The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA; Beijing) and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC; Beijing) have jointly announced plans to promote “green insurance” that will cover industrial companies against the costs of pollution accidents. e move is the latest attempt by the Chinese government to use market instruments to tackle environmental issues, SEPA says. e insurance products will initially target plants producing hazardous chemicals and petrochemicals, as well as plants treating hazardous waste, all of which have a high risk of pollution accidents, SEPA says.
SEPA and CIRC have designed a pollution liability insurance policy that will be launched immediately as a pilot project and will aim to cover all industries with a high risk of pollution incidents by 2015. e policy will cover insured companies from cleanup costs fol-
lowing environmental accidents and from pollution treatment costs, SEPA says.
Almost 81% of China’s 7,555 heavy chemical plants are in environmentally sensitive areas that are densely populated or adjacent to rivers, reports say. e frequency of environmental accidents is very high in China, with one accident taking place every two days in 2007, SEPA says.
“Without pollution liability insurance, polluters could not compensate victims and conduct cleanups, and this generated social instability,” says Pan Yue, vice minister of SEPA. “With the insurance scheme, the authorities will be able to lessen the financial burden on governments caused by such pollution; a company can avoid going bankrupt; and residents can also get compensated for su ering [caused by] any pollution.”
CIRC says it plans to work with SEPA and
Chinese insurance companies to develop insurance products based on the pollution liability insurance policy and to establish standards for claims. CIRC has urged potential polluters to consider these products seriously as a means of protecting themselves against the costs of accidents.
A survey by SEPA and CIRC last year found that Chinese companies were not buying environmental insurance because of the costs involved. SEPA says it plans to make the purchase of such insurance a prerequisite for companies seeking to prove the environmental impact assessment of a project or for the allocation of pollution discharge licenses. —DEEPTI RAMESH
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Air Liquide says it has signed separate contracts with Posco (Pohang, Korea) and Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry Group (Beijing) to design and build large air separation units (ASUs) in Korea and China, respectively.
Air Liquide signed a sales contract for two ASUs with Posco, the fourth-largest steel maker worldwide. Each ASU will have production capacity for 3,700 m.t./day of oxygen. ese will be the largest capacities of any ASU installed for a steelmaker, Air Liquide says. e oxygen produced will enable Posco to increase capacity at its Gwangyang and Pohang, Korea steelworks. Air Liquide says it has already supplied Posco with a combined 15 ASUs split between the two sites.
e contract with Shenhua Ningxia Coal, a Shenhua Group (Beijing) subsidiary, covers two ASUs, each with production capacity for 3,000 m.t./day of oxygen. e units will supply oxygen needed for the synthesis of methanol and propylene from coal gasification.
“ ese new contracts in developing economies strengthen our international leadership,” says François Darchis, senior v.p./global engineering and construction at Air Liquide. “ ey demonstrate our expertise in oxygen production technologies to an extent previously not possible.
Meanwhile, Air Liquide posted a 12% increase in net profits for 2007, to € 1. 12 billion ($.18 billion), on sales up 8%, to € 11. 8 billion. Fourth-quarter figures were not disclosed. —DR
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