Beijing Using Remote Sensors to Clean Air for 2008 Olympics

SHANGHAI, China, Sept. 23 -- Officials with the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau (BEPB) will be using advanced remote sensing technology to target polluting vehicles and help clean the air as Beijing prepares to host the Olympic Games in 2008. Environmental Systems Products Holdings (ESP), based in East Granby, Conn., has delivered five RSDs (remote sensing devices) the BEPB will deploy throughout Beijing in the coming weeks to identify motor vehicles that are polluting the air.

Created by ESP in 1992, AccuScan remote sensing technology measures vehicle exhaust in less than one second as motor vehicles pass through ultraviolet and infrared beams, allowing it to evaluate up to 3000 light and heavy duty vehicles per hour. Stationed along both sides of a road, RSDs analyze exhaust by measuring how much pollution the beams detect.

ESP demonstrated remote sensing technology to the BEPB in May and has demonstrated its effectiveness in studies and programs around the world. According to the company, the use of ESP's remote sensing technology is expanding particularly in Asia, where the dramatic rise in vehicle population growth rates and traffic congestion continue to cause severe excess emissions. The technology is being used in such countries as the US, Singapore, Korea, India, Sri Lanka and Japan and in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Motor vehicle emissions are a major source of China's air pollution. Hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen (NOx), pollutants in motor vehicle exhaust, combine in the presence of heat and sunlight to create ozone, the major ingredient in smog, which is also a major threat to public health in Beijing, where NOx levels have increased 50 percent in the last 10 years.

For more information, visit: www.esp-global.com