Pathfinder Initiative, 2023
Implementing partners: Hebei Air Pollution Prevention and Control Programme
Published In: COP28 Prospectus of Climate-Health Solutions, 2023
Pathfinder Initiative, 2023
Implementing partners: Hebei Air Pollution Prevention and Control Programme
Published In: COP28 Prospectus of Climate-Health Solutions, 2023
In the transition towards a net zero emissions economy, several countries have shifted from coal to natural gas as a short term option to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions, while scaling up renewable energy sources. The use of coal-burning stoves is very common in homes in rural China. According to the 2016 China Heating Stove Report, there were 66 million households in rural areas using coal-burning as their main heating method. Hebei Province, a coal-dependent region in Northern China, has high levels of air pollution caused by residential coal-based heating in winter. Indoor air pollution a known contributor to premature mortality and has been classified as a respiratory carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Since 2016, the Hebei Air Pollution Prevention and Control Program has aimed to reduce pollutant emissions from households with policies that incentivize the shift from coal to natural gas cooking stoves. Baoding and Langfang, two cities in the Hebei province of China, are now recognized as coal-free regions after approximately 1.25 million wall-mounted natural gas stoves were installed in rural households to replace coal use.
Baoding and Langfang are now coal free, due to the installation of 1.25 million wall-mounted natural gas stoves. Within one winter season (approximately 121 days) Baoding and Langfang reported reductions of 10,015 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and 83 kilotonnes of methane across 1.25 million households. More than 6,000 premature deaths were reportedly averted from the reduction in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution.
Given that the vast majority of cooking and heating stoves currently in use in China use fossil fuel energy sources, large environmental and health benefits could be achieved by shifting from coal to natural gas in the short term. If the 66 million rural households currently using coal were to switch to other options, approximately 661,000 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide and almost 400,000 premature deaths from PM2.5 air pollution could be averted in one winter season. However, in addition to upgrading or replacing stoves, complete transition to renewable energy sources needs to be emphasised, alongside addressing the perceived cultural or cost benefits of using fossil fuels.