A Cost Benefit Analysis of a Fuel Switching Project in a Chinese City: A Case Study

As one of the top five most seriously polluted cities by acid rain in the southwest of China, Nanchong was selected as one of 18 pilot cities of China for Clear Energy Action (CEA) by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and China National Science and Technology Ministry (NSTM) from 2001-2005. We analyze and discuss the economic, social, and environmental significance and impacts of the substitution of coal with natural gas in Nanchong. Nanchong city is one of eighteen cities that have been selected by the Department of Science and Technology and UNDP cooperative project for "applying technology of sanitary energy sources, decreasing ability of atmosphere polluted of city." The amount of polluting substances in Nanchong’s atmosphere has been reduced significantly as a result of the project that replaced coal with gas, carried out from 2001 to 2008.