Biomass will help solve China’s winter heating crisis

China has announced a five-year plan to convert the country’s northern cities to clean heating through to 2021, according to Reuters, citing Chinese state media. The announcement comes amid a worsening heating crisis in the country.

The plan sees the government make “concrete arrangements” for heating in the northern cities, the Securities Times reports. Biomass heating is one of the methods incorporated into the emergency plan, alongside geothermal, solar, gas and electric heating.

China has been badly hit by severe natural gas shortages, causing prices to rocket throughout the country and hitting both residents and businesses. These shortages came in the middle of a government campaign to switch millions of households and businesses from coal to natural gas.

Reuters reports that PetroChina began diverting 7 million cubic metres of natural gas from the southern province of Guangdong to northern China to ease gas shortages as the region is hit by sub-zero temperatures.

10 government agencies, including China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NRDC), announced the new heating plan, according to the Securities Times.