Rural houses use clean energy

Source: Xinhua | 2017-12-27

ANOTHER 126,000 households in Beijing can use clean heating instead of coal stoves this year, city authorities said yesterday.

At a cost of 7.4 billion yuan (US$1.1 billion), the city completed 296 projects to switch coal-fired heating to clean energy in rural areas this year, reducing the city’s annual coal use by 2.1 million tons.

As part of a campaign launched in 2013, Beijing phased out coal-fired heating facilities in 185,000 households across 415 villages, reducing the city’s coal use by 18 million tons over five years.

Beijing will phase out coal-fired heating facilities in 217,000 households between 2016 and 2020. By shifting to clean fuel, such as electricity and gas, the city can cut emission of carbon dioxide by nearly 600,000 tons, particulate matter by 3,700 tons and sulfur dioxide by nearly 1,500 tons.

Small stoves in Beijing’s suburban and rural areas, not covered by the central heating system, have been blamed for worsening the capital city’s smog during the winter.