China's 'most polluted' cuts coal
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E-mail Xinhua, May 15, 2014
"The subsidy should cover more places in Hebei province," said Zhang Lunliang, official with the provincial Department of Environmental Protection. "People will be willing to buy the clean coal if it costs less."
And Zhang suggested the government find a way to cut the supply of low-quality coal at the source.
DEVELOPMENT OF CLEAN ENERGY
"Fossil fuels will inevitably be replaced by renewable and clean energy including natural gas, solar and nuclear power. We should make preparations now," said Wang Chang, head of the Hebei Provincial Industry and Information Technology Department.
Wang's opinion was echoed by Chen Wangqin, head of industrial research in Hebei, who suggests the region' s coordinated development is an opportunity to promote new energy use.
As a key production base of solar panels, the region could support a new energy industry, Chen added.
Hebei alone has 49 industrial zones to relocate plants transferred from Beijing and Tianjin. These zones have absorbed more than 2,300 enterprises and covered a roofed area of 450 million cubic meters. If all installed photovoltaic (PV) power stations, it would generate nearly 40 billion kilowatt hours (kwh) of electricity each year and save almost 15 million tonnes of coal.
"This is the figure for Hebei alone. The whole region including Beijing and Tianjin has even greater potential," he said, estimating that cost of a PV power generation station would be recovered within seven years if the government provided subsidies.
"Its service life is 25 years, a big benefit for enterprises," he said.
In February, President Xi Jinping called for integrated and coordinated development of the region around Beijing.
Xi said that optimizing regional industrial division and distribution, and overall planning for resources should be focused on integrated development. He added that infrastructure integration and joint control of air pollution should be priorities in the coordinated development of Beijing and Tianjin.
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