Can Chinese Households transition away from coal this winter?
According to the Chinese media outlet, Caixin, China’s enthusiastic goals to wean waves of households off coal energy and onto either liquid natural gas (LNG) or electricity are facing difficulties. This move is part of China’s plan to crackdown on air pollution, and the country even aspired to switch 3.62 million homes in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Henan, Shanxi and Shandong to the two less-polluting energy sources by the end of October 2018. A major concern regards the financial strains of such a transition: the required equipment is costly and electricity bills of both energy alternatives are more expensive than coal but described as less successful at keeping homes well-heated. Therefore, local villagers may have to go without adequate heating over the season due to their financial constraints. Using the example of a village in Hebei, the same Caixin report presents that locals had to pay twice as much for LNG as for coal. Although local governments have offered to subsidise electricity bills, the article presents doubts that local governments can afford to do so.
