Haze is one of the disaster weathers. Beijing one of the largest city in the world is facing this whether for more than 150 days per year. The rapid growth of social economy increases energy demand, which challenges the energy production within the city. Persistent haze occurs and the number of days for haze is increasing dramatically.
The cause of haze is complex. One of the cause is the use of coal to produce energy for heating in the building. China is rich in coal. However, colas are not environment-friendly fuels. The solid and gas waste produced by burning coals cause serious environmental problems. To reduce the air pollution, city of Beijing use district energy systems.
The district system in Beijing is divided into more than 16 different energy-producing stations. Each station covers a certain amount of area and produces hot gas to warm the building in that area. In each energy station, natural gas and high-quality coal are used to produce “clean heat”. The high efficiency of district energy system in Beijing result in reduce GHG emissions and improve air quality. According to a research, the CO2 emission in Beijing reduced by 502 ton in 2010(natural gas replace coal for energy use,2015)
The energy use and GHG gas emissions have improved a lot in past decade. The use of district energy system greatly reduces the air pollution in Beijing. However, there is still a long way to go in China to improve the use of energy. Education individuals to use energy in more efficient ways can be helpful. Some other new technologies can also be applied to produce a clean and renewable energy system.
References
Conservation and Supply of Buildings. (2017). Retrieved November 21, 2017, from https://connect.ubc.ca/bbcswebdav/pid-4457089-dt-content-rid-22874392_1/courses/SIS.UBC.CIVL.498A.101.2017W1.87579/Week%2004%20Material/CIVL498_Video4_Script-Urban%20Energy%20Systems-Conservation_and_Supply_in_Green_Buildings.pdf
Zhang, X. (2015). Natural gas replace coal for energy use. Retrieved November 21, 2017, from http://download.people.com.cn/csw-zk-20160108-1.pdf