Abstract
This article critically examines the Coal to Clean Heating Project (CCHP) implemented in rural northern China from a policy process perspective. On the one hand, CCHP is an effective environmental policy that has reduced a large quantity of low quality bulk coal; on the other hand, however, it has created mounting socio-economic and political challenges, pushing the well-intended project into a deep dilemma. Moreover, existent discussions tend to attribute the dilemma to the “inappropriate implementation” of street-level bureaucrats. Through the lens of policy process, this article identifies key features of five critical temporal stages of CCHP: agenda setting, policy formulation, policy implementation, policy evaluation and policy adjustment. It illustrates that the policy process of CCHP has followed a politics-administration-dominated approach characterized by both positive attributes such as rapid resource mobilization and efficient implementation, and negative factors such as deficient policy design, overuse of mandatory instruments, and neglect of social acceptance. The major challenges that CCHP currently faces are identified, and policy implications are proposed based on the insights drawn from the policy process perspective. It concludes by highlighting the complexity of energy transition and the strength of linking energy transition research with a policy process perspective.
Highlights
The long-standing coal-dominated energy structure has made China the largest coal consumer in the world (Wang and Li, 2016), and a prominent contributor to the severe air pollution in contemporary China (Ma et al, 2017; Xie et al, 2020)
As of 2020, more than twenty five million rural households have been taken into the mega project (MEE, 2020a). 43 municipal cities from Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region (BTH) and other key regions of air pollution have been selected as pilot sites for Coal to Clean Heating Project (CCHP)
The rapid promotion of CCHP epitomizes the forceful resolution of the Chinese government in addressing mounting environmental crises
Summary
The long-standing coal-dominated energy structure has made China the largest coal consumer in the world (Wang and Li, 2016), and a prominent contributor to the severe air pollution in contemporary China (Ma et al, 2017; Xie et al, 2020). Selection of the Dominant Technological Models As reviewed in Historical Background and Practical Progress of Coal to Clean Heating Project, CCHP was not taken as a major measure between 2013 and 2016 by either the central government or local governments. The report advocated coal-to-electricity and coal-to-gas transition of residential heating as major measures to reduce consumption of civil bulk coal in BTH rural region, in order to achieve the target of the 2013 Action Plan by 2017 (CAE, 2016). A more practical approach is to improve building insulation and utilize clean briquette (together with advanced stoves) to replace bulk coal in rural areas (Kou, 2017; Tao, 2019) These scientific suspicion was marginalized in the policy formulation of CCHP. Pressure from every layer of administration would push their lower level
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