Page 24 - bne IntelliNews magazine February 2025

24 I Companies & Markets bne February 2025
Smog back with a vengeance in Ulaanbaatar
Michael Kohn
The Mongolian government is set to step up efforts to reduce air pollution in Ulaanbaatar weeks into a public health crisis that has left large parts of the capital city shrouded in thick smog.
Officials say the high levels of air pollution could be caused by briquettes burned by some residents to heat their homes. The briquettes, made by Tavan Tolgoi Fuel, are being quality tested in laboratories abroad.
The government has, meanwhile, drawn up a list of activities to cut air pollution, including curbing vehicle use, improving home insulation and expanding the use of natural gas to reduce reliance on coal.
Ulaanbaatar has grappled with wintertime air pollution for decades. The point source for most of the smoke is thousands of chimneys poking out of private homes in so-called ger districts. These unplanned neighbourhoods sprawl in every direction and lack central heating, so the only way to fend off the bitter cold in winter is by burning coal in stoves.
Smog also comes from the city’s massive Soviet-era coal- burning power plants, which work overtime in winter to heat and provide power to apartments across the city, and from vehicle exhaust emissions. According to government statistics, 55.6% of the smog comes from the ger districts, 28.9% from vehicles and 15.5% from heating boilers, power plants and other sources.
Ulaanbaatar is the world’s coldest capital. Nighttime temperatures in winter can dip below minus 30 Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit). On the coldest days, particulate matter-2.5 (PM-2.5) air pollution levels are 27 times the level that the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends as safe.
Processed briquettes became available to the public a few years ago. They gave residents an alternative to raw coal, an initiative that helped to improve air quality in ger districts. But the smog has come back with a vengeance this winter.
The dangerous PM levels, which regularly reach over 400
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Massive Soviet-era coal-fired power plants are to blame for a significant part of the smog (Credit: Chinneeb, cc-by-sa 4.0)
(hazardous) on the air quality index in some parts of the city, have sparked public protests, with calls for government accountability. An online petition demanding that officials act was signed by over 71,000 people.
At a cabinet meeting late last month, Prime Minister Oyun- Erdene Luvsannamsrai ordered ministers to step up efforts to reduce pollution. Officials visited the soot-filled Tavan Tolgoi briquette processing plant in the Gobi Desert, and identified in a report the challenging conditions and high levels of dust inside the plant.
The Oyun-Erdene cabinet has since increased efforts to limit coal burning and vehicle use. Police have been ordered to crack down on illegal imports of raw coal. A freeze on issuing licence plates for imported cars is also in place.
“Ulaanbaatar has grappled with wintertime air pollution for decades”
A group of cabinet members and other officials recently announced a series of other measures they said would help reduce air pollution. Orders were issued to remove coal- burning furnaces from schools in some areas and replace them with gas furnaces.
Natural gas is mainly methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. It is, however, a relatively clean-burning fossil fuel that results in few air pollutants.
Another action plan will create “chimney-free zones”, with bans on wood or coal burning. The city aims to connect 40,000 homes to liquefied natural gas (LNG) lines in these areas.
Ulaanbaatar also wants to speed up construction projects that replace ger districts with apartment complexes. The city has already made some progress in this effort. The percentage