China to close coal-fired boilers

It's part of the process to transform energy use from coal to gas.

Beijing has promised to eliminate most coal-fired boilers in the city center by the end of 2015 to reduce pollution from fine particulate matter.

It plans to cut another 1.4 million tons this year and use no more than 21.5 million tons after reducing coal use by 700,000 metric tons last year. Beijing used 26.35 million tons of coal in 2010, the government said.

The city still has a large number of coal-fired central heating boilers that emit huge amounts of coal dust and noise during the heating season or winter.

The city's Environmental Protection Bureau is taking action and has said it will replace coal-fired boilers within the Fourth Ring Road with clean energy by the end of 2015.

All coal-fired boilers with a capacity of generating 20 tons of steam per hour and above will be replaced with clean energy by the end of 2015.