China's top economic planning body said Wednesday that cities of Beijing and Tianjin as well as Hebei Province in north China must slash coal consumption to reduce air pollution.
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Total coal consumption in 2017 will be reduced by 63 million tonnes from the level in 2012 in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement.
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Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province will respectively see coal consumption reduced by 13 million tonnes, 10 million tonnes, and 40 million tonnes in 2017 from the 2012 level.
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The reduction will involve elimination of outdated production capacity and use of cleaner energy such as hydro, nuclear, wind and solar.
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Hebei Province cut coal consumption by 15 million tonnes in 2014, the first time that coal consumption in the province dropped year on year.
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With coal being substituted by cleaner energy such as gas, key air pollution indicator PM2.5 dropped 4 percent last year in Beijing.
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An air pollution guideline issued in 2014 aims to cut the share of coal in total energy consumption to below 65 percent by 2017.Â