China issues 5-year plan to clean up heating with geothermal energy and others
Smog over Beijing, China (source: flickr/ gmetrail, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
18 Dec 2017
With unsuccessful conversion to natural gas, China has announced its 5-year plan to clean up the heating sector in northern cities in the country. The plan is focusing on geothermal heating, as well as heating from biomass, solar, gas, electric, waste heat and clean coal-fired central heating.
Announced over the weekend, China has released a five-year plan to convert northern Chinese cities to clean heating during the winter through to 2021, amid a deepening heating crisis.
An unprecedented government campaign to switch millions of households and thousands of businesses from coal to natural gas in northern China this winter has backfired. Severe natural gas shortages have sent prices soaring nationwide, hitting businesses and residents across China’s industrial heartland.
The plan was jointly announced by 10 government agencies, including the state planning National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration, the online edition of Securities Times quoted the China Energy News as saying.
The plan covers 2017 through to 2021.
The government has made “concrete arrangements” regarding geothermal heating, biomass heating, solar heating, gas heating, electric heating, industrial waste heating, and clean coal-fired central heating, the Securities Times said.
Half of northern China would have converted to clean heating by 2019, reducing bulk coal burning by 74 million tonnes, it said.
Source: Asahi
