Ministry of Ecology and Environment: The effectiveness of VOCs emission reduction cannot be achieved overnight, and end-of-pipe treatment should not be regarded as the "lifeline".
This year marks the final year of the three-year action plan to win the battle for blue skies. In atmospheric environment governance, the prevention and control of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) pollution has become one of the key measures.
On November 18, at the 2020 National VOCs Science and Technology Conference and Technology Equipment Expo, Wu Shaogui, Director of the North China Bureau of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, stated that in the past two years, VOCs have occupied an increasingly important position in the atmospheric special inspection of the central ecological and environmental protection supervision.
Wu Shaogui said that to achieve good VOCs emission reduction results, one cannot rush for immediate success, nor can end-of-pipe treatment be regarded as the "lifeline." It is necessary to trace the related links of VOCs pollution in various fields, form a complete "pollution control chain," and gradually establish a mature and effective VOCs environmental management system.
Significant governance challenges
VOCs refer to organic compounds that participate in atmospheric photochemical reactions, including non-methane hydrocarbons, oxygenated organics, chlorinated organics, nitrogen-containing organics, sulfur-containing organics, etc., and are important precursors to the formation of ozone and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution.
In recent years, the control of SO2, nitrogen oxides (NOx), and smoke/dust has achieved significant results nationwide, but VOCs emissions are still showing a growing trend, with an increasingly prominent impact on the atmospheric environment. VOCs emissions also lead to enhanced atmospheric oxidation, and some VOCs produce odors. To further improve ambient air quality and win the battle for blue skies, there is an urgent need to comprehensively strengthen VOCs pollution prevention and control.
"The control and management of VOCs are significantly different from traditional SO2 and NOx. To be realistic, the difficulty of control is also greater," Wu Shaogui said at the conference.
According to Wu Shaogui's analysis, from the perspective of environmental enforcement practice, the difficulty in VOCs control mainly lies in three aspects.
First, the contribution mechanism of VOCs to ozone pollution is complex, and there is a "1+1>2" superimposed pollution relationship with PM2.5 and NOx. Therefore, only a "multi-pronged approach" can effectively curb ozone pollution. Second, the categories of industries and source types related to VOCs are very diverse, wide-ranging, and closely related to production, circulation, and consumption. Judgments on VOCs materials and so-called "key sources" often encounter difficulties and disputes in practice. Finally, the principles of existing VOCs treatment facilities are not the same, with significant differences in theoretical removal efficiency, and the pollutant degradation effects during the initial installation and stable operation stages are often difficult to maintain consistency. On this basis, existing monitoring methods, especially rapid detection instruments, are not satisfactory in their effectiveness, limiting the more efficient implementation of environmental enforcement at the technical level.
In response, Luan Zhiqiang, Secretary-General of the Waste Gas Purification Committee of the China Association of Environmental Protection Industry, also stated at the conference that due to the wide variety of VOCs and the large number of emitting industries, the treatment is relatively complex.
Focusing on the root causes of the problem
"There are still prominent problems in VOCs pollution prevention and control," Wu Shaogui said. During the central ecological and environmental protection supervision in a certain province, they focused on the root causes of VOCs problems. First, the baseline is unclear, with suspected use of inaccurate pollution source data to seek "bottom-line" space for emission reduction. Second, raw material use is non-compliant. Third, the treatment of large industrial sources is inadequate, including both organized and unorganized emission treatment, with the latter possibly being more problematic and important than the former (especially prominent in major sources such as petrochemicals and coating). Fourth, the treatment of small enterprises is superficial; compared to large enterprises, the management of small enterprises is particularly chaotic. Fifth, attention to domestic sources has just begun. Sixth, VOCs treatment of mobile sources has not yet received sufficient attention.
Chai Fahe, Deputy Director of the National Joint Research Center for Air Pollution Prevention and Control and former Vice President of the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, also pointed out that the automatic monitoring system for VOCs pollution source emissions needs improvement.
Chai Fahe said that grassroots environmental enforcement personnel have insufficient understanding and mastery of the relevant laws, regulations, policies, and standards for VOCs control, and are not familiar with the key links and control requirements of enterprise VOCs emissions. Grassroots enforcement teams lack on-site rapid detection equipment such as PID/FID, as well as technical means such as mobile monitoring and grid-based monitoring. They also lack professional technical personnel and effective technological support. Some cities lack monitoring equipment, and the professional level of monitoring personnel is insufficient to complete the newly added VOCs monitoring tasks.
Customized "individualized" control plans
"The state has successively issued two comprehensive treatment plans related to VOCs and 19 national emission control standards, but the implementation has been seriously inadequate. Most cities have not organized training or on-site guidance, and most enterprises are unclear about the standards and policies to be implemented and are unprepared for standard implementation," Chai Fahe emphasized.
"From the current VOCs emission situation of most enterprises, problems such as unsound management systems, unestablished operating procedures, and insufficient personnel technical capabilities are widespread. Monitoring and supervision are inadequate, the quality of enterprise self-monitoring is low, and unorganized emission monitoring has basically not been carried out," said Wu Keshi, Secretary-General of the VOCs Pollution Prevention and Control Professional Committee of the All-China Environment Federation. The "Comprehensive Treatment Plan for Volatile Organic Compounds in Key Industries" clearly proposes the implementation of the "one-factory-one-policy" system, specifying whole-process emission reduction requirements including raw material substitution, process improvement, unorganized emission control, waste gas collection, and pollution control facility construction, calculating investment costs and emission reduction benefits, and providing technical services for enterprises to effectively carry out comprehensive VOCs treatment.
Wu Shaogui also said that "individualized" VOCs control plans should be customized from different angles and scales, including "one-policy-per-industry," "one-policy-per-city," "one-policy-per-park," and especially "one-factory-one-policy," to improve their pertinence and operability. It is particularly important to emphasize that the highly similar and perfunctory situations in the preparation of heavy pollution weather emergency response plans by many enterprises must be eliminated.
