Beijing and the neighboring areas may impose stricter measures to curb industrial and vehicle emissions in case of serious air pollution during the Olympics, according to China's environmental watchdog.

The cities of Beijing and Tianjin and Hebei Province would expand their current curbs on cars and factories, if meteorological departments foresee an unfavorable air quality induced by "extreme unfavorable weather conditions" in the coming two days, a report on the Ministry of Environmental Protection website said.

Under such circumstances, Beijing would shut down 105 more electric, furniture, building material and chemical plants. It would also halt all construction work and pull more vehicles off the road.

Vehicles would be banned if their license plates' last number was identical with that of the date, it said.

In Tianjin, 56 more coal-fueled power companies, coal-fired heating projects, building materials, electric and chemical factories would suspend production in case of unfavorable air quality forecasts.

Similar measure would be carried out in Hebei Province's Zhangjiakou, Chengde, Shijiazhuang, Baoding, Langfang and Tangshan.

Tianjin and Hebei would also ban cars on alternate days according to their odd or even plate numbers, the same measure being imposed in Beijing.

The emergency plan would be terminated after relevant authorities confirmed air quality in the coming two days could meet official standards.

Cleaner air has been Beijing's major concern with the Games approaching. The city has been relocating the Shougang Group, one of China's leading steel makers and the capital's major polluter, taken half of the city's 3.3 million vehicles off the roads, halted most construction projects, built more waste treatment facilities and utilized more geothermal resources.

Beijing's neighboring municipality Tianjin and the nearby provinces of Hebei, Shanxi and Shandong, plus the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, are also helping the capital to attain its anti-pollution goals by closing major polluters, removing high-emission cars from roads and restoring grassland vegetation.

Experts previously claimed major air pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and particulate matter from vehicles had dropped by 20 percent in Beijing year-on-year, due to the factory and vehicle use restrictions for the Olympics.

But some Beijing residents and visitors still complained the city was covered by mist and fog.

Du Shaozhong, Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau deputy director, said earlier this week the rare lack of rain and wind to blow away accumulated emissions was partly to blame. He added he was optimistic the city's air quality would improve as the weather changed.

According to Du, in the first half of 2008, the major pollutants in Beijing had dropped by 20 percent and small particulate matter was reduced by 7 percent. The city had 149 "blue sky" days, or days with fairly good air quality, for the year as of July 31.

With government investment of 140 billion yuan (about $20.5 billion) in environment improvement, total blue sky days in Beijing rose to 246 last year. This was in comparison to 100 days in 1998 when the city launched the blue sky campaign.

Du, however, admitted the level of particulate matter had not met the national standards throughout the year, as only 70 percent of the days passed the blue sky day standard through July 30.

"But even on days that failed to meet the blue sky standard, the pollution index has also dropped significantly. China is still a developing country. We can't all of a sudden reach developed countries' air quality standards.

"But we are confident to ensure an air quality above the standard of the World Health Organization during the Olympics." Du cited China's industry and traffic control measures in Beijing and neighboring areas and good weather conditions in August as being favorable for the dispersion of pollutants.

According to the Chinese Lunar Calendar, August 7 is the day when autumn officially begins. The weather at that time is fine and it's usually the best season for traveling and having meetings in Beijing, according to Du.

"However, we should still keep in mind that 30 percent of the days have failed to reach the blue sky standard. Our efforts for cleaner air in Beijing will not end with the Olympics. Beijing residents and visitors will see a bluer sky after the Games," he said.

Beijing put two bus rapid transit (BRT) routes into operation Thursday, one of the measures to boost public transport network for better environment.

With the two new routes, including one connecting the downtown area with Olympic venues in the north, the city now has three BRT routes that carry more passengers, run faster than ordinary buses and cost less than the metro.

A BRT bus can carry 220 passengers, about 3.9 times of ordinary ones, but costs the same, according to the Beijing Public Transport Holdings. Ltd.

In addition, 50 electric buses will be in service during the Games and integrated in the public transport network after the sports event.

The vehicles, powered by lithium ion batteries, give out no waste gas and produced little noise. Every one kwh of electricity can fuel a bus to run for one km. Charged once, a bus can run for about 130 km with the air conditioner on. It is able to run at a speed of 80 km per hour carrying 80 passengers.

The city has adopted several clean energy technologies to fulfill its promise to host a "green" Olympics.

Besides the electric commute buses, about 400 electric venue vehicles and 15 electric cleaning vehicles will also serve in the Games. Another 105 hybrid vehicles and 23 fuel cell cars and buses will also begin operation.

(Xinhua News Agency July 31, 2008)