Clean coal can cut rural emissions

PROMOTING THE USE OF clean coal in heating and cooking in villages is a practical way to control air pollution. But the government must provide subsidies to encourage farmers to replace the cheaper bulk coal with clean coal, and make it easier for farmers to buy clean coal near their homes, thepaper.cn commented on Wednesday:

The environmental protection bureau in North China's Shanxi province, a main coal producing region, recently conducted an investigation into the serious air pollution in Linfen city, and found sulfur dioxide is the main air-borne pollutant, which is largely produced by local farmers' burning bulk coal for their winter heating.

The farmers have used bulk coal to heat their homes for generations. And while China is rich in coal resources, it is relatively poor in oil and natural gas resources. It is also unrealistic to supply clean energy in a short time over such a large rural area. Therefore, it is impractical to end coal consumption completely in a bid to reduce the air pollution.