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An evaluation of air quality, home heating and well-being under Beijing’s programme to eliminate household coal use

Author

Listed:
  • Christopher Barrington-Leigh

    (McGill University)

  • Jill Baumgartner

    (McGill University
    McGill University)

  • Ellison Carter

    (Colorado State University)

  • Brian E. Robinson

    (McGill University)

  • Shu Tao

    (Peking University)

  • Yuanxun Zhang

    (University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

To mitigate health and environmental effects from coal-based home heating, the Beijing Municipality has implemented a programme in 3,700 villages that subsidizes electric heat pumps and electricity, and bans coal. Here, we estimate this programme’s impact on household energy use and expenditure, well-being and indoor environmental quality by comparing treated and untreated villages in three districts that vary in socioeconomic conditions. We find that, under this programme, households in high- and middle-income districts eliminated coal use with benefits to indoor temperature, indoor air pollution and life satisfaction. In a low-income district, the policy had partial effectiveness: coal use was contingent on household wealth, and there were fewer benefits to the indoor environment and negative impacts on well-being. These results suggest that a rapid household energy transition can be effective, but it is essential to appropriately control subsidies and fine-tune supports to limit transitional hardships for the less affluent.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher Barrington-Leigh & Jill Baumgartner & Ellison Carter & Brian E. Robinson & Shu Tao & Yuanxun Zhang, 2019. "An evaluation of air quality, home heating and well-being under Beijing’s programme to eliminate household coal use," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 4(5), pages 416-423, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natene:v:4:y:2019:i:5:d:10.1038_s41560-019-0386-2
    DOI: 10.1038/s41560-019-0386-2
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    Cited by:

    1. Fan, Shengyue & Zha, Shuai & Zhao, Chenxi & Sizheng, Fangyuan & Li, Meihui, 2022. "Using energy vulnerability to measure distributive injustice in rural heating energy reform: A case study of natural gas replacing bulk coal for heating in Gaocheng District, Hebei Province, China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    2. Shimei Wu & Haotian Zhang, 2022. "The existence and mechanism of the domestic pollution haven hypothesis: evidence from 265 cities in China," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 287-310, December.
    3. Gould, Carlos F. & Jha, Shaily & Patnaik, Sasmita & Agrawal, Shalu & Zhang, Alice Tianbo & Saluja, Sonakshi & Nandan, Vagisha & Mani, Sunil & Urpelainen, Johannes, 2022. "Variability in the household use of cooking fuels: The importance of dishes cooked, non-cooking end uses, and seasonality in understanding fuel stacking in rural and urban slum communities in six nort," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    4. Ding, Tao & Sun, Yuge & Huang, Can & Mu, Chenlu & Fan, Yuqi & Lin, Jiang & Qin, Yining, 2022. "Pathways of clean energy heating electrification programs for reducing carbon emissions in Northwest China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    5. Zhao, B.C. & Li, T.X. & Gao, J.C. & Wang, R.Z., 2020. "Latent heat thermal storage using salt hydrates for distributed building heating: A multi-level scale-up research," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    6. Qiu, Lihua & He, Li & Kang, Yu & Liang, Dongzhe, 2022. "Assessment of the potential of enhanced geothermal systems in Asia under the impact of global warming," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 636-646.
    7. Zhao, B.C. & Wang, R.Z., 2020. "A novel 3-D model of an industrial-scale tube-fin latent heat storage using salt hydrates with supercooling: A model validation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    8. Wang, Huajun & Liu, Biying & Yang, Feifan & Liu, Feng, 2021. "Test investigation of operation performance of novel split-type ground source heat pump systems for clean heating of rural households in North China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 188-197.
    9. Rhys Jones & Alexandra Macmillan & Papaarangi Reid, 2020. "Climate Change Mitigation Policies and Co-Impacts on Indigenous Health: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-18, December.
    10. Jing Li & Lingling Song & Yanchun Zhu, 2020. "Subsidies, Clean Heating Choices, and Policy Costs: Evidence from Rural Households in Northern China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-18, December.
    11. Chen, Si-Yuan & Xue, Meng-Tian & Wang, Zhao-Hua & Tian, Xin & Zhang, Bin, 2022. "Exploring pathways of phasing out clean heating subsidies for rural residential buildings in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    12. Zhang, Ruining & Ai, Xianneng & Li, Hui, 2023. "How to design subsidy policies for clean energy projects? A study on “coal-to-gas” project in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    13. Zhao, B.C. & Li, T.X. & He, F. & Gao, J.C. & Wang, R.Z., 2020. "Demonstration of Mg(NO3)2·6H2O-based composite phase change material for practical-scale medium-low temperature thermal energy storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    14. Xie, Lunyu & Hu, Xian & Zhang, Xinyi & Zhang, Xiao-Bing, 2022. "Who suffers from energy poverty in household energy transition? Evidence from clean heating program in rural China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    15. Andreas Hefti & Peiyao Shen & King King Li, 2021. "Igniting deliberation in high stake decisions: a field study," ECON - Working Papers 378, Department of Economics - University of Zurich.
    16. Xu, Shuo & Ge, Jianping, 2020. "Sustainable shifting from coal to gas in North China: An analysis of resident satisfaction," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    17. Li, Meng & Jin, Tianyu & Liu, Shenglong & Zhou, Shaojie, 2021. "The cost of clean energy transition in rural China: Evidence based on marginal treatment effects," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    18. Liu, Hongxun & Mauzerall, Denise L., 2020. "Costs of clean heating in China: Evidence from rural households in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    19. Wang, Qunwei & Zhou, Bo & Zhang, Cheng & Zhou, Dequn, 2021. "Do energy subsidies reduce fiscal and household non-energy expenditures? A regional heterogeneity assessment on coal-to-gas program in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    20. Xie, Lunyu & Wei, Chu & Zheng, Xinye & Liu, Yang & Wu, Wanyi & Feng, Ziru, 2023. "Who benefits from household energy transition? A cost-benefit analysis based on household survey data in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).

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