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H
EAT SUPPLY MANAGERS
need sound scientific informa-
tion on which to base their decisions. In order to
achieve this, in 2000 the Beijing Meteorological Bureau
has initiated a study of the benefits of meteorological services,
focusing on energy saving in the heat supply market, particu-
larly during the winter months. Through preliminary
applications in the heat supply market, the findings of this study
have been proven to have clear impacts on the heating sector.
The meteorological information can be used as a basis for
household heating management. Also targets for both energy-
saving and pollution reduction are achievable through the
provision of dedicated meteorological services. On average,
approximately CNY 100 million Yuan (USD12.5 million) can be
saved annually in the heating sector alone.
Basic features of the heat supply in Beijing
Normally, the winter heating season begins on 15 November
every year, and ends on 15 March the following year. However,
according to the climatic situation at the time, these dates can
vary. In so-called ‘warm winters,’ the intensity of heating levels
weakens to a larger extent and, in general, it seems that the
length of annual heat supply is being shortened.
Although more clean energies (e.g. hydro-power, natural gas,
etc.) are being progressively used and overall power or gas
consumption is increasing, municipal heating still depends
mostly on coal burning, and annual coal consumption is up to
eight million tons. Coal burning is a major source of sulphur
dioxide and suspended particles, and therefore it is also the
main source of air pollution during the winter in Beijing.
Outstanding issues in the application of meteorological
information to the heating sector
A number of factors have an impact on the heat supply and energy
saving.The heat supply industry has yet to attach enough impor-
tance to the potential of meteorological services in this context. At
the same time, meteorological information is too generalised to
target the sector, and thus gives it an inaccurate description of
changing weather. Another main factor is the irrational schedule
of heat supplies, which often leads to a waste of energy.
More specifically, a public weather forecast gives the daily
maximum and minimum temperatures. The average of these is
the mean daily temperature, and its deviation from the situ
mean temperature differs by one degree Centigrade, and in some
cases even by two or three degrees Centigrade. Obviously, such
information leaves too much doubt to be used as a basis for
adjusting both inflow and outflow heat temperatures.
The public weather forecast is so inadequately refined that it
cannot be downscaled to cover all temperature differences at
Meteorological services and the social
and economic benefits of energy saving
in the Beijing heat supply
Xie Pu and Duan Yuxiao, Beijing Meteorological Bureau, Beijing, China
A total of 800 tons of coal has to be burned in order to keep households warm enough within the Beijing municipality