In August 2022, with the support of Energy Foundation China, Tsinghua University completed this research report on how to phase out residential scattered coal use in the rural areas of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which is one of the biggest coal producing provinces in China.

After reviewing the current situation and problems of rural scattered coal consumption in Inner Mongolia, the report puts the region’s typical types of household layout and winter heating usage into four different categories, and presents a comprehensive quantitative evaluation index system for identifying the best technical alternatives to scattered coal use. The report also proposes a technical pathway and corresponding policy recommendations for how to replace rural scattered coal consumption with cleaner options in Inner Mongolia for the 14th Five-Year Plan period of 2021–2025 and in the longer term.

Accompanying the technical solutions, this report also comes up with viable business models, in support of the clean heating transformation in the vast rural areas of the northern China province.