Clean and efficient use of coal is a major mission entrusted to coal by the country, a key measure to systematically promote the green and low-carbon development of coal throughout the entire process and throughout the life cycle, an important support for achieving the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, and a bottom-line guarantee for ensuring national energy security. Based on the characteristics of my country's energy and resource endowment, clean and efficient use of coal will continue to play the role of three bottom-line guarantees: "scale guarantee", "transformation guarantee" and "risk guarantee". Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Transport and the National Energy Administration jointly issued the "Opinions on Strengthening the Clean and Efficient Utilization of Coal" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"), which systematically deployed the clean and efficient use of coal, and is of great significance to strengthening the clean and efficient use of coal in the new era, supporting the green and low-carbon transformation and development of energy, and ensuring national energy security.

1. Keep pace with the times and scientifically define the connotation of clean and efficient use of coal

Accurately grasping the connotation of clean and efficient use of coal is the prerequisite and basis for promoting clean and efficient use of coal. The "Opinions" scientifically defines the connotation of clean and efficient use of coal. With the continuous deepening of the development positioning of coal in the new era, the connotation of clean and efficient use of coal has also been continuously enriched. In the early 1990s, in order to solve the environmental problems arising from the coal utilization process, my country established a leading group for the development and promotion of clean coal technology, issued the "Ninth Five-Year Plan for China's Clean Coal Technology and the 2010 Development Outline", and studied and proposed relevant scopes in my country's clean coal technology field, including coal processing, clean coal burning and power generation, coal conversion, pollutant control and comprehensive resource utilization, etc. It was the earliest to establish the development framework for the clean and efficient use of coal in my country, and clarified the connotation and direction of the development of clean and efficient use of coal.

After more than 20 years of development, the country has regarded the clean and efficient use of coal as an important task to promote the transformation of green and low-carbon energy, and the connotation of clean and efficient use of coal is constantly deepening. The "Opinions" defines the clean and efficient utilization of coal as a large clean and utilization system covering the entire industrial chain of development and utilization, and focuses on keywords such as "scope", "cleanness" and "efficiency". The "scope" covers the entire process of coal development, production, storage and transportation, and use; "cleanness" is reflected in multiple effects such as energy conservation, pollution reduction, and carbon reduction. On the basis of reducing pollutant emissions, it reduces damage to the ecological environment, improves the level of clean production, increases the supply of high-quality clean products, and reduces carbon emissions; "efficiency" is reflected in the high efficiency of clean production and transformation, as well as the high efficiency of economy, society, and environment.

2. Systematic planning, layout clean and efficient use of coal from the entire industrial chain

The "Opinions" adhere to problem-oriented and systematic concepts, and systematically layout the entire industry chain of production, supply, storage and sales, such as green exploration, production capacity layout, green intelligent development, clean storage and transportation, diversified and efficient use. First, at the production end, achieve high-quality coal development. Increase efforts to conduct green and fine exploration of coal mines to provide geological guarantees for coal development and production capacity continuation; achieve safe, green and efficient development of coal through green mining, intelligent mining and ecological restoration. The second is to realize clean coal transportation. Strengthen the construction of direct railway access and rail-water transport logistics channel network, and build special coal transportation highways according to local conditions. The third is to ensure emergency supply of coal at the reserve end. By establishing reserve bases, production capacity reserves, etc., we will improve the safety guarantee capacity of coal supply to cope with extreme weather and special periods. Fourth, the consumer side, achieve diversified and efficient utilization of coal. A high-end development path for major coal-consuming fields such as coal-fired power, metallurgy, building materials, and coal chemical industry is proposed.

3. Highlight key points and continuously improve the level of clean and efficient use of coal

First, improve the level of green and intelligent coal development. Green and intelligent coal development is a key measure to ensure high-quality coal supply. In terms of green coal development, the "Opinions" clearly define the concept of green development and the principles of intensive and large-scale development throughout the entire process of coal mine exploration, design, construction and production. The coal industry continues to promote the promotion and application of green development technologies, which not only ensures coal supply but also increases green and reduces carbon, and promotes coal mines with conditions to achieve positive benefits in the ecological environment of the mining area. In terms of intelligent coal development, the "Opinions" clearly state that it is necessary to accelerate the intelligent development of coal mines. At present, the intelligent development of some key coal mines in my country is generally at the world's leading level, and has led the intelligent development of world coal mines in some aspects, but it is still in its early stage overall. The intelligence of coal mines is a process of continuous development, continuous improvement and iteration. It is still necessary to strengthen the deep integration of digital and intelligent technology with the coal industry, further improve the level of intelligent mining of coal mines, and promote the transformation of coal development and utilization methods.

The second is to improve the accuracy and intelligence level of coal washing, selection and quality improvement. Improving the level of coal washing and processing, accurately adapting and flexible supplying high-quality coal products that meet user needs and have stable quality is a prerequisite for improving the level of clean and efficient utilization of coal on the user side. Although my country has achieved remarkable results in coal washing and processing, it still faces problems such as fluctuations in thermal coal selection rates, unbalanced development of coal preparation plants, the need to improve coal preparation equipment, and the degree of intelligence of equipment needs to be improved. There is still a long way to go in terms of refined and intelligent washing and processing. It is still necessary to strengthen the integration of "Internet +" and other technologies, improve the intelligence level of washing and selection processing, and accelerate the upgrading and transformation of washing and selection facilities.

The third is to improve the efficient and clean utilization of coal as fuel. my country's coal is mainly used through combustion, including thermal power generation, industrial boilers and civilian heating. In recent years, due to the correct guidance of national policies and continuous breakthroughs in technical achievements, my country's clean and efficient coal-fired power generation technology level is at the world's leading level, and coal-fired unit parameters, energy efficiency indicators, and pollutant emission indicators have all entered the world's leading rankings. In order to achieve the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, continuously improve the parameters and efficiency of coal-fired power units, adapt to the requirements of low-carbon cleaning, and adapt to the flexibility of large-scale development of new energy, it is an important direction for the future development of coal-fired power. At present, it is still necessary to strengthen the research and development of key low-carbon power generation technologies such as biomass doping, urinary ammonia doping, carbon capture, storage and utilization, and improve the efficient, flexible, clean and low-carbon level of coal-fired power generation.

Fourth, promote the use of coal as a raw material. Coal is transforming from fuel to coupling of fuel and raw materials. Some coal cleaning conversion technologies have been at the forefront of the world, and coal chemical industry has entered a period of rapid development. Modern coal chemical industry is responsible for the task of making up for the insufficient oil resources and ensuring energy security. The "Opinions" clearly propose to "promote the high-end, diversified and low-carbon development of the coal chemical industry". In terms of "high-end", we will give full play to the characteristics of coal and produce raw material products that are difficult to obtain or require high costs for petroleum refining, further enrich the types of coal-based oxygen-containing compounds, and greatly enhance the high added value of the products. In terms of "diversity", we will promote the further development of the downstream industrial chain of coal chemical industry, do a good job in extending and replenishing the chain, increase the development of new products, and promote the diversification of raw material routes and process routes. In terms of "low-carbonization", the source carbon reduction is achieved through measures such as combining green electricity, green hydrogen, green oxygen and coal chemical industry, process carbon reduction is achieved through measures such as innovative reaction paths, precise synthesis of high-performance catalysts, and targeted regulation of reaction processes, and product carbon reduction is achieved through technological research and improvement of conversion efficiency. At the same time, western my country has rich oil-rich coal resources. We should accelerate the promotion of the quality and grading utilization of oil-rich coal, realize the hierarchical extraction and transformation of various components in oil-rich coal, improve the comprehensive efficiency and benefits of coal utilization, reduce the emission of various pollutants and greenhouse gases, and provide a strategic way to increase my country's independent supply of oil and gas. (Author: Wu Lixin, Zhao Luzheng, Institute of Coal Industry Planning and Design)