The Enduring War on Air Pollution in Hebei Province
The Enduring War on Air Pollution in Hebei Province
Urban air pollution is one of the main environmental problems in Hebei Province. Through the analysis of the ten-year monitoring results in Hebei, it is found that the types of urban air pollution in the province are transitioning from coal smoke pollution to mixed pollution. Total suspended particulate matter remains the primary pollutant in the air. The annual average concentration of sulfur dioxide shows a significant downward trend, while nitrogen oxides show a gradually increasing trend. The nitrogen oxides in five cities, including Langfang and Qinhuangdao, exceed the standard, indicating that the degree of motor vehicle exhaust pollution is constantly increasing. The annual average values of the three main pollutants in Shijiazhuang are higher than last year, and the air quality has decreased. The ranking of air quality pollution levels in the province from heavy to light is Chengde, Shijiazhuang, Xingtai, Handan, Tangshan, Zhangjiakou, Cangzhou, Baoding, Langfang, Qinhuangdao, and Hengshui.
In order to fight the battle against air pollution, achieve the goal of energy conservation, emission reduction, and coal reduction, and improve the quality of life of the people, Hebei Province has formulated an implementation plan based on the actual situation within the province. The overall goal of the plan is to eliminate 7176 coal-fired boilers and tea baths with a capacity of 10 steam tons/hour or less and 22368 steam tons in built-up areas of counties (cities) directly under the jurisdiction of the province by the end of 2015. By the end of 2017, 7402 coal-fired boilers and tea baths with a capacity of 35 steam tons/hour and below, as well as 27018 steam tons, will be phased out in urban built-up areas of counties (cities) directly under the jurisdiction of districts and cities, and 3669 coal-fired boilers and tea baths with a capacity of 10 steam tons/hour and below, and 10478 steam tons will be phased out in urban areas of urban-rural fringe areas and other suburban counties, ensuring the completion of the national task of phasing out coal-fired boilers. At the same time, we have completed the comprehensive energy-saving and environmental protection renovation and improvement of the remaining 23562 coal-fired boilers, ensuring their safe and efficient operation and significantly reducing pollutant emissions.
The governance plan mainly includes the following tasks:
（1） By adding centralized heating and demolishing a batch. Accelerate the development of cogeneration in areas covered by urban centralized heating networks, promote the efficiency improvement of heating stations, and expand the capacity of centralized heating; Accelerate the construction of large and efficient coal-fired boilers with emissions meeting gas standards in areas not covered by urban centralized heating networks, and achieve regional centralized heating; Organize and implement a special action on waste heat heating to encourage the use of industrial enterprises in the surrounding urban areas to produce waste heat for nearby residents. By the end of 2017, the existing 4125 coal-fired boilers with a capacity of 13731 tons will be dismantled and banned, achieving the goal of demolishing small and dispersed coal-fired boilers in centralized heating areas within a specified period of time.
（2） By optimizing the energy structure and adjusting a batch through substitution. Accelerate the promotion of coal to gas, coal to electricity, coal to biomass, and coal to new energy for decentralized coal-fired boilers that are temporarily unable to cover the centralized heating network, have a demand for useful thermal rigidity, and have the necessary conditions. Provincial government agencies and institutions, as well as operating units such as bathhouses, hotels, and restaurants, should be the first to implement the renovation of coal-fired boilers and tea baths, ensuring that they are all completed by the end of 2015. By the end of 2017, 3111 coal-fired boilers with a capacity of 11024 tons will be replaced and adjusted.
（3） By promoting efficient, energy-saving, and environmentally friendly boilers, we will update and replace a batch of them. For urban areas and industrial clusters with relatively concentrated heat loads in suburban cities (counties, districts), we will introduce strong professional large enterprise groups and adopt service outsourcing models such as BOO, BT, and BOT. We will construct large high-efficiency coal powder boilers and “micro coal atomization” boilers with high operating efficiency and emissions that meet gas standards, and implement “replacing small with large”. By 2017, we will strive to update and replace 159 existing coal-fired boilers with 570 steam tons.
（4） By implementing energy-saving transformation and promoting high-quality and clean coal, a batch of quality and efficiency improvements will be made. We will carry out energy-saving technology upgrades such as combustion optimization, automatic control, and low-temperature flue gas waste heat recovery for small coal-fired boilers retained in urban areas and scattered in rural areas. We will promote the use of high-quality coal with low ash, low sulfur, high calorific value, and clean coal to accelerate the achievement of quality and efficiency improvement, as well as energy conservation and emission reduction. By the end of 2017, there were 23562 coal-fired boilers and 81988 tons of steam to improve quality and efficiency.