Beijing's central Xicheng and Dongcheng districts have phased out coal-fired heating stoves with 29,900 more households equipped with electric heaters.
Since the capital launched its coal-to-electricity transformation project in 2000, a total of 308,000 households in the two districts have switched to electric heaters, said the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau on Tuesday. Nine coal sale venues were also closed in the core areas this year. The move will reduce emissions of 3,080 tonnes of smoke, 2,618 tonnes of sulfur dioxide and 616 tonnes of nitrogen oxide each year, said the bureau.
"Electric radiators are clean and economical. We do not worry about gas poisoning any more," said Chen Yuying, a 64-year-old resident in Xicheng District. According to Chen, electric heaters are cheaper than coal-fired stoves thanks to the municipal government's subsidy. Environmental monitoring results show that Beijing's annual average density of sulfur dioxide, a major air pollutant, has fallen about 69 percent to reach a record low of 22 micrograms per cubic meter in 2014 compared with 2000. The city's sulfur dioxide density was 13 micrograms per cubic meter in the first ten months this year.
Beijing will focus on cutting coal use in the suburbs, where about 1.3 million tonnes of coal is consumed by households every year. The city plans to reduce coal consumption by 500,000 tonnes in the urban-rural border areas in 2016 as well as completely eliminate coal use in the six downtown districts and close all coal-fired boilers throughout the city by 2020.
Latest comments