Applicability evaluation of clean heating technologies in rural areas in northern China: a case study in Beijing

In order to effectively improve the regional atmospheric environmental quality, China has launched large-scale rural clean heating renovation projects in the northern region, mainly from coal to electricity and coal to gas. How to choose a technically feasible and economically acceptable clean heating technology path is a key issue for the sustainability of clean heating renovation. Based on field survey data in rural areas of Beijing, the applicability of four rural clean heating technologies was evaluated from two dimensions of economy and comfort, the applicable conditions of various technologies were summarized and the suggestions on the choice of rural clean heating technologies were proposed. The results showed that: The air source heat pump had low operating cost and good comfort, which was suitable for various areas where the temperature was not lower than −20 ℃ in winter. The gas wall-hung boiler operation cost was slightly higher than the air source heat pump and had good comfort, which was suitable for plain and semi-mountainous areas close to gas pipelines or gas stations, and it was applicable to various climate and temperature ranges. Energy storage heater had high operating costs and poor comfort, which was suitable for rural areas where the winter temperature was close to urban areas, or areas of urban-rural junctions and small farm houses. The ground-source heat pump was best implemented in conjunction with government-funded projects, with lower operating costs, better comfort, and was suitable for areas where the geological structure was suitable for well construction and there was enough space for underground pipes. It was suggested that the rural clean heating work should be based on the long-term perspective, select clean heating technologies according to local conditions, and strive to reduce the operation cost of clean heating for farmers, while improving the reliability of rural clean heating power and natural gas supply.