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The Impact of “Coal to Gas” Policy on Air Quality: Evidence from Beijing, China

Author

Listed:
  • Zhe Liu

    (School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China)

  • Xueli Chen

    (Institute of Journalism and Communication, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing 100732, China)

  • Jinyang Cai

    (School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
    Sustainable Development Research Institute for Economy and Society of Beijing, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China)

  • Tomas Baležentis

    (Division of Farm and Enterprise Economics, Lithuanian Institute of Agrarian Economics, 03220 Vilnius, Lithuania)

  • Yue Li

    (School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China)

Abstract

Air pollution has become an increasingly serious environmental problem in China. Especially in winter, the air pollution in northern China becomes even worse due to winter heating. The “coal to gas” policy, which uses natural gas to replace coal in the heating system in winter, was implemented in Beijing in the year 2013. However, the effects of this policy reform have not been examined. Using a panel dataset of 16 districts in Beijing, this paper employs a first difference model to examine the impact of the “coal to gas” policy on air quality. Strong evidence shows that the “coal to gas” policy has significantly improved the air quality in Beijing. On average, the “coal to gas” policy reduced sulfur dioxide ( SO 2 ), nitrogen dioxide ( NO 2 ), particulate matter smaller than 10 µm (PM10), particulate matter smaller than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) and carbon monoxide (CO) by 12.08%, 4.89%, 13.07%, 11.94% and 11.10% per year, respectively. We find that the “coal to gas” policy is more effective in areas with less energy use efficiency. The finding of this paper suggests that the government should continue to implement the “coal to gas” policy, so as to alleviate the air pollution in Beijing, China.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhe Liu & Xueli Chen & Jinyang Cai & Tomas Baležentis & Yue Li, 2020. "The Impact of “Coal to Gas” Policy on Air Quality: Evidence from Beijing, China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-11, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:15:p:3876-:d:391695
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Xueyang & Sun, Xiumei & Ahmad, Mahmood & Zhang, Haotian, 2023. "Does low carbon energy transition impede air pollution? Evidence from China's coal-to-gas policy," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    2. Grigorios L. Kyriakopoulos & Dalia Streimikiene & Tomas Baležentis, 2022. "Addressing Challenges of Low-Carbon Energy Transition," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-7, August.
    3. Jeseok Ryu & Jinho Kim, 2020. "Demand Response Program Expansion in Korea through Particulate Matter Forecasting Based on Deep Learning and Fuzzy Inference," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-14, December.
    4. Siyu Chen & Hong Chi, 2021. "Analysis of the Environmental Effects of the Clean Heating Policy in Northern China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-11, June.

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