PM2.5 Pollution Control and Haze Prevention’, held at Tsinghua University. This was followed with a meeting at the Counsellor’s Office of the State Council. On the final day a Workshop was organised by the Beijing Municipal Research Institute for Environmental Protection.
Prof. Laxen presented the results of his recent work reviewing sources of PM2.5 in the UK. He also outlined the approach required to understand and manage exposure to PM2.5, based on UK and European experience.
In summarising his visit Prof. Laxen said: “It was clear that the Chinese are experiencing concentrations of PM2.5 around 10 times higher than those in the UK. I was pleased to see that they have already developed a good understanding of the sources, which are remarkably similar to those controlling concentrations in the UK. In particular, ‘secondary’ PM2.5, formed from the emissions of primary gases, plays as important a role in China as it does in the UK.”
“I was heartened that the Chinese are responding to growing calls from the public to improve air quality. There is now a well established network of monitoring stations. Alerts are given to the public on high pollution days and measures implemented to reduce emissions. More importantly, stringent controls are being applied to emission sources, especially coal-fired power stations.”
“I believe that by sharing our experience we can help give the Chinese the confidence to implement the most cost-effective measures to bring about real improvements over a short timescale. The individuals we met discussed the challenges openly and showed a commitment to bringing about the necessary changes, so that the country can continue its rapid development in a more sustainable way.”
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