How should a \"closure report\" be written for the halted project of replacing coal with gas?

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Do you still remember December 2017? The biggest issue during that period was the transition from coal to gas; this ambitious yet controversial reform was ultimately halted on an emergency basis by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Rushed onto the horse, and ended things in a hurry. Winter has arrived now, and Xiao Qi came across a shop by the roadside. It had been closed for several months in 2017 due to the transition from coal to gas as a fuel source, but now it is brightly lit again. Here, regarding this matter, Xiao Qi has a few things to say; you might as well sit down and listen. 1. The desire for quick results led to decisions made in offices with warm heating; given the circumstances at the time, this project, which affected the lives of hundreds of millions of people, fell into chaos as soon as winter arrived. During the heating season, the infrastructure for gas stations was not completed on time, resulting in residents not having access to heating. The large-scale shift from coal to gas led to a sharp rise in natural gas prices and a shortage of supply. Such an important project was only rushed into action just before heavy snows arrived; boilers were removed, yet natural gas still did not arrive... At the affiliated hospital of Hebei University, after being restricted in its gas supply by the gas company, the hospital was forced to prepare a document requesting assistance from Baoding City, stating that “the amount of gas supplied by the gas company is clearly insufficient to meet the hospital’s needs. If the gas supply is restricted, surgeries cannot be carried out properly, patients’ lives may be at risk, and patients’ clothing cannot be disinfected, which could lead to cross-infection and the outbreak of infectious diseases.” ▏At the end of November, the Public Security Bureau of Xinzhou City in Shanxi Province handled a public order case related to violations of the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law. Wang, a worker at a local construction site, burned coal outdoors in several places in order to keep warm at night; the smoke generated contained high concentrations of harmful substances such as sulfur dioxide, thereby polluting the air. Wang’s actions violated the relevant provisions of the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law and the Fire Protection Law, leading to a decision by the Xinfu District Public Security Bureau to impose an administrative detention of 5 days on him. ▏In Quyang County, Hebei Province, rural schools in several towns and villages failed to provide heating on time; as a result, students had to run around on the playgrounds in the cold winter to keep warm, or attend classes outdoors where there was sunlight, since it was warmer there than indoors… The reason for such a rushed transition from coal to gas heating is that 2017 marked the deadline for completing the goals set out in the First Phase of the Action Plan for Air Pollution Control, and we are now in the final stage of this process. Since the State Council issued the Action Plan for Air Pollution Prevention and Control, various regions have put forward corresponding measures, and natural gas has been hailed as a clean energy source. In many places, there was a rush to implement large-scale transitions from coal to gas, with some areas even forcing enterprises to make such a transition. However, the drawbacks of large-scale conversion from coal to gas have become apparent, with issues such as shortages of gas supply, delayed installation of heating equipment, inadequate infrastructure, and insufficient funding for related projects occurring frequently. Such an embarrassing situation reveals that in some areas, the methods used in the process of switching from coal to gas remain crude or even brutal. The root of the problem lies in the fact that during the formulation and implementation of reform policies, there is insufficient comprehensive coordination prior to formulation, and the actual implementation is carried out too hastily. To completely reverse an energy structure in which coal is the primary source of energy is an extremely complex systematic task. It involves not only the environmental protection department, but also a wide range of issues such as adjustments to energy prices and improvements to infrastructure; it is difficult to achieve this in a short period of time. 2. Localities are perfunctory, and the implementation of policies is severely distorted. In the process of actual implementation, many localities hang up various promotional banners; some of these slogans have an intimidating tone, urging action such as \"seize and crack down\" on those who burn or sell coal. In some households, the stoves were removed and the chimneys were blocked, while those who sold coal in bulk were detained. What’s particularly detestable is that during implementation, things get worse—with hidden agendas being slipped in and a one-size-fits-all approach being adopted. Of course, the \"blindness\" in the implementation at the grassroots level is not always entirely due to malicious intent. Under the pressure of carrying out tasks on a deadline-driven basis, with upper-level leaders setting goals and targets and threatening those who fail to meet them with dismissal, even if the grassroots level has a more accurate understanding of the situation regarding the reforms, there is still no room for proper enforcement of laws. Pressure is transmitted at each level, with additional requirements imposed at every stage. It says 30 days above, but down below it demands 20 days, or half a month to get it done. The reins of policy implementation are being tightened ever more. The outcome was predictable: the reform remained incomplete, **and its credibility and authority were damaged. 3. Robbing Peter to pay Paul: Natural gas boilers offer no advantages in terms of nitrogen oxide control. Some experts point out that portraying natural gas as a clean energy source is inherently biased. Natural gas is also a fossil fuel, and it has issues related to clean combustion; primarily, it produces large amounts of nitrogen oxides during the combustion process. The main component of fog is PM2.5, and nitrogen oxides are the culprit behind the formation of PM2.5. Natural gas boilers used in the current large-scale shift from coal to gas offer no advantage in terms of controlling nitrogen oxides. What’s even more careless is that regarding the nationwide push for switching from coal to gas, it is difficult to find any publicly available data indicating what the levels of nitrogen oxide emissions are, or how these emissions have changed before and after the switch. Ni Weidou, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, has calculated that after thermal power plants switch from coal to gas, nitrogen oxide emissions not only do not decrease but actually increase, thereby worsening the smog situation. 4 There is a severe shortage in aspects such as research, planning, and coordination. Our country is lacking in oil and natural gas resources. A large portion of natural gas consumption relies on imports. On top of that, natural gas resources are under foreign control, which means we have no say in fuel prices either. Moreover, switching from coal to gas requires significant investment; installing additional treatment facilities also costs a lot, and there is a need for long-term subsidies for natural gas fuel. At present, in some areas of our country, the transmission and distribution prices are unreasonable, there are multiple levels of gas supply, and the phenomenon of price increases at each level remains quite significant. Since the push to switch from coal to gas began, relevant authorities failed to provide adequate project planning, which led to the launch of a large number of such projects and caused chaos in the market. In natural gas infrastructure, pipelines play a crucial role in distributing natural gas across different areas. However, since the separation of transmission and distribution has not yet been achieved in the natural gas sector, a relatively monopolistic business model has gradually taken shape in the market. Due to the insufficient marketization of natural gas prices, under the current pricing system, taking Beijing as an example, after the transition from coal to natural gas for heating, the natural gas heating expenses for the vast majority of residential households exceed 3% of their disposable income. Through **subsidies, this ratio can be reduced, but it will place certain pressure on local finances. At the same time, applying the same subsidy model to different income groups is also unfair. “For **, while promoting the ‘coal-to-gas’ conversion, it is also necessary to strengthen energy-efficient renovations of residential buildings to reduce the unit heat load. Change the existing ‘flood-like’ subsidy model to one of targeted support in order to improve the efficiency of subsidies. ”Industry insiders say. Furthermore, the gas storage capacity of domestic gas storage facilities is insufficient, making it difficult to reduce peak-pressure levels. The continued advancement of the shift from coal to gas poses additional challenges in terms of ensuring an adequate supply of gas in the future. According to the plan, by the end of October 2017, the “2+26” cities were to replace coal with electricity and gas for more than 3 million households. At the end of November, the People’s Daily published an article stating that \"the annual targets have been met ahead of schedule.\" ”In fact, according to Caixin, Lei Yu, deputy director of the Atmospheric Environment Planning Department at the Environmental Planning Institute of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, mentioned that this year, it is possible that 4 million households will actually be connected to the gas supply—a figure far exceeding expectations and also significantly surpassing the capacity of gas suppliers to meet the demand. The reason for exceeding 1 million is, first, that relevant departments assign tasks to the province, which in turn imposes increasing demands on cities and counties at each level ； Secondly, there are subsidies available for switching from coal to gas (or electricity), and various regions want to take advantage of these subsidies to accelerate this process ； Third, those who work hard achieve results, while those who work less are criticized. The preliminary research also lacked thoroughness – what is the actual amount of work involved? How should the main pipeline be designed? Do the villagers support it? What is the total volume of air? The inadequate handling of these issues led to the chaos that followed. According to Caijing, an official from a city in Hebei told Caijing reporters that the city has largely completed the task of replacing coal with gas, but ensuring a supply of gas is a major issue. The city mayor personally led a team on a quest to find solutions, visiting the energy agencies and gas companies one by one, pleading with everyone he could. Although it is currently possible to supply users by purchasing gas at high prices on the market, there is no certainty as to whether natural gas will be available in a stable supply in the future. ” 5 One-size-fits-all energy restriction policies: Industry experts point out that relying on a coal ban to address air pollution is ineffective, and attempting to circumvent this issue through policies aimed at replacing coal with gas also fails. Since coal combustion is the main cause of environmental pollution, the most effective way to address haze is to tackle the challenge of clean coal technology, adopt such technology to upgrade thermal power plants and industrial coal boilers, and achieve cleaner use of coal. Clean coal technology is one of the key technologies used by countries around the world to address environmental problems, and it represents an important area in the international competition in high-tech fields. Jia Kang, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and director of the Institute of Fiscal Science at the Ministry of Finance, proposed in this year’s national \"**\" proposals that standards should be established as soon as possible to promote clean coal technology on a wide scale. He suggested that competent authorities such as the Energy Bureau and the Ministry of Environmental Protection should promptly establish industry standards for clean coal technologies, evaluate and certify various such technologies, and promote their use in order to replace the current one-size-fits-all coal-reduction policies in different regions. In addition, greater policy support should be provided for clean coal technologies, specialized equipment, and industrialization demonstration projects. It is recommended that **the relevant departments establish special funds at the institutional level for clean coal technologies, proprietary equipment, and industrialization demonstration projects**, and increase support through existing policies. 6. The quality of projects under the Great Leap Forward initiative is difficult to ensure, and safety risks are not properly managed. Carrying out large-scale conversions from coal to gas on such a short time scale makes it hard to control project quality and safety risks. If proper control is not exercised, all previous efforts will be wasted, and even serious consequences may arise. Industry experts point out that the rapidly growing market has given rise to fierce competition among manufacturers of gas wall heaters. In projects aimed at replacing coal with gas, it are the low-cost wall heaters that play a key role; these heaters, with their limited specifications, have become the standard choice for such conversions. Some new companies that lack any technical expertise, or even those launched in a hurry, also win bids frequently. During implementation, due to intermediate steps, poor management, or other potential issues, there is little cost margin left for the manufacturer, yet they still have to proceed despite this. This may force manufacturers to reduce the specifications or lower the quality of services, and the costs associated with installation and debugging may be so low that they resort to shoddy work and hasty installations, which can lead to serious problems later on. ▏At around 9:15 on December 19, 2017, an explosion occurred in the production facility of Riko Chemical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Riko Chemical) in Weifang City, Shandong Province, which has an annual production capacity of 15,000 tons of plastic modifiers (AMB). The incident resulted in 7 deaths and 4 injuries. On December 22, the **General Administration of Work Safety released a report on the \"1219\" explosion incident. Preliminary analysis indicates that the direct cause of the accident was that natural gas entered the drying system through the newly installed direct combustion heating system, forming an explosive mixture with the air in the drying system; an ignition source triggered a deflagration during the attempt to start the natural gas heating system, which was not ready for operation. **The State Administration of Work Safety believes that this accident reveals a lack of safety awareness among enterprises, insufficient identification of the safety risks associated with the transition from coal to gas, inadequate change management, improper design of the new natural gas heating systems, absence of operating procedures, and professional competence levels among relevant managers and operators that do not meet the requirements for safe production. Additionally, local authorities and relevant departments have not paid sufficient attention to safety during the transition from coal to gas, and supervision has been inadequate. 7 Has the control of fog been successful after switching from coal to gas? Taking Beijing as an example, the vast majority of coal-fired boilers in the city’s core area have been replaced by gas-fired boilers. However, the severe pollution caused by PM2.5 particles has not been eliminated; instead, it shows a tendency to worsen. The reason is that the switch from coal to gas has led to a significant increase in nitrogen oxide emissions, and together with those from vehicle exhausts, this constitutes the main cause of the worsening PM2.5 pollution in Beijing. Data shows that nitrogen oxides in Beijing’s air are already three times higher than sulfur dioxide levels. The fact that the number of hazy days has increased rather than decreased is an indication that Beijing’s effort to replace coal with gas has not been successful; it has not improved the air quality, nor has it reduced the haze pollution caused by PM2.5. In fact, switching all the thermal power plants around Beijing from coal to gas would result in more nitrogen oxides and more PM2.5, leading us down the wrong path even further. Air pollution control is a beneficial endeavor for both the country and its people, but it must be carried out step by step with scientific planning. Especially at the local implementation level, once the focus shifts to creating artificial signs of progress and meeting numerical targets, everything that is done ends up being a costly and pointless publicity project. Sometimes, reform doesn’t need an entire winter – only a word of concern and care. All actions taken by the decision-making bodies are aimed at improving people’s lives; measures that force some to breathe fresh air while leaving others to freeze are not what the public needs. #Today’s topic: #Regarding the shift from coal to gas, what are everyone’s opinions? Source: Lawyers from Jinglai, the Biomass Pellets Alliance platform, etc.; compiled by Chemical Engineering 707. Editor: Tangguoer; Reviewer: Xiaoguanchuang