It’s no secret that China has a significant air quality problem. Years of relying on coal-burning plants have left many cities a daily sooty mess. Clouds of toxic haze blanket many regions of the country.

The country has taken steps to alleviate the problem, curtailing emissions and pushing for more alternative choices to fossil-fuel energy plants. In fact, China accounts for nearly half the new solar energy construction installations in the world right now.

The fossil fuel air quality problem

But coal isn’t relaxing its chokehold. Research has found that pollution has impacted the effectiveness of solar panels. This pollution dimmed the sunlight in the country last year, decreasing solar panel output and efficiency by 13 percent. In the most polluted provinces, the output was decreased by up to 28 percent. So, while China is making strides in replacing pollution spewing coal, coal is not going out without a fight.

Researchers also modeled what potential solar energy outputs would have been like all the way back to 1950. They found that significant impacts only would have occurred in the last ten years, when China experienced a push in manufacturing plants that used cheap coal for fuel. Extrapolating data, the research team found that if China had been an early adopter to solar energy, its energy output would be through the roof, and its pollution problem would be nonexistent.

Finally, researchers concluded that the only thing holding back more solar energy adoption is air pollution itself. Ironic.

Pollution and poor air quality moves indoors

China has made significant strides in reducing it carbon footprint. By halting construction of fossil-fuel plants and retrofitting buildings that used coal in the past there is improvement. But there’s still a long way to go. Businesses are still hampered by days with high pollution indexes. Given that indoor air is two to five times more polluted than outdoor air, companies find it difficult providing a clean and healthy environment for workers.

That’s why facility managers at leading companies around the globe are looking to complement cleaning surfaces with cleaning the air. One effective way to do just that involves installing AeraMax Professional air purifiers in enclosed spaces. AeraMax Professional units effectively and efficiently remove up to 99.97 percent of airborne contaminants—like dust, germs, viruses, VOCs, bacteria, allergens and odors—from indoor air, using a four-stage filtration system, making for a healthier environment.

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