China's government is backing an enormous research project aimed at solving the smog challenge
Stifling smog Image: Richard Thomas |
The proposed Huairou complex, also known as the “smog chamber”, will be fast-tracked by the central government and is scheduled to come online by 2016 at the latest.
On completion, the chamber will rival the world’s largest atmospheric simulation facility, the European Photoreactor, Euphore, and will require over 500m yuan ($166m) of funding.
Size matters when it comes to understanding smog as a larger scale overcomes the ‘wall effect’ - where data is influenced by enclosing polution in a small area. However, some scientists, such as Professor Hu Min, who already runs a smaller smog simulator at Peking University’s College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, believes the greater the chamber the more room for error.
The new chamber will be the size of seven soccer pitches put together and will feature two hemispherical tanks designed to create conditions similar to smog.
By pumping different mixtures of pollutants into the tanks, scientists will be able to monitor the chemical reactions of the pollutants under sunlight in great detail.
As pollution continues to stifle the nation’s major cities, academics are increasingly under pressure to find the cause of the problem. Some claim cars are to blame, some coal, while others believe that the nation’s 400m smokers could add as much pollution as 1.5m cars put together.
Even though the State Council has asked scientists to make an “historic contribution” to solving the pollution problem, increased investment alone may not be enough. In a recent interview with the South China Morning Post, one physicist claimed, “if an issue can be solved by money, it is relatively easy. Unfortunately, it does not apply to smog.”