Experts from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment Interpret National Emission Standards
TIME：
2019-03-22 15:34
In order to implement the Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China and the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China, prevent and control air pollution from diesel vehicles, gasoline vehicles, and non road mobile diesel machinery, and resolutely win the battle of blue sky defense and the battle of diesel truck pollution control, The Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the State Administration for Market Regulation recently jointly released three national pollutant emission standards: "Limits and Measurement Methods for Pollutant Emissions from Diesel Vehicles (Free Acceleration Method and Load Deceleration Method)", "Limits and Measurement Methods for Pollutant Emissions from Gasoline Vehicles (Dual Idle Method and Simple Working Condition Method)", and "Limits and Measurement Methods for Smoke Emissions from Non road Mobile Diesel Machinery". Experts from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment answered reporters' questions on relevant issues.
1. What is the background for the release of the three national standards? What is the significance and role of winning the battle for blue sky defense and the battle for diesel truck pollution prevention and control?
Answer: The current national air pollutant emission standards for diesel and gasoline vehicles in use were issued and implemented by the former State Environmental Protection Administration and the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine in 2005, and have been in effect for over 13 years now. The current situation of air pollution prevention and control in China has undergone significant changes. Since 2005, the number of motor vehicles in China has grown rapidly. As of the end of 2017, the total number of motor vehicles in China had reached 310 million and 217 million vehicles. The total emissions of four pollutants from motor vehicles are 43.597 million tons, including 33.273 million tons of CO, 4.071 million tons of HC, 5.743 million tons of NOx, and 509000 tons of PM. From the analysis results of PM2.5 sources in many large and medium-sized cities such as Beijing, it can be seen that mobile sources such as motor vehicles have become the primary source of pollution. The emission structure of the vehicle fleet in use has significantly upgraded, with vehicles in the third or higher stage accounting for more than 90%. The current "Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China" (hereinafter referred to as the "Air Law") puts forward new requirements for regular emission inspection, supervision and sampling, and supervision and management of in use vehicles.
In recent years, the number and total power of non road mobile machinery in China have rapidly increased, making their contribution to atmospheric environmental pollution increasingly prominent. At present, China has a total of 7.2 million construction machinery and a total diesel power of 767.763 million kilowatts for agricultural machinery. In 2017, non road mobile machinery emitted a total of 909000 tons of SO2, 779000 tons of HC, 5.735 million tons of NOx, and 485000 tons of PM. The NOx and PM emissions of non road mobile machinery are close to those of motor vehicles, and the phenomenon of black smoke is very common. It is an important source of air pollution, and there is an urgent need to accelerate the control of its air pollutant emissions. Previously, China's emission control of non road diesel machinery was mainly focused on the emission control of newly produced diesel engines, making it difficult to effectively regulate a large number of non road diesel machinery in use. The Atmospheric Law sets clear supervision and management requirements for the control of non road mobile machinery. The emission standards for non road mobile diesel machinery have been released for the first time, solving the problem of non road mobile machinery having no standards to follow during use. Due to existing technical limitations, the standard currently only controls smoke emissions, and will be revised in a timely manner to control NOx emissions when conditions are ripe.
The three pollutant emission standards released this time are important technical support for preventing and controlling atmospheric pollution from diesel vehicles, gasoline vehicles, and non road mobile diesel machinery. They are also important technical guarantees for resolutely winning the battle of blue sky defense and fighting the battle of diesel truck pollution control. All regions are eager to expedite the release and implementation.
2. What are the main revisions to the emission standards for in use vehicles? What is the main basis for the revision?
Answer: The emission standards for gasoline and diesel vehicles are based on national conditions, drawing on international experience, further refining technical requirements, highlighting efficiency, simplicity, and speed, improving practical operability, and facilitating frontline supervision and law enforcement. The main modifications include five aspects:
Firstly, stricter pollutant emission limits have been imposed and stricter limits have been proposed; The second is to add provisions for on-board diagnostic system (OBD) inspection, which will inspect the OBD function and fault alarm handling of some existing vehicles; Thirdly, the addition of NOx testing methods and limit requirements for diesel vehicles has solved the problem of no standard for NOx emissions from in-service diesel vehicles; Fourthly, the process and items of emission testing have been standardized, and relevant regulations have been established for the content and submission of appearance inspection, OBD inspection, and pollutant emission testing; The fifth is to standardize the content and time limit of data recording, storage, and recording.
The main basis for the revision is: firstly, the changes in the structure of China's existing fleet; The second is the provisions on emission inspection in the Atmospheric Law and related documents; The third is the technical demand for tackling pollution control of motor vehicles, especially diesel trucks in China; The fourth is international experience and local regulatory needs in China.
3. Why is the limit value b set in the emission standards for in use vehicles and how is it implemented?
Answer: The emission standards for in use vehicles have set limits a and b, which are uniformly implemented nationwide. In special regions, limit b can be implemented in advance. The requirement for limit value b is stricter, mainly in areas with higher requirements for motor vehicle pollution control. Firstly, for mega cities such as Beijing with over 5 million car ownership, air pollution is relatively severe, and it is necessary to strengthen control over motor vehicle emissions; Secondly, although the number of motor vehicles does not exceed 5 million, they have become the primary source of pollution affecting local air quality, and there is an urgent need to take strengthened control measures; Thirdly, cities with low emission zones established in accordance with laws and regulations can also implement limit values b.
If the above three types of cities want to implement the limit value b, it should be implemented after fully soliciting opinions from all sectors of society, obtaining approval from the provincial people's government and filing with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. In order to smoothly and effectively implement the limit value b, each region also needs to set up a sufficiently long transition period. For the specific time frame for the unified implementation of the limit value b nationwide, it will be comprehensively solicited from all sectors of society under the condition that all conditions are fully met, and after careful evaluation and scientific demonstration, it will be implemented at the appropriate time.
4. What testing methods are specified in the vehicle use standards, what improvements have been made, and how are they selected for use?
Answer: In order to ensure effective connection and smooth transition with the current in use vehicle emission standards, the newly released standards continue to retain the existing testing methods for gasoline and diesel vehicles, but both are mainly based on the simple working condition method. Only vehicles such as four-wheel drive that cannot be tested using the simple working condition method can be tested using the dual idle or free acceleration method. Regulatory and law enforcement personnel can also use dual idle or free acceleration methods to conduct supervision and sampling tests on gasoline and diesel vehicles in use. After the implementation of the standard, diesel vehicles will mainly use the loading deceleration method for emission testing. Currently, there are 6443 loading deceleration detection lines in China, which can meet the testing needs.
The emission standards for gasoline vehicles also retain both steady-state and simplified transient operating conditions, mainly considering:
One is that both methods are being used on a large scale in China. In 2017, there were a total of 5697 steady-state operating condition detection lines and 5555 simple transient operating condition detection lines in China. Secondly, through big data analysis, it has been shown that the steady-state operating mode method and the simple transient operating mode method have comparable screening capabilities for high emission vehicles, with no significant difference between their advantages and disadvantages. Thirdly, based on the experience of in use vehicle testing in Europe and America, the main testing methods in the future will gradually shift to OBD function inspection, no longer focusing on exhaust gas detection.
5. Why should remote sensing detection standards be cited in vehicle standards and how should they be applied in practice?
Various regions can use the data obtained from remote sensing monitoring of motor vehicles to focus on screening high emission diesel vehicles through big data analysis, and trace automobile manufacturing enterprises, emission inspection institutions, affiliated transportation enterprises, registration places, etc. that have prominent exceeding standards, providing support for the subsequent full chain of motor vehicle environmental supervision. According to the latest emission standards and related documents for diesel vehicles in use, vehicles that exceed the standard once can be determined as exceeding the standard through video collection and other technical means; For diesel vehicles with opaque smoke levels exceeding the standard twice within 6 months, the environmental protection regulatory department of the registered city shall notify the vehicle owner through appropriate means such as letters or announcements within 5 working days after the test results exceed the standard, requiring the vehicle owner to carry out repairs within 15 working days, and to use acceleration and deceleration methods to go to the motor vehicle emission inspection agency for inspection. Only after passing the inspection can the vehicle be driven on the road; The prefecture level ecological environment supervision department of the registered place may coordinate and transfer vehicles that have not passed the inspection and are driving on the road within the prescribed time limit to relevant departments for punishment in accordance with the law. For gasoline, gas, and other types of road vehicles, remote sensing monitoring equipment can be used to screen for high emission vehicles, providing support for further environmental management.
By utilizing the data obtained through remote sensing monitoring of motor vehicles, various regions can focus on screening high emission diesel vehicles through big data analysis, and trace the automobile manufacturing enterprises, emission inspection institutions, affiliated transportation enterprises, registration places, etc. that have prominent issues with exceeding standards, providing support for the subsequent full chain of motor vehicle environmental supervision. According to the newly released emission standards for diesel vehicles in use and relevant documents, vehicles found to have exceeded the standard once through video capture and other technical means can be determined as exceeding the standard; For diesel vehicles with opaque smoke levels exceeding the standard twice within 6 months, the municipal environmental protection regulatory department in the registered place shall notify the vehicle owner within 5 working days after the test results exceed the standard through appropriate means such as letters or announcements, requiring the vehicle owner to carry out maintenance within 15 working days and to go to the motor vehicle emission inspection agency for inspection using the loading and deceleration method. Only after passing the inspection can the vehicle be driven on the road; The prefecture level ecological environment regulatory department of the registered place may coordinate and transfer vehicles that have not passed the inspection before the deadline and are driving on the road to relevant departments for punishment in accordance with the law. For gasoline vehicles, gas vehicles, and other types of road vehicles, remote sensing monitoring equipment can be used to conduct high emission vehicle screening, providing support for further environmental management.
6. Why do the emission limits for in use vehicles appear much larger than those for new cars? What are the main differences between the emission standards for in use vehicles and new cars?
Answer: There is indeed a significant difference in the emission limit values between in-service and new vehicles, but the two have different meanings. They are results tested using different cycle conditions and detection methods, and do not have direct comparability. The main differences in emission standards between in-service and new vehicles are as follows:
One is that the purpose of formulation is different. The emission standard for new vehicles is a comprehensive measurement and assessment requirement for the emission control technology level of newly produced vehicles. The main purpose is to strengthen source control and ensure that newly produced vehicles meet the corresponding emission control technology level. The emission standards for in use vehicles are the basic evaluation requirements for the daily emissions and maintenance level of vehicles. The main purpose is to efficiently, conveniently, and quickly screen vehicles with malfunctioning pollution control devices or severely deteriorated emissions in the fleet through "physical examination" of in use vehicles, supervise their timely maintenance and treatment, and achieve the maximum pollution reduction benefits with the minimum social cost.
The second is that the formulation principles are different. The main principle followed in formulating emission standards for new cars is to minimize the level of single vehicle emissions as much as possible under the premise of technological feasibility and economic feasibility, in order to achieve greater environmental health benefits. The formulation of in use vehicle emission standards mainly follows the principles of efficient screening of high emission vehicles and minimum socio-economic costs. On the basis of ensuring certain environmental benefits, the social and economic burden of hundreds of millions of car owners is fully considered, with a focus on screening high emission vehicles with ineffective pollution control devices. Big data analysis shows that the vehicles with the worst emissions in the fleet can account for around 40-50% of the total pollutant emissions. By scientifically setting emission limits for in use vehicles, efficiently and quickly identifying these vehicles and urging maintenance and governance. Therefore, under the condition that newly produced vehicles can meet the emission standards for new vehicles, as long as they are used normally (without exceeding the limit or overloading), qualified oil and urea are added, and timely and standardized maintenance and repair are carried out, in principle, they should be able to meet the emission standards for in use vehicles.
The third is that the main purpose is different. The emission standard for new vehicles is a mandatory technical requirement that must be met during the type inspection during the finalization stage, the environmental production consistency inspection during the production and manufacturing stage, and the in-service compliance (or environmental protection durability) inspection during the use stage. It is mainly used for source control. For example, according to the National VI Emission Standards for Light Duty Vehicles, vehicles should also meet the new vehicle emission standards under normal use of no more than 160000km (or 12 years, whichever comes first). The emission standards for in use vehicles are mainly used for regular emission inspection and supervision sampling of in use vehicles, and are used by regular emission inspection institutions or ecological environment regulatory departments. It can also be referenced and used by motor vehicle maintenance units to evaluate the effectiveness of maintenance and upkeep.
The fourth is that the measurement methods are different. The technical content and methods of testing according to new car emission standards are very complex. Taking the National VI emission standard for light vehicles as an example, the measurement range includes exhaust gas, evaporation, crankcase, OBD, and other contents. The tests include ambient temperature cold start emission test (Type I test), actual road emission test (Type II test), crankcase emission test (Type III test), evaporative emission test (Type IV test), pollution control device durability test (Type V test), low-temperature cold start emission test (Type VI test) Seven types of tests, including evaporative emission testing during refueling (Type VII test), and OBD testing are also required. The technical content and methods of testing according to the emission standards for in use vehicles are very simple, cost-effective, and easy to implement. They only include visual inspection of pollution control devices, exhaust emission testing under simple operating conditions, OBD inspection, etc., which are relatively simple.
The fifth reason is that the measuring instruments and equipment are different. Testing according to new car emission standards requires precise and expensive instruments and equipment, with very high measurement accuracy. The price of light vehicle testing equipment that meets the testing requirements of the National Five Standards exceeds 20 million yuan per set. According to the emission standards for in use vehicles, the measurement accuracy of supporting instruments and equipment is relatively low, and the price of each set of equipment is generally over 200000 yuan.
The sixth reason is that the testing time and cost are different. Testing according to new car emission standards takes a long time, and completing an emission test for a vehicle model takes over 20 days. If conducting environmental protection durability testing, it will take an additional 3-5 months. The cost of new car testing is also relatively high, even without calculating the cost of durability testing, it usually costs over 400000 yuan. According to the emission standards for in use vehicles, testing can generally be completed in 3-5 minutes, and usually only costs tens to hundreds of yuan.
7. Why did the in use vehicle standards not set different exhaust emission limits according to the emission stages of new cars?
Answer: The emission limit for in use vehicles is determined based on a systematic analysis of the current situation of in use vehicle emissions in China, taking into account the structure of the in use vehicle fleet, the needs of air pollution prevention and control work, and referring to the experience of developed countries such as Europe and America.
One is a significant change in the structure of the fleet. From 2013 to 2017, China eliminated more than 20 million yellow labeled and old cars, and yellow labeled cars were basically eliminated. Vehicles in the third and above emission stages accounted for over 90% of the entire fleet. In use vehicles generally adopt electronic injection and electronic control technology, and compared with previous carburetor or mechanical pump technology, single vehicle emissions can be reduced by more than 90%.
Secondly, the emission levels of qualified vehicles are closer to each other. At present, vehicle emission control has developed into a mainstream technology route with electronic injection control, post-processing technology, and OBD monitoring. The emission levels of qualified vehicles at different stages are already very low. The analysis of emission data from domestic vehicles shows that the top 30% of vehicles with the best emissions at different emission stages have very similar emission levels.
The main cause of high vehicle emissions is the failure of pollution control devices. As long as the pollution control device deteriorates or fails severely, regardless of the emission stage of the vehicle, pollutant emissions will significantly increase. According to actual testing, the NOX concentration emitted by National Five diesel vehicles with failed selective catalytic reduction devices (SCR) will be much higher than that of National Four and Three vehicles.
The fourth is not to increase additional social costs. In actual emission testing, if different emission limits are implemented at different emission stages, higher sensitivity and more expensive testing instruments and equipment need to be configured. The increased testing costs will ultimately be passed on to the vehicle owner, but the emission reduction and environmental benefits achieved are very limited.
The fifth is to learn from international experience. Developed countries such as Europe and America also mostly adopt unified emission limits for vehicles using electronic injection control technology, and do not set different in use emission limits for new car emission stages.
8. How are the implementation steps for in use vehicle emission standards arranged?
Answer: The two emission standards for in use vehicles have been revised in a step-by-step manner due to the addition of new content such as OBD testing. The first step is to implement new exhaust emission testing methods and limits starting from May 1, 2019. The second step is to officially implement the new content of the standard, such as NOx detection and OBD inspection for diesel vehicles, from November 1, 2019. According to the relevant provisions of the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law, regions that meet the conditions can implement in use vehicle emission standards earlier than the above-mentioned date after being approved by the provincial people's government and filed with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
9. What is the main content of the newly released non road mobile machinery standard and when will it be implemented?
Answer: The standard specifies the exhaust smoke limit and measurement method for non road diesel mobile machinery, which is applicable to the exhaust smoke inspection of non road diesel mobile machinery and on-board diesel engine equipment in use. The standard specifies the smoke measurement method for non road diesel mobile machinery under actual working conditions, using the opaque smoke method and the Ringmann smoke method. In order to meet the provisions of the Atmospheric Law in various regions regarding the prohibition of the use of high emission non road mobile machinery, different emission limits are set according to the emission stages of non road diesel mobile machinery, and stricter emission limits are formulated for low emission control areas. This standard will be officially implemented from December 1, 2018.
10. After the release of the three national emission standards, what should be done with the existing local standards? Can new emission standards be formulated in the future?
Answer: The "Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law" clearly stipulates that the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government may, in areas where conditions permit, implement the corresponding emission limits in the national motor vehicle air pollutant emission standards in advance, and report them to the ecological environment regulatory department of the State Council for record keeping. According to legal requirements and the need for overall coordination of national motor vehicle pollution prevention and control, the compilation of emission standards for mobile sources such as motor vehicles should comply with the following principles:
The emission standards for mobile sources such as newly produced motor vehicles shall be uniformly studied and formulated by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and shall not be formulated by local authorities. Provincial (district, city) people's governments that meet the implementation conditions may, in accordance with the law, implement the corresponding emission limits in the national standards in advance and report to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment for record.
The emission standards for mobile sources such as motor vehicles and non road mobile machinery in use are generally formulated by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. For the national emission standards for motor vehicles, non road mobile machinery, and other mobile sources that have been formulated and implemented, local authorities should strictly comply with them. According to the environmental management needs and standard requirements of motor vehicles in various regions, stricter emission limits in the national emission standards can be selected and implemented; For projects that have not yet formulated and implemented national emission standards or are not specified in national emission standards, local authorities can first study and formulate emission technical specifications, and seek opinions from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. After filing in accordance with the requirements of the "Management Measures for Filing Local Environmental Quality Standards and Pollutant Emission Standards" (formerly Order No. 9 of the Ministry of Environmental Protection), they can publish and implement them. The three newly released national emission standards have clearly stated that from the date of implementation, the existing relevant local emission inspection standards will be abolished.
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