By Chen Quanshi

In the application for the Olympic Games and presentations made prior to the voting, Beijing and the Chinese Government made the commitment on environment and transportation, two issues that are sensitive in holding Olympics and of concern to the world: The number of days when air quality is good would exceed two-thirds of the total; vehicle exhaust index would meet Euro III standard; more than 90 per cent of buses used in urban transport would consume clean fuel or meet clean vehicle exhaust standard; the city would work on rail transit and rapid transit to dramatically raise the average speed of transit vehicle, alleviate traffic jams and pollution caused by car emissions.

However, Beijing indeed faces major challenges in addressing its environment and transportation issues. Take the growing population for example. Due to various reasons, despite an array of measures adopted by the Beijing Municipal Government, the population in the city is still increasing quickly. In 2008, the total population in this city is expected to hit 15 million, including 3 million floating population. The total transport volume is on the rise. Total transport volume (including passenger transport and freight) is proportional to the size of population, and its growth outstrips that of population and total output value.

Therefore, the total quantity of vehicles is rising quickly. From 2003-2008, the number of taxis will climb from 60,000 to 80,000, that of buses from 12,000 to 18,000, and that of private cars and non-private vehicles is increasing even faster. Such large quantities of vehicles are just like a dark dragon. Not only do they consume fuels at an astonishing speed and make petroleum resources increasingly scanty, they also pose aggravating environmental pollution.

To coordinate the relationship between vehicles, energy and environment, people are working on clean vehicle fuels and exploring ideal sources of power. Among other things, electric vehicle, which offers energy-saving and environmental protection features, may become the most important means of transportation in this century. In the past more than a decade, car giants around the world invested heavily in the R&D of battery-powered electric vehicle. And technology of hybrid electric vehicle is reaching maturity; they are offered for sale or rental in the United States, Japan and Germany. Battery-powered electric vehicle is perceived as one of the main development trends of the automobile industry with immense development potential.

China lags behind the world's pacesetters in the field of vehicles driven by internal combustion engines for about twenty years, but in the field of electric vehicle, the gap spans only 4-5 years. It is possible for China to obtain an advantageous position by leveraging the demand of the 2008 Olympics to achieve frog-leaping development in the new round of competition in the world automobile industry. The Ministry of Science and Technology and Beijing Municipal Government set up a special fund for "Science & Technology Olympics" to support intelligent transportation and electric vehicle projects. The UNDP/GEF demonstration project of battery-powered buses was launched. Fueled by the immense demand of the Olympics, R&D of environmentally-friendly vehicle has become a new hotspot area in China's automobile industry.

At present, there are more than 100 carmakers and scientific research institutions working on environmentally-friendly vehicle in this country. Guangzhou Suijing Bus Co., Ltd. has developed an LPG hybrid electric vehicle, with exhaust index superior to the Europe III standard. The price/performance ratio suits China's actualities, and it is performing very well in the Hong Kong and Japanese markets. Therefore, the company is full of confidence about serving the Olympics market.

Currently, major problems include the following: Proliferation of private cars are aggravating traffic congestion; the building of parking lots lacks good planning and lags behind demand; consequently some areas, like government agencies, hospitals, shopping centers and school gates become bottlenecks of traffic jams. Meanwhile, issues like the quality of fuel, detection technology and limited financial strength make it difficult to implement Euro III standard. Pure electric vehicle is constrained by storage battery technology. And it is difficult to popularize battery-powered electric vehicle quickly due to technology and cost reasons.
 
The 2008 Olympics offer an excellent opportunity to resolve transportation and environmental protection issues in Beijing. Leaders of the Chinese Government and Beijing Municipality pay great attention to and provide strong support for this event which is a focus of attention in China and the world. And the IOC and various international organizations conduct supervision and provide assistance and support politically, economically and technologically. Enterprises, institutions and individuals both at home and abroad pay sponsorship. Bidding price of exclusive car sponsor of the Olympic games has already hit US$75 million.

To tackle the existing major issues, experts recommend the following countermeasures. First of all, a specialized agency should be set up to study the implementation of Euro III standard. Being made up of environmental protection bureaus, fuel oil companies, public transportation corporations, automobile industry association and some carmakers, the agency needs to work out specific implementation planning on the basis of study of the standard, testing, usage and fuel oil. Secondly, it is necessary to take on trial hybrid electric vehicle technology in buses, with R&D agencies and manufactures being selected through bidding. Thirdly, it is essential to press ahead with the planning, technical standard setting and progress of parking lot construction.