By Kim, Flint Lab Inc.Updated March 9, 2018 As thick, choking, toxic smog continues to envelop large parts of China, Chinese residents are long-suffering from terrible air pollution. The burning of coal is the biggest factor contributing to northern China’s smoggy conditions according to Professor Chai Fahe, a researcher with the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences. He said emissions from burning coal in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei – the most developed regions in northern China – were five times the national average. Moreover, World Health Organization announced that the Indoor pollution from the briquettes contributes more to illness and death than outdoor pollution. The government is trying to combat smog in northern China by replacing coal-fired boilers with electric or natural gas heaters. Photo: Reuters(http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2120958/pollution-fight-cold-comfort-families-without-heating) The situation would worsen in winter, as many urban communities and rural families in those regions also relied on coal for heating. The government has touted its progress in replacing coal-fired boilers in northern China with electric or natural gas heaters – a key measure in the country’s ongoing battle against air pollution. After millions of Chinese families were forced to give up coal for their winter heating, some now find themselves without a reliable supply of natural gas to heat their homes as temperatures plunge below zero. Under a “battle plan” to combat smog in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and its surrounds, the Ministry of Environmental Protection pledged to have electric or gas heaters installed in three million homes in the first 10 months of the year. Air quality readings in China region (http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2056366/what-exactly-causing-chinas-toxic-smog) The sale and burning of coal for heating was also banned in the region. But along with delays in setting up pipes, many northern cities are also facing a severe supply shortage of natural gas as more companies and households switch to the cleaner fuel. One woman in Linfen, Shanxi province, who declined to be identified, said all of the boilers in her village had been dismantled, but work on new gas pipes appeared to be nowhere near completion. “They’re still doing the digging work to lay the gas pipes,” she said. “My baby has fallen ill because of the cold.” While, in the meantime, another serious problem has arisen. Banning the use of coal to heat homes has increased demand and drove up the gas prices. The policy against the industrial and domestic use of coal for heating, aimed at cutting the choking smog that blankets much of the north, has caused rationing of natural gas in some provinces and a jump in prices. As a result, the Chinese environment ministry could not help but tell regions in northern China that have not converted to gas or electric heating they can continue to burn coal for the time being. China saw 15.2 percent year-on-year growth in natural gas consumption and a 17.9 percent rise in gas imports during the first half of the year, according to the National Development and Reform Commission. In this situation, China is holding ‘2018 China Household Cleaning & Heating Equipment & Applications Expo’, and the ‘12th China Energy-Saving Cooker Expo’ from the 27th of March, in Langfang, Hebei. The 10th and 11th China Clean Stoves Expo (http://report.hebei.com.cn/system/2016/04/26/016859729.shtml) In order to promote the transformation of rural heating to clean heating and to lead the upgrading of conventional, pollution heating consumption, the expo will focus on the "energy + equipment" and how clean and efficient use of coal, gas, electricity, biomass and other renewable energy clean heating industry chain products and technological achievements. Flint Lab is going to participate in the expo as an exhibitor in cooperation with a governmental body, KTL(Korea Testing Laboratory). We will exhibit Flint's clean bio heater and clean cookstove which use clean fuel, the waste cooking oil or the plant oil. We hope Flint Lab to make the contribution in reducing of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide and the toxic haze as well as the fine dust blowing from China which have also been big problems to the near countries. Source: https://www.ft.com/content/6fbc6dac-db13-11e7-a039-c64b1c09b482http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2056366/what-exactly-causing-chinas-toxic-smoghttp://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2120958/pollution-fight-cold-comfort-families-without-heating
