In a joint Chinese-US initiative, diesel vehicles in Beijing will be retrofitted to reduce emissions.

The demonstration project will test the feasibility of retrofitting diesel fleets in Beijing with advanced emissions control technology and cleaner fuel.

If effective, the practice will be promoted across the country to improve air quality, Chinese and US environment officials said Wednesday after signing up to the project's work plan.

The project is a part of the clear air and energy cooperation strategy between the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Also signed yesterday between SEPA and EPA was a general plan on vehicle emissions control and transportation issues.

This lists areas of Sino-US collaboration such as fuel quality, heavy-duty diesel retrofits, technologies for vehicles in use and short-term priorities like the Beijing demonstration project.

A joint committee of experts will work out the details of the Beijing project, said Pan Shuda, chief engineer of the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Administration.

Issues such as how many and what type of vehicles will be refitted and how long the project will last have yet to be decided by the committee.

Through the project, China may benefit from and be able to adopt some technical expertise from the US, said Margo Tsirigotis Oge, director of EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality.

Xie Shaodong from the Department of Environmental Science at Peking University said diesel vehicles emit less gaseous pollutants such as carbon monoxide and boast greater power than gasoline-driven vehicles.

However, they let out more inhalable particulates than gasoline vehicles, he said. These are the leading air pollutants in the capital.

Xie said under current technical levels, diesel vehicles should not be promoted in large numbers in the country.

About 6 percent of vehicles running in Beijing, some 140,000, are diesel ones. Among Beijing's 17,000 buses, 6,500 are diesel-powered.

Beijing will host the Olympic Games in 2008 and has promised that air quality in the city will be as good as that in developed countries during the Games.

Beijing is likely to adopt the Euro III emissions standard by 2005, said Zhang Lijun, head of SEPA's Pollution Control Division in early July, as it was announced that Euro II had come into force across China.

Beijing, which has the largest number of vehicles on its roadways in the country, began implementing the Euro II standard at the beginning of last year.

(China Daily November 18, 2004)