NILU has signed a cooperative agreement with Hubei Environmental Protection Bureau (Hubei EPB) and Green Business Norway (GBN). The agreement aims to develop an air quality management and early warning system for nine cities in the Hubei Province of China.
Thus, an important milestone has been reached in the market development for Norwegian exporters of environmental and energy technology in China. NILU is responsible for the development and delivery of the system, while Hubei EPB’s act as a customer and a partner in project development and implementation. GBN’s role is to assist the parties and coordinating the further cooperation.
NILU together with Green Business Norway (GBN) participated in the first Hubei – Norway week back in 2007. Since that time, communication has been strengthened between NILU and Hubei EPB through the Hubei-Telemark friendship programme and activities. NILU and Hubei EPB have been seeking chances to work together towards the “Blue Sky, Clean Water Initiative” in Hubei province and the friendship between Hubei province and Telemark has provided a great opportunity for the communication between NILU, GBN and Hubei EPB.
The goal of the proposed cooperation between Hubei EPB and NILU is to establish a monitoring network for haze in Hubei, as well as an integrated air quality management system and forecasting system in Hubei province, in order to protect human health from hazardous air pollution. The implementation of the project will allow to establish a haze monitoring network in the Wuhan city cluster of 9 cities in the Hubei Province. The project will establish an integrated air quality management system to monitor haze events, and to develop an early warning prototype system for air quality risk situations to protect human health.
NILU, Hubei EPB and GBN are committed to finding solutions to the air pollution problems in Hubei, especially regarding the haze problem in the Wuhan city cluster. The city cluster in Hubei includes a group of 9 cities with Wuhan as the core. The group of cities within a diameter of 100 kilometers, include Wuhan, and 8 cities in the surrounding areas are: Huangshi, Ezhou, Xiaogan, Huanggang, Xianning, Xiantao, Qianjiang, Tianmen. Hubei EPB has started to build up a haze monitoring network, and NILU will contribute to this work with well recognized international experience in the area of air quality management.
Background material
Haze is one of the most visible impacts of air pollution. Urban haze is a weather phenomenon which leads to reduced visibility less than 10 km, due to suspended solid, liquid particles, smoke and water vapor in atmosphere.
Haze problem attracted attentions in last decades for its impact on visibility, severe health effect, agriculture, as well as the climate effects.
Information:
For more information please contact:
- NILU – Norwegian Institute for Air Research, www.nilu.no
Liu Li, email: li.liu@nilu.no/mob: +47 95 70 96 04 - GBN- Green Business Norway, www.Greenbusiness.no
Thor Sverre Minnesjord: email: thor@greenbusiness.no /mob: +47 90 86 33 49