{"id":35517,"date":"2017-12-04T12:53:59","date_gmt":"2017-12-04T12:53:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=35517"},"modified":"2017-12-04T13:05:31","modified_gmt":"2017-12-04T13:05:31","slug":"no-heating-6c-poor-bear-brunt-beijings-air-cleanup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2017\/12\/04\/no-heating-6c-poor-bear-brunt-beijings-air-cleanup\/","title":{"rendered":"No heating at -6C: Poor bear brunt of Beijing’s air cleanup"},"content":{"rendered":"

While middle class Beijingers breath the cleanest air in recent winters, in Zhuozhou, a small city just 20 minutes by train from the capital’s downtown,\u00a0residents are shivering through cold nights without heating.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The reason:\u00a0a five-year\u00a0anti-pollution\u00a0drive has forced rural areas in northern China to switch from dirty coal to the cleaner alternative.\u00a0The<\/span>\u00a0massive retrofitting campaign has sent gas prices soaring while many\u00a0are left without heating systems at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

In two villages close to Zhuozhou\u2019s high-speed railway station, on the city\u2019s eastern edge, villagers estimate only about one third of homes have been connected with natural gas supply, while others say they\u2019re still anxiously waiting for the gas company to install furnaces. Their old fashioned coal stoves were all demolished as the government intensified efforts to phase out coal use in rural homes.<\/span><\/p>\n

As temperatures drop to around -6C, they say nights are \u201cincreasingly unbearable\u201d, especially for seniors and toddlers. A street cleaner said he had to burn firewood to keep warm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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From 2012:<\/strong> Beijing announces drastic action to slash air pollution<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cIt is very cold, but there\u2019s nothing we can do except\u00a0wait,\u201d a mother who was picking up her seven-year-old boy from school said, reluctant to be named.<\/span><\/p>\n

Urban residents\u00a0of Zhuozhou are more vocal about their grievances, as the sudden increase in natural gas demand means disruption in supply for existing users.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day, from 7pm to early next morning, there\u2019s no heating. Sometimes the gas supply is not stable when cooking,\u201d said a taxi driver who gave his surname as Feng.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hebei provincial government, which\u00a0administers\u00a0Zhuozhou, issued an orange alert for natural gas supply on 28 November. It is the second on a four-tier warning system,\u00a0indicating a demand-supply gap between 10% and 20% that will have a \u201crelatively big impact\u201d on economic and social operation.<\/span><\/p>\n

The provincial government said it\u00a0would cut supply for industrial users and prioritise use for residential and public buildings, including schools and hospitals.\u00a0<\/span>Neighbouring Shandong, Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces all report similar problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

The area surrounding Beijing is one of the worst polluted in China thanks to its massive industrial production, particularly of iron and steel. Air quality\u00a0traditionally deteriorates further each winter, with burning of raw coal in rural homes exacerbating factory and vehicle pollution.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2013, under a mounting public outcry for government to tackle the smog crisis, China\u2019s State Council, or the cabinet, laid out targets to reduce levels of PM2.5 – the tiny particulate pollutants that pose the greatest health threats – in Beijing from around 90\u00b5g\/m3 to 60\u00b5g\/m3 by the end of 2017.\u00a0The World Health Organisation recommends an annual mean of 10\u00b5g\/m3.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n