New York Times On The Unintended Consequences Of China's Aggressive Anti-Coal Policy

See In China’s Coal Country, a Ban Brings Blue Skies and Cold Homes by STEVEN LEE MYERS. Excerpts:

"QIAOLI, China — A monument to China’s efforts to wean itself from coal rises on the outskirts of this village deep in the heart of the nation’s coal country.

Scores of old coal stoves have been dumped in a lot, removed by government decree in recent months in favor of cleaner-burning natural gas furnaces."

"Eager to impress Beijing, officials in this province of 37 million people have moved so aggressively that in some cases they have created unintended consequences." 

"Many coal stoves were removed before new furnaces were installed, leaving tens of thousands of people shivering without heat when winter’s first cold snap arrived earlier than normal. Then, with so many districts switching to natural gas at once, demand for the new source of fuel overwhelmed supplies, sending prices soaring and creating shortages."

"China’s plan — announced last March and intensified in August — demonstrated the power of centralized authority but also the bureaucratic shortcomings in Beijing’s decrees.

Greenpeace mapped thousands of complaints about heating from social media posts. One photograph that circulated widely online before being censored showed a school in Hebei Province, southwest of Beijing, holding classes outside in the sun because the heating was not working inside.

The outcry was such that the government took the unusual step of reversing a decree and easing the restrictions somewhat, allowing places with heating failures to resume using coal. In Beijing, the authorities had to abandon, at least temporarily, a heavily promoted policy to end all municipal coal use, and restart a coal-fired power plant in the southeast suburbs. Hebei, the province that surrounds Beijing, has delayed a full transition from coal until 2020."

"China’s transition this winter was bedeviled by many factors. Overzealous regional officials — eager to impress their national superiors, or afraid of disappointing them — had teamed up with private energy companies to convert more homes than supply could meet."

"To be sure, many Shanxi residents complained that the cost of heating their homes with gas furnaces or electric heaters was now much higher. Often they did so while wearing winter coats, hats and scarves indoors.

For some, the cost was prohibitively expensive. According to one shopkeeper, it now costs nearly as much to heat her place each month, about $400, as the average monthly wage in the province, one of China’s poorest, about $650."

"As for most things banned, a black market has materialized. Mr. Zhang bought his coal behind a row of seemingly abandoned workshops outside of the village. A woman sweeping up coal dust in this makeshift market angrily shooed away three journalists who appeared, refusing to answer questions."