Effect of cleaner residential heating policy on air pollution: A case study in Shandong Province, China

Abstract

Coal-fired heating in winter is a primary source of air pollution in many countries. In northern China, the use of scattered coal for winter heating has led to severe environmental issues. In this study, we use a quasi-natural experiment in Shandong Province, China, to investigate the effectiveness of a cleaner heating transition policy. Specifically, we use a difference-in-differences approach to identify the effects of the cleaner heating transition policy on air pollution using high-resolution hourly data. Our findings indicate that implementation of the policy could effectively reduce air pollution by decreasing a PM2.5 by 7.32%, PM10 by 2.62%, SO2 by 3.98%, and NO2 by 4.67%. In addition, we used event study and a series of robustness checks to further support our findings. Notably, our findings indicate that implementation of the policy includes a spatial spillover effect, which differs according to the level of compulsory implementation and the distance to a city centre. Overall, our findings can help promote the application of a cleaner transitioning policy for the entire country and offer guidance for further policy development regarding the effective reduction of winter air pollution in the developing world.