Construction equipment emission control status, policies, and regulations in China

Abstract

China is the largest construction market in the world and keeps growing at about 5% per year in terms of construction market value. China’s construction equipment is also the world’s largest in terms of units of sales. Most of the equipment units are diesel powered due to need for high power output and the diesel engines emit toxic pollutants of particulate matters (PM), Nitrogen oxides (NOx), unburned hydrocarbons (HC), and carbon monoxide (CO) of large amounts, which are proved to be detrimental to human health. There has been a pressing need for the government to control emissions from diesel engines by implementing stringent requirements on emission standards and regulating the manufacturing and operations of construction equipment in a progressive approach. This paper conducts a review of China's current emission status of construction equipment, emission standards for diesel equipment engines and equipment operations, a summary of China's related emission regulation policies on construction equipment is made, and a comparison analysis is conducted with some developed regions such as the United States and EU countries.