Straw Burning Becomes a Tough Problem for Air Pollution Prevention and Control

After the “National Day” holiday, many places in northern China were once again hit by smog. This round of smog made agricultural straw burning the “target of public criticism” and once again focused public attention on this difficult problem for government management.

Every autumn, as the grain harvest draws to a close, rural areas in various places enter the peak period of straw burning. The Ministry of Environmental Protection reported that over the past two weeks, 862 suspected straw-burning fire points were monitored across 20 provinces (regions), an increase compared with the same period last year, and the situation for pollution prevention and control is severe.

China is a major agricultural country and produces hundreds of millions of tons of crop straw every year. Burning the straw left after harvest is a long-standing disposal method in rural areas. First, it saves the trouble of transporting it during disposal; second, it is quick and clean and also convenient.

Although there are few public statements clarifying the direct relationship between straw burning and the currently relatively severe smog, its pollution of the atmosphere is obvious. Chai Fahe, vice president of the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, said that when meteorological diffusion conditions are unfavorable, concentrated straw burning will contribute to the occurrence of smoggy weather.

Although governments at all levels have issued bans to “block” it and used policies to guide straw utilization, it is still difficult to prohibit burning during the concentrated straw-burning periods in autumn and spring. Previously, people in Liaoning, Henan and other places were detained, fined or even sentenced for causing major fires by burning fields; some places designated straw-burning prohibition zones and organized personnel to “block” straw burning, but the effect was not ideal.

In Heilongjiang Province, a major grain-producing area, corn is in the harvest period. A farmer in Shuangcheng District, Harbin, said that local straw burning is concentrated from late October to early November. Because some people have not yet finished harvesting the grain in their fields, “it has not been burned yet.”

The farmer said that some straw is bundled and taken home to burn as firewood, and the rest that is not used is burned. There is no way not to burn it, otherwise it will affect farming the next year. Last year, people watched during the day to stop burning, so they went to set fires in the latter half of the night, lit a fire and left.

Other major grain-producing areas have entered the peak period of straw burning. The Ministry of Environmental Protection's report on the 18th said that judging by the intensity of straw-burning fire points, the top 5 provinces ranked by the average number of fire points per thousand hectares of cultivated land were, in order, Liaoning, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan and Jilin.

An official in Suihua said during a discussion with the environmental protection department that straw burning is very difficult to completely prohibit at the grassroots level. On the one hand, farmers lack awareness and play hide-and-seek with village cadres; on the other hand, grassroots law enforcement has no basis, making the work relatively difficult and even aggravating contradictions between grassroots cadres and the masses.

Some experts estimate that the amount of straw that currently cannot be utilized in China and is therefore burned accounts for about 30 percent of the total. The reason this portion of straw is difficult to handle can only be that it is not economically worthwhile. Compared with burning, the cost of collection, transportation and treatment is too high, so farmers would rather risk being caught and paying a fine to set fires.

Governments at all levels have consistently used policies, subsidies and other means to guide the use of straw as feed, fertilizer, substrate for growing edible fungi, fuel and so on, hoping to develop related industries that drive farmers, enterprises and others to benefit from straw utilization and solve the burning problem. However, some industries and enterprises survive on fiscal subsidies and become “bonsai” after subsidies are withdrawn, lacking market vitality and departing from the original purpose of straw utilization.

Heilongjiang Chenguang Energy Co., Ltd., which targeted the market prospects of straw, has since this year produced only straw solidification molding equipment and provided technical solutions, while giving up its own chain of making molded fuel. The company had previously set up a base to make straw briquettes, but affected by lower prices for coal and other energy sources, straw as an energy source had no cost advantage, especially in the collection stage, where scattered straw brings relatively high labor and vehicle collection costs.

“Market-oriented behavior has not yet been established.” Song Yongchun, the company's general manager, said that the base they had previously established found it very difficult to see returns and was basically operating at a loss. Although they also enjoyed government subsidies, the survival of an enterprise does not depend on government support. Policy subsidies “can provide for one hunger, but cannot provide for a hundred meals.”

But many people are still optimistic about the prospects of straw utilization and continue to enter this field. Heilongjiang Huahui Bioengineering Co., Ltd. was just registered and established this month. General manager Xu Shanwen said: “The problems currently encountered in straw utilization are difficult to solve entirely by relying on limited subsidies. A more viable approach requires market-oriented behavior to explore and improve.”