Heavyweight release! The Ministry of Environmental Protection has issued the "Catalogue of Highly Polluting Fuels"

In order to improve the quality of urban atmospheric environment, according to Article 38 of the Law of the China on the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution revised and passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on August 29, 2015, the Ministry of Environmental Protection has recently issued the Catalog of Highly Polluted Fuels (hereinafter referred to as the Catalog).

The Catalogue points out that the fuels referred to in the Catalogue are fuels that require strengthened management based on factors such as product quality, combustion methods, and environmental impact. The catalog specifies the production and daily use of coal and its products (including raw coal, loose coal, coal gangue, coal slurry, coal water slurry, briquette, coke, coke, etc.), and conventional fuels such as oil. Industrial waste and garbage, agricultural and forestry residues, and auxiliary fuels such as charcoal used in the catering industry are not within the scope of catalog control.

The Catalogue clearly classifies the fuel combinations prohibited from burning in the prohibited zone into Class I (general), Class II (more stringent), and Class III (strict) according to the degree of strict control. For Petroleum coke, Oil shale, crude oil, heavy oil, residual oil and Coal tar, as their direct combustion causes serious pollution to the urban atmospheric environment, they are included in the control scope of Category I, II and III in the catalog. For coal and its products, considering that coal is still the main source of urban energy consumption in China, coal and its products are classified into three strict categories for control. For biomass briquettes, only under the strictest control requirements of Class III, the combustion method of biomass briquettes has been standardized, which requires that they must be burned in a biomass briquette dedicated boiler equipped with high-efficiency dust removal facilities such as a bag filter.

The Catalog emphasizes that according to the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law, the catalog of highly polluting fuels is determined by the competent environmental protection department of the State Council. This catalog is only applicable to the management of highly polluting fuel prohibited zones designated by urban people's governments in accordance with the law, and does not serve as a basis for the management of fuel prohibited from burning outside the prohibited zones or other management.

The Catalogue requires that urban governments, based on the requirements for improving atmospheric environment quality, energy consumption structure, and economic affordability, and in accordance with the principle of seeking truth from facts, select one type of non combustible zone in urban areas according to local conditions, and strive to act within their capabilities and steadily advance. The urban people's government should fully play the role of the directory in the management of non combustible zones, starting from improving the urban energy structure, and vigorously promoting the production and use of clean energy. And if conditions permit, gradually expand the area of the non combustible zone.

Next, the Ministry of Environmental Protection will guide cities to carry out relevant work such as defining and managing high pollution fuel burning ban zones, and effectively play the role of the Catalogue in improving the quality of urban atmospheric environment.

Related documents: The person in charge of the Atmospheric Environment Management Department of the Ministry of Environmental Protection answered reporters' questions on the "Catalogue of Highly Polluted Fuels"

The Ministry of Environmental Protection recently released the "Catalogue of Highly Polluting Fuels" (hereinafter referred to as the "Catalogue"), aiming to control the use of highly polluting fuels in certain areas of the city (i.e. legally designated non burning zones for highly polluting fuels), improve the quality of the urban atmospheric environment, and ensure the physical health of the people. Liu Bingjiang, Director of the Atmospheric Environment Management Department of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, answered reporters' questions on relevant issues.

Q: What is the background of the introduction of the Catalogue?

Answer: In order to implement the relevant requirements of the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law at that time, as early as 2001, our department (then the State Environmental Protection Administration) issued the "Regulations on the Classification of High Polluting Fuels" (HF [2001] No. 37), which was the basis for the management of high polluting fuel prohibition zones in key environmental protection cities at that time and played a positive role in improving the quality of urban atmospheric environment.

In the past decade or so, China's urban scale and layout, energy structure and supply, energy utilization methods and efficiency, and living standards of urban residents have all undergone significant changes. Whether it is the classification of high polluting fuel types or the scope of application, the document [2001] No. 37 of the Ministry of Environmental Protection can no longer meet the requirements of urban atmospheric environment management under the new situation and urgently needs to be revised.

Article 38 of the "Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law", which was revised and passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for the second time in August 2015, stipulates that "urban people's governments may designate and publish high pollution fuel prohibition zones, and gradually expand the scope of high pollution fuel prohibition zones in accordance with the requirements for improving atmospheric environmental quality", and clearly states that "the directory of high pollution fuels shall be determined by the competent environmental protection department of the State Council". Compiling a directory is a legal requirement for implementing the newly revised "Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law", and also a prerequisite and basis for urban people's governments to formulate (revise) the management of high pollution fuel combustion zones in the new situation.

Q: What are the main characteristics of the Catalogue?

Answer: The catalog introduced this time has strong operability. It is a comprehensive consideration of fuel quality, combustion methods, and environmental impact, categorizing and grading fuels to form a prohibited fuel combination within the prohibited combustion zone, rather than simply creating a one size fits all list catalog. Due to the vast territory of our country, whether it is Beijing, Shanghai, Lanzhou, or small and medium-sized cities, their atmospheric environment quality status and improvement goals, clean energy supply, and economic affordability are all different. In addition, different fuels must be comprehensively analyzed with their utilization methods and pollution control facilities in order to objectively evaluate their impact on the environment. The directory, as the basis and basis for delineating and managing non combustible zones, must be applicable to all cities in the country in order to truly implement it. The practice of classification and grading can well meet this requirement.

Highlighting key points and clarifying positioning is another prominent feature of the directory. This catalog specifies conventional fuels such as coal and its products, oil, etc. used in production and daily life. Industrial waste and garbage, agricultural and forestry residues, and auxiliary fuels such as charcoal used in the catering industry are not within the scope of catalog control. The catalog is only applicable to the management of high pollution fuel non combustion zones designated by urban people's governments in accordance with the law, and does not serve as a basis for non combustion management or other management of fuels outside the non combustion zones.

In the future, with the improvement of fuel quality, combustion methods, and environmental management needs, the catalog will also be revised and updated in a timely manner according to the actual situation.

Q: What are the main contents of the Catalogue?

Answer: According to the degree of strict control, the catalog categorizes the fuel combinations prohibited from use in the prohibited combustion zone into three categories. The level of control for Class I is average, while Class II is more stringent, Ш Class is the strictest. The urban people's government chooses one type according to local conditions in the management of prohibited combustion zones.

For Petroleum coke, Oil shale, crude oil, heavy oil, residual oil and Coal tar, as their direct combustion causes serious pollution to the urban atmospheric environment, they are included in the control scope of Category I, II and III in the catalog. For coal and its products, considering that coal is still the main source of urban energy consumption in China, and the energy structure cannot be fundamentally changed in the short term, promoting clean utilization and large-scale combustion of coal is an effective means to improve the quality of urban atmospheric environment. Therefore, taking into account product quality and combustion methods, we have classified coal and its products into three strict categories for control.

In the first category, considering the low level of large-scale coal use in some cities in the central and western regions, from the perspective of encouraging clean coal utilization, it is proposed to include coal with sulfur content greater than 0.5% and ash content greater than 10% that is burned by boilers and civilian coal-fired equipment with a single output of less than 20 steam tons/hour in the prohibition range. Among them, the volatile content of briquette, coke, and coke cannot exceed 12%, 5%, and 10%, and there is no requirement for the ash content of briquette.

In the second category, from the perspective of improving the level of large-scale coal combustion, it is proposed to include coal fired except for boilers with a single output greater than or equal to 20 steam tons/hour in the prohibited combustion range. The large-scale burning of coal is conducive to adopting comprehensive control measures to meet emission standards, even reaching ultra-low emissions, and can install automatic online monitoring systems for real-time monitoring.

Class III, in large cities like Beijing, where there is an urgent need to improve the quality of the urban atmospheric environment, there is a strong economic support capacity and sufficient supply of clean energy. In urban combustion zones, it is possible to choose to ban the use of all coal.

In recent years, some cities have chosen to use biomass briquettes as a substitute for coal due to the supply and cost issues of clean energy such as natural gas during the renovation process of coal-fired boilers, and the usage is constantly increasing. Biomass formed fuel belongs to renewable energy, and we encourage its use. However, in the current situation where the industrialization standard system for biomass formed fuel has not been established and there is a lack of equipment, products, engineering technology standards and specifications, there are still many problems in using biomass formed fuel. Therefore, under the strictest control requirements of Class III, we have standardized the combustion method of biomass briquette fuel, which requires that it must be burned in a biomass briquette dedicated boiler equipped with high-efficiency dust removal facilities such as a bag filter.

It should be emphasized here that we absolutely do not prohibit or restrict the use of biomass briquettes. On the contrary, under standardized combustion methods, we encourage development, and the goal is to promote the healthy and orderly development of the biomass briquette industry in accordance with the requirements of the 13th Five Year Plan for Biomass Energy Development.

Q: How can cities make good use of the Catalogue?

Answer: Article 38 of the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law stipulates that the urban people's government is the responsible entity for designating and promulgating high pollution fuel burning ban zones. The urban people's government is not only the delineator but also the manager of the high pollution fuel ban zone. Due to significant differences in the current status of atmospheric environmental quality, improvement goals, economic affordability, and clean energy supply among different cities, urban governments should adhere to the principle of seeking truth from facts to designate non combustible zones within urban areas, select fuel combinations in the catalog according to local conditions, and strive to act within their capabilities and steadily advance.

At the same time, in the management of urban high pollution fuel prohibition zones, it is necessary to fully leverage the role of the directory, starting from improving the urban energy structure, and vigorously promote the production and use of clean energy. And if conditions permit, gradually expand the area of the non combustible zone. Only in this way can we truly improve the atmospheric environment quality of our city.