Heated debate on public heating

Public heating has triggered heated discussions during winter in recent years. Proposals on public heating have also been hot topics at the annual sessions of the national legislative and political advisory bodies. The issue concerns not only Chinese people's livelihood, but also the country's environment, says an article in Qianjiang Evening News. Excerpts:

Those who support South China should have public heating argue that the region south of the line from Qinling Mountains to the Huaihe River deserves the same treatment as North. And people who oppose the idea claim that it would not be possible to provide public heating in South China because of shortage of fuels.

But the fact remains that without a strategic green revolution in public heating there cannot be a winner in the battle of energy consumption.

Apart from causing pollution, the alarming rate of energy consumption is also becoming increasingly unaffordable. Statistics show that the consumption of energy by buildings in urban China is two to three times that of developed countries with similar climate.

Public heating mirrors the structural problems of China's energy woes. The extensive public heating system in North China has come at huge energy and environmental costs when people in South China have had to endure the cold without public heating. This is not conducive to boosting domestic demand.

The annual Central Economic Work Conference has stated that the country will focus on urbanization in the coming years. Providing public heating might be a good way of accelerating urbanization as well as boosting domestic demand, but the system has to be as environmentally friendly as possible.

(China Daily 01/09/2013 page9)