On a typical night in December, Chen Lizhen sits in front of a TV in her apartment in Shanghai, fullyÂ
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dressed in a thick coat and sipping a cup of hot tea.
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As the weather girl on TV cheerfully reminded her audience of another cold front already on the wayÂ
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from somewhere in the far north, the face of the 51-year-old former textile worker turned bleak.
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"It means great discomfort in the coming week, and there is nowhere to escape (from the cold), even ifÂ
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you stay indoors," said Chen, glancing at the thermostat on the wall that registered a temperature of aboutÂ
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8 C.
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"Sometimes I envy people living in the north because their rooms are very warm in winter because of theirÂ
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central heating system," said the woman, who, like hundreds of millions of residents in the south of China,Â
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has to rely on devices such as electric heaters to keep warm in winter.
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Although the heavily subsidized central heating service provided to northern families may not be aÂ
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universal solution to all living in the south, it is at least an option, she said.
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The call to expand government-backed heating services to the south has never been as loud as this year,Â
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when the coldest winter in 28 years hit the country.
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The mercury has been at an average of -3.8 C around China since November, or 1.3 degrees lower thanÂ
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the average for this period.
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Along with the individuals who have been shivering through the cold and damp winter weather in theirÂ
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southern homes, People's Daily and Xinhua News Agency have urged regional authorities to take action,Â
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with the media outlets' calls being interpreted as a view that is supported by the central government.
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The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said on Wednesday that decentralized andÂ
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regional heating systems are encouraged in areas that have sweltering summers but cold winters.
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These areas involve regions in 14 provinces or municipalities in the south with a population of about 100Â
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million, Xinhua quoted an unidentified ministry official as saying.
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In these areas, residents are more uncomfortable than those living in the north when the mercuryÂ
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plummets below 5 C outdoors, and it is necessary to provide these regions with heating services, theÂ
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ministry said.
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The National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, said earlier this monthÂ
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that it has set up a research group to study the feasibility of a heating program in the south.
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"It is the first time the issue was raised at the national level," said Lin Boqiang, head of the China CenterÂ
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for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University.
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A geographical line drawn in the 1950s to divide China into southern and northern parts has long beenÂ
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outdated and should be scrapped, he added.
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But the question is: Where will the governments in the south find an energy source, and who will bear theÂ
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costs of putting the heating facilities in place?
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The Housing and Urban-Rural Development Ministry said electricity and renewable energy-poweredÂ
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heating should be promoted in the south, and the use of coal and a centralized heating system, both ofÂ
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which are in the north, should be discouraged.
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The annual burning of 26 million metric tons of coal — which will happen if the south copies the traditionalÂ
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highly centralized heating system in the north — will discharge 73 tons of carbon dioxide, 52,000 tons ofÂ
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sulfur dioxide and 12,000 tons of dust into the atmosphere, according to the ministry.
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But it did not specify if there will be any subsidies from governments to help develop costly renewableÂ
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energies such as wind, hydropower, geothermal, solar and tidal.
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Natural gas is another alternative and seems more practical in the south, but analysts said strongerÂ
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demand from China may rattle international energy markets and push up prices of liquefied natural gas.
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Most regional authorities said they have yet to research the subject, suggesting there will not be anÂ
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immediate solution to the problem of heating in the south in the future.
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Nanchang, capital of East China's Jiangxi province, is one of the handful of local governments to haveÂ
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encouraged heating powered by renewable energy.
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But only an area of around 1 million square meters — a tiny share of its total area in the city with 5 millionÂ
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permanent residents — is heated by solar or geothermal energies.
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The Qinling Mountains and the Huaihe River have long been recognized as the geographical line dividingÂ
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northern and southern China. It is also where the government drew a line to decide where they wouldÂ
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provide central heating when fuel of all kinds was in short supply.
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But the frequency of extreme weather caused by global warming has blurred this outdated geographicalÂ
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line, and prompted questions on whether it is proper to provide government-backed heating services onlyÂ
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in northern areas, including Beijing and Tianjin, for up to six months a year.
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Also, economic prosperity has enriched regional governments and significantly raised the living standard ofÂ
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a large segment of the population.
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Most urban residents live in nicer homes than they previously did, and their aspiration for a better qualityÂ
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of life is expected to intensify in tandem with rapid economic growth.
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There's no doubt that government-backed heating services are needed in the south, experts said. ButÂ
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rather than a universal solution such as a highly centralized heating system powered mainly by coal, theÂ
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heating method in the south should take into account climate characteristics, energy structure and lifestyle.
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A highly centralized heating system requires a huge investment, consumes huge amounts of energy andÂ
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generates a large amount of waste, said Jiang Yi, director of the Center for Energy Saving Studies atÂ
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Tsinghua University. In this model, about a third of the heat is wasted during the transmission process inÂ
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the pipes.
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In Beijing, heating is provided for about four and a half months, and the heating plant can use the rest ofÂ
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the year to check heating installations and repair pipes, he said.
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However, the shorter period of cold weather in the Yangtze River Delta region and the southern areasÂ
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will mean the heating plants spend a longer time lying idle, and could lead to a high depreciation rate ofÂ
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installation, he added.
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Also, people in southern China like to open windows in the winter. If the heating system is applied andÂ
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residents keep this habit, the energy consumption will be massive, he said.
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Coal provides the bulk of the energy in the north, but natural gas is more popular in southern areas. AÂ
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sharp rise in the use of the fuel because of heating demands will result in a major increase on the price ofÂ
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liquefied natural gas on international markets, analysts said.
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If authorities develop a natural gas-powered central heating system in the south, China will see a jump inÂ
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demand for LNG and push up the demand from Asia, said Wu Libo, executive director of FudanÂ
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University's Center for Energy Economics and Strategies Studies.
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"There would be a head-on competition for more imports and pricing power with countries like Japan andÂ
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South Korea," she said.
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It's estimated China needs to import 49.9 billion cubic meters of gas in 2013. The world's top LNGÂ
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importer, Japan, whose nuclear industry has been crippled since the 2011 Fukushima incident, will need 72Â
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billion cubic meters in 2013, Goldman Sachs forecast.
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"If there is a rapid increase of demand for LNG from China, a great leap of the fuel's price onÂ
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international markets is expected," Wu added.
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Experts have also called for more allowances from governments to develop renewable energy-backedÂ
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heating methods.
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Some areas in the south have developed community-based heating systems. One of them, Anting newÂ
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township in suburban Shanghai's Jiading district, offers a peek into the pros and cons of the servicesÂ
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fueled with natural gas.
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It is one of a handful of communities in Shanghai with in-built heating, which it has had since 2006.
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When the wind was howling outside in mid-January, residents remained comfortable in 24 C rooms.
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However, Li Man, general manager of the service provider Anting New Township Energy TechnologyÂ
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Service, said the system generates a lot of wasted energy.
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The occupancy rate at the community stands at about 40 percent, she said. But as long as one householdÂ
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is using the service, the boiler needs to work at full capacity.
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"When the majority of the families may not want the heat, the heat is still supplied in the pipes and the costÂ
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is the same to offer the heat to one household as it is to the entire building," she said.
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The system consumes a huge amount of energy every year. The community needs about 1 million cubicÂ
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meters of natural gas for heating in winter and cooling in summer.
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The fuel is transported from Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region under the country'sÂ
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West-East natural gas transmission project.
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There will be a huge demand for natural gas if the 20 million residents in Shanghai are offered a similarÂ
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service, Li added.
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Environmental concerns are forcing authorities to think about a clean heating approach in populous citiesÂ
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like Shanghai, Wuhan and Nanjing, especially after heavy smog and haze shrouded a large swath of ChinaÂ
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earlier this month as air pollution hit record levels.
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Environmentalists attributed the heavy concentration of PM2.5 — air particles smaller than 2.5 micronsÂ
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and able to enter the lungs and even the bloodstream — to industrial emissions, car exhausts and coalÂ
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burning for winter heating.
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As some provinces in the north are dismantling small heating boilers and replacing them with greenÂ
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systems to reduce air pollution, the simple duplication of coal-powered heating system may bringÂ
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disastrous environmental problems to the south, experts said.
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Zhou Rong, the project manager on climate and energy studies at Greenpeace, an environmental NGO,Â
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said southern provinces will soon be enveloped in smog similar to what the north experienced earlier thisÂ
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month if it develops a heavy reliance on coal as the major source of central heating.
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"The murky hazes that hit the northern parts of the country, such as Beijing and Hebei province, is partlyÂ
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caused by the surge of coal used in the central heating system," she said.
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Studies show that PM2.5 is most prevalent in the combustion of coal, she added.
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Sun Ming, Asia-Pacific representative for Clean Air Task Force, a non-governmental environmentalÂ
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consulting firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, advocated for better technology to reduce emissions ifÂ
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coal has to be used.
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"With an increase of 10 to 15 percent on costs to improve technology, pollutants emissions from coalÂ
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burning can be greatly decreased," he said.
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Compared with the harm caused by air pollution, rising costs, to some extent, are a good deal, he said,Â
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adding that authorities should set concerns about temporary economic losses aside.Â