Sustainable shifting from coal to gas in North China: An analysis of resident satisfaction

To reduce the impact of coal combustion on air quality, the Chinese government has introduced clean heating policies in North China. The government has vigorously promoted the policy of shifting from coal to gas (hereafter the “coal-to-gas” policy). Hebei Province has the largest number of households that have completed the transition from coal to gas. Taking Hebei as a typical area, we construct a resident satisfaction model (RSM) to estimate the effectiveness and sustainability of the “coal-to-gas” policy in North China. We conduct a survey of 6 villages in Hebei Province to provide new evidence on the grassroots implementation effect of the “coal-to-gas” policy and its influencing factors. The results suggest that the overall satisfaction of residents is at a medium level. The influencing factors of resident satisfaction include the heating level, perceived fairness, air quality and subsidy amount, among which residents have the highest satisfaction with the heating level and the lowest satisfaction with the subsidy amount. We also find that resident satisfaction has a significant positive effect on resident trust. Based on the analysis, we propose policy suggestions to further benefit from positive factors and actively manage negative factors.