中國放松限煤令

The Chinese government has relented on a policy that prevents citizens from burning coal to heat homes in China’s north, as cold weather and increased demand has driven up gas prices.

隨著寒冷冬季天氣來臨，對天然氣的需求增加拉高天然氣價格，中國政府放松了一項禁止中國北方居民燃煤取暖的政策。

China’s Ministry of Environment has told northern regions that have not converted to gas or electric heating that they are permitted to continue using coal for the time being.

中國環(huán)保部指示中國北方地區(qū)，還未完成采暖“煤改氣”或“煤改電”工程的地方可以暫時沿用燃煤取暖方式。

The push to switch industry and residences away from coal-powered heating — a move aimed at cutting the choking smog that blankets much of northern China — has caused rationing of natural gas in some provinces and a jump in prices.

讓工業(yè)和居民不再燃煤、改用其他能源取暖的舉措旨在緩解籠罩中國北方的令人窒息的霧霾。推行這一舉措已導致一些省份只能限量供應天然氣，天然氣價格也大幅上升。

State-owned China National Petroleum Corp, or PetroChina, has warned that it may be unable to guarantee supply if this winter is harsher than normal, while other energy companies have taken the expensive step of renting additional gas storage facilities off the north China coast.

國有的中石油集團(CNPC)警告稱，如果今冬天氣比往年更為寒冷，該集團有可能無法保障天然氣供應。其他能源公司不惜以高昂的成本在中國北方沿海租用額外的儲氣設備。

“Villages that have not converted to gas may still use coal for heating, or other substitute fuels,” the environment ministry said in a statement released on Thursday. It called for a stable gas supply to areas that had already converted to gas.

“凡屬沒有完工的項目及地方，繼續(xù)沿用過去的燃煤取暖方式或其他替代方式，”周四中國環(huán)保部在一封函件上寫道。這封函件要求已經(jīng)完成“煤改氣”工程的項目及地方確保氣源穩(wěn)定供應。

“Civilian use of gas must be prioritised over others, including industry,” it added.

“工業(yè)等領域用氣用電必須為民用讓路，”環(huán)保部的函件還寫道。

The earlier clampdown on coal usage is part of Beijing’s push to hit environmental targets this year. The plan to clean the air around Beijing involves moving heavy industry into the hinterland, or switching coal-dependent factories to gas or on to the electricity grid.

之前的限煤令服務于北京在今年達成環(huán)保目標的努力。潔凈北京附近空氣的計劃包括將重工業(yè)轉(zhuǎn)移至內(nèi)陸地區(qū)，以及在依賴煤炭的工廠推行“煤改電”或“煤改氣”。

As part of the plan, the port city of Tianjin has removed 10,000 coal-fired boilers over the past few months, while the province of Hebei, which rings Beijing, has removed 33,000.

在該計劃下，港口城市天津在過去幾個月淘汰了1萬個燃煤鍋爐，而環(huán)京的河北省淘汰了3.3萬個燃煤鍋爐。

Authorities’ efforts to prevent rural homeowners from burning low-quality coal has varied between provinces. The Beijing government offers homeowners lower overnight electricity rates from 8pm, which some migrant workers complain are not passed along by their landlords, forcing them to forgo heat to save money.

各省市當局禁止農(nóng)戶燃燒低品質(zhì)煤的舉措各不相同。北京市政府調(diào)低了實施了“煤改電”改造的用戶的夜間電價。一些外來務工人員抱怨，他們并沒有享受到這一優(yōu)惠政策，房東為了省錢逼迫他們別開電暖器。

In Shandong province and the mountains north of Beijing, villagers can buy cleaner-burning coal in place of the briquettes made from coal powder that are normally used. Indoor air pollution from those briquettes contributes more to illness and death than outdoor pollution, according to the World Health Organization.

在山東省和北京以北的山區(qū)，村民可以購買無煙煤，代替常用的用煤粉制作的煤塊。據(jù)世界衛(wèi)生組織(World Health Organization)稱，燃燒這些煤塊造成的室內(nèi)空氣污染比室外污染更可能導致疾病和死亡。

In Hebei province, officials have converted 149,000 homes to electric heaters as of November 10, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

官方的新華社稱，在河北省，截至11月10日，官員們已為14.9萬戶家庭完成“煤改電”采暖改造。

In villages in southern Hebei, confiscation teams comprised of local government officials went door-to-door to force residents to switch away from coal, according to a local homeowner surnamed Li. “They take your briquettes and the heater and after that they don’t care. It’s up to you,” he said, adding that many neighbours had little option but to purchase electric heaters.

在河北南部的農(nóng)村，一位姓李(音譯)的當?shù)剞r(nóng)戶說，當?shù)卣賳T組成的收繳隊挨家挨戶地強迫居民放棄使用燃煤取暖。他說：“他們沒收你的煤塊和爐子，然后他們就不管了。自己看著辦吧。”他補充稱，他的許多鄰居別無選擇，只能購買電采暖器。

However, some local governments around Hengshui had chosen to turn a blind eye to the use of charcoal by homeowners, Mr Li said. “They can’t freeze every peasant in Hebei!”

不過，李姓村民說，衡水周邊的地方政府選擇對居民燒炭取暖睜一只眼閉一只眼。“他們總不能讓河北的農(nóng)民都挨凍!”

Additional reporting by Archie Zhang 張祺(Archie Zhang)補充報道