The potential co-benefits for health, economy and climate by substituting raw coal with waste cooking oil as a winter heating fuel in rural households of northern China

Nan Zhao; Bowen Li; Huan Li; Gang Li; Rucong Wu; Quan Hong; Philbert Mperejekumana; Shan Liu; Yuguang Zhou; Riaz Ahmad; Ali Mohammed Ibrahim Zayan; Crispin Pemberton-Pigott; Renjie Dong

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2020.110683

The potential co-benefits for health, economy and climate by substituting raw coal with waste cooking oil as a winter heating fuel in rural households of northern China

Environ Res. 2021 Mar:194:110683. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.110683. Epub 2021 Jan 13.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Bioenergy and Environment Science & Technology Laboratory, College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100083, China; Key Laboratory of Clean Production and Utilization of Renewable Energy, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China, Beijing, 100083, China; National Center for International Research of BioEnergy Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Beijing, 100083, China.
² School of Material Science and Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, 100048, China; Key Laboratory of Processing and Quality Evaluation Technology of Green Plastics of China National Light Industry Council, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, 100048, China. Electronic address: ligang@btbu.edu.cn.
³ Bioenergy and Environment Science & Technology Laboratory, College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100083, China; Key Laboratory of Technology and Model for Cyclic Utilization from Agricultural Resources, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing, 100125, China. Electronic address: liu610shan@cau.edu.cn.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Clean Production and Utilization of Renewable Energy, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China, Beijing, 100083, China.
⁵ Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Omdurman Islamic University, Omdurman Province, Khartoum State, 11111, Sudan.
⁶ National Center for International Research of BioEnergy Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Beijing, 100083, China; School of Geo- and Spatial Sciences, Private Bag X6001, North-West University, 2520, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
⁷ Key Laboratory of Clean Production and Utilization of Renewable Energy, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China, Beijing, 100083, China; National Center for International Research of BioEnergy Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Beijing, 100083, China; Yantai Institute, China Agricultural University, No. 2006 Binhai Zhonglu, Laishan District, Yantai, Shandong Province, 264670, China.

PMID: 33450236
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.110683

Abstract

The toxic emissions from coal combustion associated with domestic winter heating requirements are an important public health issue. Waste cooking oil (WCO) holds promise as a means of reducing pollutant emissions thereby improving human health with the co-benefit of decreasing climate-forcing gas emissions by avoiding the combustion of mineral coal. With an annual production of ~2.17 Mt of WCO in Northern China, it could be used to meet the winter heating demand of ~3.25 million rural households, offsetting ~9.83 Mt of raw coal consumption. Through the adoption of coal-to-WCO shift in rural regions of 15 provinces, approximately 15.0%, 15.6%, 15.9% and 13.7%, respectively of CO, PM_2.5, SO₂ and NO_X emissions would be eliminated. It is estimated that such a change would remove the respective contributions of these pollutants to the premature deaths of respectively, 63,400, 29,300, 173,00 and 31,300 rural residents. Such a positive health impact on the labor cohort would reduce the loss of labor supply and work time, as well as producing billions of RMB in economic benefits. WCO-based heating technology has the same effect on the reduction of GWC₁₀₀ value as other modern energy carriers while also being cheaper and sustainable, long term. Reducing household emissions by substituting raw coal with green energy is a vital strategy to support pathways for sustainable environment design. The results of this work for the coal-to-WCO shift can reinforce the support for coal phase-out in China.

Keywords: Clean heating; Green combustion; Household emission; Waste cooking oil; Waste recycle.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants* / analysis
China
Coal* / analysis
Cooking
Heating
Humans
Particulate Matter / analysis

Substances

Air Pollutants
Coal
Particulate Matter