GUANGZHOU: Guangzhou has the potential to control pollution and toxic wastes and gas emmission by motor vehicles and industrial units, said a visiting expert on air quality management.

The province can also reduce the damage caused by the burning of fossil fuels to create electricity, by introducing changes in production diligently, he added.

"Reducing the damage caused by the city's increasing number of motor cars can be achieved by using the cleanest possible fuels, introducing motor engines that run on low-polluting fuel in new cars, retrofitting old ones and using LPG as much as possible," said Michael Scheible, deputy executive officer, of California's Air Resources Board (CARB).

He also added that problems faced by the PRD region can also be solved.

"Using natural gas as a fuel in new industries - shown to reduce nitrous oxides by as much as 90 percent - and requiring small industries to qualify for permits to create the emissions their processes make, will reduce the (environmental) damage created by this sector."

Meanwhile, reducing pollution caused by burning coal requires the use of cleanest coals and the best technologies to create power, and retrofitting existing plants with such technologies under government support and stringent monitoring, he said.

"All the technologies we need to effectively combat such problems , and they can be implemented with a minimum increase in cost to business."

"In California, we don't have the same problems like Guangdong with regards to manufacturing, and we have diversified our sources of power. So here you have a different set of problems and need to implement a different set of strategies," he said.

At CARB, Scheible has overseen key programs that have seen state's air pollution drop dramatically. Between 1963 and 1990, California reduced traffic pollution by 90 percent and since then, additional measures have been introduced to reduce pollution by a further 90 percent.

During the 20 years he has been with the agency, emissions from diesel fuel, one of the worst pollutants and a major cause for cancer, and the amount of toxic chemicals, compounds and pollutants created by the manufacture of consumer products, have also been reduced.

"Our aim is to reduce toxic compounds in the air by 25 percent by 2020 compared to now," he said.

Meanwhile, a new Global Warming Solutions Act, the AB32, which was recently introduced, aims to reduce greenhouse gases in the state to 1990 levels by 2020 and by 80 percent by 2050.

"California has been the most successful state in reducing pollution and improving air quality in the US. And now many other states are adopting the programs we have introduced there."

Scheible was speaking as part of his six-city tour that included Nanjing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Shenyang and Beijing. In Beijing he will meet with local government officials and university professors and students to discuss his agency's programs and what they can offer China.

Through proper management, implementation, education and strong government policies and enforcement, better quality of air and reduction of harmful emissions - shown to cause significant health problems and economic losses - can be achieved, he said.

(HK Edition 09/01/2007 page6)