Household Cost Burdens Limit the Transition from Residential Coal to Clean Heating in China's North-South Transitional Region
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GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
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PUBLIC SUMMARY
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Residential coal use remains a major pollution source in China’s JASH transition region.
Heating accounted for 96.1% of household coal consumption, concentrated in rural and peri-urban areas.
Heating-related coal use emitted substantial PM2.5, SO2, NOx, VOCs, and CO2 in 2022.
Clean-heating transition could significantly reduce emissions and climate impacts.
Higher household heating costs are a key barrier despite limited fiscal pressure on governments.
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ABSTRACT
Residential coal combustion continues to be a significant source of air pollution in China. While prior studies have primarily targeted traditional northern heating regions, coal use in transitional zones along the North-South dividing line, particularly the Jiangsu-Anhui-Shandong-Henan (JASH) region, has been largely overlooked. This study fills this critical gap by conducting a multi-scale assessment of residential coal use based on household-level survey data from 24 cities in JASH in 2022. Results indicated that heating accounted for 96.12% of residential coal consumption in the JASH region in 2022. Heating-related coal use exhibited strong spatial heterogeneity, concentrated in rural and peri-urban areas, with an average heating duration of around 90 days. Bituminous coal was the dominant fuel, with a median use of 1.5 tons per household. In 2022, air pollutant emissions from heating-related coal use were substantial, including 41.0 kt SO2, 6.1 kt NOx, 22.3 kt VOCs, 38.3 kt PM2.5 and11275.3 kt CO2. We conducted scenario analyses to explore the environmental, climate, and economic impacts of transitioning to clean heating. The result revealed that eliminating residential coal use could greatly reduce emissions, although it may also lead to increased heating costs for households. While the fiscal burden on governments remains limited, the cost burden on residents presents a key barrier. This study provided the first quantitative evidence from non-traditional heating zones and offers actionable insights for developing region-specific, equitable clean heating policies.-
Keywords:
- residential coal /
- clean heating /
- air pollutants /
- carbon /
- heating technology /
- cost
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REFERENCES
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Wang H., Chen X., Dong Y., et al. (2026). Household Cost Burdens Limit the Transition from Residential Coal to Clean Heating in China's North-South Transitional Region. Energy Use 2:100051. https://doi.org/10.59717/ipj.energy-use.2026.100051
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Wang H., Chen X., Dong Y., et al. (2026). Household Cost Burdens Limit the Transition from Residential Coal to Clean Heating in China's North-South Transitional Region. Energy Use 2:100051. https://doi.org/10.59717/ipj.energy-use.2026.100051
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Figure 1.
(A) Residential coal consumption from different end uses; (B) Distributions of heating days in JASH; (C) Distributions of villages and households in the survey; (D) Spatial distribution of residential coal consumption in JASH; (E) Average household residential coal consumptions; (F) Heating methods in JASH.
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Figure 2.
Spatial distribution of air pollutants (A-E)and CO2 (F)emissions from heating-relatedresidential coal in JASH.
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Figure 3.
Air pollutants and CO2 emissions at the city level. (A) to (F) were SO2, NOx, VOCs, PM2.5, PM10 and CO2, respectively.
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Figure 4.
(A) Air pollutants and CO2 emissions in 2022; (B) Heating cost under different extreme conditions; (C) Air pollutants and CO2 emissions under “coal to biomass” condition; (D) Air pollutants and CO2 emissions under “coal to gas” condition.
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Figure 5.
(A) Proportion of the public budget of the general treasury under three scenarios; (B) Heating expenditure burden of residents.