Beijing will reduce its coal consumption by 1.47 million tonnes over the heating season this winter, as coal boilers are phased out and replaced by gas ones, the municipal environment watchdog said Thursday.
The city has exceeded its target for industrial and heating boiler coal-to-gas transformation for the year, said the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau. Less coal burning means that sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, both major air pollutants, will be reduced by 12,500 tonnes and 4,300 tonnes over the heating season (mid-November to mid-March).
Currently, 80 percent of the city's energy comes from non-fossil fuels, said the bureau. As part of the capital's efforts to improve air quality, the coal-to-gas transformation is almost complete in the downtown area, with the whole city to be transformed by 2020. The city plans to reduce coal consumption by 4 million tonnes and limit annual coal consumption to 15 million tonnes this year.
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