The life and death crisis of coking under environmental pressure
Publishdate：2015-07-28 Views：13
Since the implementation of the new Environmental Protection Law on January 1, 2015, with the implementation of the second period standards in the Emission Standards for Pollutants in the Chemical Industry of Coking (GB16171-2012) and the issuance of the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan by the State Council on April 16, the coking industry has ushered in an unprecedented environmental storm, putting all coking enterprises at the critical juncture of life and death.
Shanxi, Hebei, Shaanxi, Henan and other major coking provinces frequently issue documents to re investigate, report, and punish coking enterprises for their illegal environmental pollution behavior. The long-term extensive development has led to increasing environmental pressure on the coking industry and serious regional pollution.
According to data from the China Coking Industry Association, as of the end of 2014, more than 2000 coke ovens in the coking industry in China were able to truly meet the second period standards of the "Chemical Industry Pollutant Emission Standards for Coking" (50 mg/m3 of sulfur dioxide, 30 mg/m3 of smoke and dust, and 500 mg/m3 of nitrogen oxides), which is less than 90%.
In order to ensure the orderly development of the industry, various provinces have issued documents calling for green development as the main line and technological transformation as a means to promote energy conservation and emission reduction in enterprises, and accelerate the transformation and upgrading of the coking industry. The coking industry has entered the era of mandatory environmental protection, and under the direct supervision of local governments, some coking enterprises have begun to update their environmental protection facilities.
Large enterprises in the coking industry have invested more in the early stage, and through the renovation of environmental protection facilities, they can basically meet the requirements of the new standards. However, for small coking enterprises with inadequate environmental protection facilities, it is difficult to overcome this challenge due to a lack of funds and technology. Environmental governance requires significant investment, and small and medium-sized enterprises have a weak foundation for survival, outdated production capacity, and feel greater pressure.
In the first two months of 2015, the coking industry incurred a loss of 2 billion yuan. This market environment has made even wealthy large enterprises feel a bit sad in this environmental storm. A person in charge of a coking enterprise stated that the environmental protection department forcibly requires enterprises to implement new standards, and often punishes and blacklists them, making the coking industry, which is already difficult to operate, even worse and difficult to survive. A large amount of environmental and operational costs are not subsidized and can only be borne by the enterprise itself. When implementing desulfurization and denitrification in power companies, there is a subsidy of 2 cents per kilowatt hour on the electricity price. The coking industry incurs a large amount of investment and operating costs in desulfurization and denitrification, but there is no subsidy policy.
Faced with high standards of environmental protection requirements, even if coking enterprises have sufficient costs, they still face the problem of insufficient environmental protection technology. Coking enterprises in various regions have expressed that relying on current environmental protection technology, it is difficult to meet the new standards in the "Pollutant Emission Standards for Coking Chemical Industry".
Li Baoping, President of the Hancheng Coking Chamber of Commerce, believes that in terms of nitrogen oxides alone, the EU standard is 500-650 milligrams per cubic meter, the US standard is 650 milligrams per cubic meter, and China's original standard was 800 milligrams per cubic meter, but now it is 500 milligrams per cubic meter. However, in terms of the current situation in the coking industry, even implementing the 600 milligram/cubic meter standard requires a lot of technological breakthroughs and renovations. To implement the 500 milligram/cubic meter standard, it is necessary to carry out a technical transformation design at 400 milligrams/cubic meters to ensure that it does not exceed 500 milligrams/cubic meters. With current equipment and process technology, it is difficult to meet the standard.
Some professionals believe that the awkwardness currently faced by the coking industry is that the enterprise itself does not have the technical ability to improve and transform itself; The second issue is that the superior environmental protection department only made mandatory requirements, but failed to provide corresponding process and technical support and services to these enterprises in a timely manner. At present, there are few coking enterprises in China that meet this standard for emissions, and there are no corresponding mature technological achievements, resulting in enterprises being at a loss.
The sluggish market situation and increasingly strict environmental protection policy requirements have become a serious problem that every coking enterprise needs to face in order to survive and develop in the coking industry.
Since the implementation of the new Environmental Protection Law on January 1, 2015, with the implementation of the second period standards in the Emission Standards for Pollutants in the Chemical Industry of Coking (GB16171-2012) and the issuance of the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan by the State Council on April 16, the coking industry has ushered in an unprecedented environmental storm, putting all coking enterprises at the critical juncture of life and death.
Shanxi, Hebei, Shaanxi, Henan and other major coking provinces frequently issue documents to re investigate, report, and punish coking enterprises for their illegal environmental pollution behavior. The long-term extensive development has led to increasing environmental pressure on the coking industry and serious regional pollution.
According to data from the China Coking Industry Association, as of the end of 2014, more than 2000 coke ovens in the coking industry in China were able to truly meet the second period standards of the "Chemical Industry Pollutant Emission Standards for Coking" (50 mg/m3 of sulfur dioxide, 30 mg/m3 of smoke and dust, and 500 mg/m3 of nitrogen oxides), which is less than 90%.
In order to ensure the orderly development of the industry, various provinces have issued documents calling for green development as the main line and technological transformation as a means to promote energy conservation and emission reduction in enterprises, and accelerate the transformation and upgrading of the coking industry. The coking industry has entered the era of mandatory environmental protection, and under the direct supervision of local governments, some coking enterprises have begun to update their environmental protection facilities.
Large enterprises in the coking industry have invested more in the early stage, and through the renovation of environmental protection facilities, they can basically meet the requirements of the new standards. However, for small coking enterprises with inadequate environmental protection facilities, it is difficult to overcome this challenge due to a lack of funds and technology. Environmental governance requires significant investment, and small and medium-sized enterprises have a weak foundation for survival, outdated production capacity, and feel greater pressure.
In the first two months of 2015, the coking industry incurred a loss of 2 billion yuan. This market environment has made even wealthy large enterprises feel a bit sad in this environmental storm. A person in charge of a coking enterprise stated that the environmental protection department forcibly requires enterprises to implement new standards, and often punishes and blacklists them, making the coking industry, which is already difficult to operate, even worse and difficult to survive. A large amount of environmental and operational costs are not subsidized and can only be borne by the enterprise itself. When implementing desulfurization and denitrification in power companies, there is a subsidy of 2 cents per kilowatt hour on the electricity price. The coking industry incurs a large amount of investment and operating costs in desulfurization and denitrification, but there is no subsidy policy.
Faced with high standards of environmental protection requirements, even if coking enterprises have sufficient costs, they still face the problem of insufficient environmental protection technology. Coking enterprises in various regions have expressed that relying on current environmental protection technology, it is difficult to meet the new standards in the "Pollutant Emission Standards for Coking Chemical Industry".
Li Baoping, President of the Hancheng Coking Chamber of Commerce, believes that in terms of nitrogen oxides alone, the EU standard is 500-650 milligrams per cubic meter, the US standard is 650 milligrams per cubic meter, and China's original standard was 800 milligrams per cubic meter, but now it is 500 milligrams per cubic meter. However, in terms of the current situation in the coking industry, even implementing the 600 milligram/cubic meter standard requires a lot of technological breakthroughs and renovations. To implement the 500 milligram/cubic meter standard, it is necessary to carry out a technical transformation design at 400 milligrams/cubic meters to ensure that it does not exceed 500 milligrams/cubic meters. With current equipment and process technology, it is difficult to meet the standard.
Some professionals believe that the awkwardness currently faced by the coking industry is that the enterprise itself does not have the technical ability to improve and transform itself; The second issue is that the superior environmental protection department only made mandatory requirements, but failed to provide corresponding process and technical support and services to these enterprises in a timely manner. At present, there are few coking enterprises in China that meet this standard for emissions, and there are no corresponding mature technological achievements, resulting in enterprises being at a loss.
The sluggish market situation and increasingly strict environmental protection policy requirements have become a serious problem that every coking enterprise needs to face in order to survive and develop in the coking industry.
