MONGOLIA, 1st NATIONAL WORKSHOP

Economics of Climate Change and Low Carbon Growth

Strategies in Northeast Asia

GHG mitigation options and technology

needs assessment

B.Namkhainyam - Professor, Mongolian University of

Science and Technology

Ulaanbaatar 2010-04-14
 Content
1. Analysis of the GHG emission at the
national level

2. Technology needs assessment by each sector

3. GHG mitigation potentials

4.Selection of priority options

 Main Features of Mongolia:
 Mongolia - unique by extreme continental climate with
temperature drops down to -30oC ~-40oC;
 Vast territory: huge distance between aimag and soum
centers. This results in high energy loss at electricity
transmission network;
 About 40 percent of the country’s population live in the
capital city;
 Main economic sectors are only food and light industry;
 Industrial sectors are weakly developed;
 Major raw material of energy production is brown coal and
all of liquid fuel is imported. No reserves for natural gas;
 Large resource of uranium and nuclear energy production.
 TECHNOLOGY NEEDS
ASSESSMENT BY SECTOR
 ASSESSMENT OF TECHNOLOGY NEEDS
IN ENERGY SECTOR
A high priority goal of the energy sector is to reduce fuel
consumption. In other words, the sector focuses on Assessment of
Technology Needs and aims to develop and introduce advanced new
technologies those can meet increasing demand of energy by burning a
significantly less amount of fuel.
CO2 emissions from fuel combustion per TJ in North East Asian
Countries is shown in below figure
Sources and Generation scheme
of Mongolian energy sector
 Energy Efficiency
About 23 per cent of overall used fuel at the country’s level is used for electrical power
generation and outstanding amount goes to meet heat demand. This fact shows how
important is heat energy for the country along with its significance.

Heat produced from fuel

combustion 100 %

Loss during Loss during Loss during Efficient Use

production 40 % transportation 5 % consumption 10 % 45 %

At the production level of energy, 45 per cent of heat generated from fuel burning is lost to nowhere.
Loss generated during heat energy transmission (transportation) and consumption is shown in scheme.
From the study conducted, it was estimated that only 45 per cent of heat that can be generated from
overall fuel burning is used in efficient way.
 Energy efficiency of Combined heat
and power plants (CHP)

Central Energy System (CES)

 The Mongolian Central Energy System (CES) is the utility responsible for
generation and distribution of electricity and heat throughout the interconnected
grid and the principal entity responsible for supplying energy to about one half
of the population of Mongolia.
 The main power generation plants in Mongolia are coal–fired thermal power
plants because of abundant resources of coal. Five coal-fired thermal power
plants in CES. The existing thermal power plants are also designed for co-
generation of not only electricity but also steam production for district heating
and process steam for industry.
 Combined Heat and Power Plants (CHP) plays major part in country’s power
supply generating 98 per cent of electricity and 70 percent of district heating
systems.
A current level of specific fuel consumption of electricity generation for CHP, 370-
400 gram CE/kWh, shows the outdated condition of the technologies we use.
Specific fuel consumption for electricity generation is a major criterion of the
heat supply efficiency. This level is still higher by 80-100 gram CE/kWh
compared to Russian CHPs.
 For improvement of production efficiency in the Central
Energy System, the below measures are essential:
Energy supply:
 To replace power plants of the National Grid gradually with
ones with higher productivity and cleaner technologies and
stop ones impossible to upgrade;
 In case of urgent need to build a new electrical energy source
of the country level, to build one of below mentioned types of
power plants/stations according to the principle of improving
structure of the energy network:
1. Hydropower plants with higher capacity;
2. Water-tank electrical power station;
3. Nuclear power plants;
4. Wind power stations.

Significant amount of GHG emission reduction is

expected from above measures
 Medium and small capacity heating boilers

 There are approximately 20 steam and 30 HOB boilers with

coefficient efficiency =0.7-0.8 in 13 provincial centers, where
district heating system is available.
 Average design heat load of one aimag is 10-15 MW.
 If to break down the reasons of high level of heat price, which is
about USD 20-30/GCal (as of 2006):
 Application efficiency coefficient of boilers are below- 600…715
kg coal is required to produce one Gcal of heat. If to compare this
with district heating, then it is 3…3,5 than latter one;
 At the present time, approximately 20 coal mining sites located in
80-350 km, even in 480 km from urban areas, are running in
operation. Transport expense compromises about 60-80 percent of a
total coal price.
 Furnaces and Coal Stoves

 70% of the total population lives in gers and houses

which utilize 330-360 thousand furnaces/stoves.
 Approx. 50% of the residents in large cities/province
centers live in apartments, and the remainder lives in
gers or houses. Approx. 180 000 furnaces/stoves in
large cities/province centers utilize only coal for
heating.
 The efficiency of stoves in houses and gers are the
same as 30%-40%.
 One of main air pollutants in Ulaanbaatar city is the
Ger. One ger household in large cities/province
centers burn 4.3 tons of coal and 1.5 tons wood per
year.
 Renewable Energy Resources on Mongolia

 Renewable energy resources that have the potential to

play important role in energy balance of the country are
solar, wind hydro, and geothermic energies.

 These resources have not yet been utilized to their full

capacity in energy production.

 The Mongolian Government has placed considerable

emphasis on the development and utilization of
renewable energies such as wind and hydropower and
solar energies.
 Motors and Drives
 Motor systems consume about 70% of industrial electricity in
Mongolia.
 Motor systems are less efficient than motor systems in
industrialized countries. Electric motors and drives are generally
oversized and badly maintained and resulting in significant decrease
in the efficiency.
Audits estimated the load of such machinery to be as low as 20-30%,
typically resulting in efficiencies in the range of 50-60%. For
efficiency to be achieved, this must be more than 80% for properly
designed and maintained motor-installations.
Technologies to improve motor efficiency include the following:
 Utilizing new energy-efficient motors;
 Improvements in the power factor;
 Use of variable speed drives;
 Correction of previous over sizing;
 Improved mechanical power distribution; and
 More efficient driven equipment.
Heat Consumption of Mongolia
and Its Structure

7%

1%
Building heating

steam for industry

domestic hot water

92%
 Building Insulation Technology

Currently, buildings are poorly insulated and heat loss is high..

Inability of residents to regulate temperature inside of their homes
contributes to the inefficiency.
Houses, in particular, have relatively higher heat losses. According the
study, the heat conductivity rate for houses is lower than the
standard rate (construction heat technique Building Norm and Rules
(BNaR) 2.0.03-93). In comparison with current standards, it is
lower by 2-3 times showing that most of the houses have a higher
than average rate of heat loss.

 By applying standard building insulation, we can reduce

annual coal consumption by 1.2-1.4mln tonnes or 25 percent.
 Introduce control & measuring devices into energy
consumption of Apartments
In Mongolia, about 30 percent of the country’s population lives in
public apartments connected to the central heat supply network.
None of those apartments have heat meters and their heating fee and
price is calculated based on fixed tariff that does not reflect the
amount of heat used. Additionally, these apartments do have
thermostats that allow residents to adjust their own heat
consumption. Residents simply open their windows when indoor air
temperatures are too high in order to let out the warm air.
The introduction of meters to track consumption of heat and a billing
mechanism to charge residents accordingly in conjunction with the
installation of thermostats allowing apartment residents to
individually adjust their heat will result in significant energy
savings.
 ASSESSMENT OF TECHNOLOGY NEEDS
IN THE TRANSPORT SECTOR
Currently, the following types of transportation are
available in Mongolia:
 Road transportation;
 Railway;
Currently the Mongolian railway is executing 96.0
percent of national freight
 Aviation; and
 River and inland water transportation (but this sub-
sector is relatively undeveloped).
 ASSESSMENT OF TECHNOLOGY NEEDS
IN AGRICULTURE
Grazing of livestock is the major form of land use in Mongolia and has been
the traditional way of life for Mongolians for thousands of years. Grazing
of large herds of horses, sheep, and goats has played a large role in
determining the vegetation cover and species composition of the
grasslands. There are a total of more than 40 million head of domestic
livestock in Mongolia. This increase in livestock numbers is causing
overgrazing in certain places and has led to a marked overall decline in
adult fertility and survival of young stock.

The best ways to combat pasture degradation and desertification are:

 To follow the traditional pastoral livestock breeding principle (as
ecologically pure production);
 To support the intensive livestock production entities in crop production
zones;
 To determine the optimal structure and carrying capacity of livestock in a
given area, for example goats’ number; and
 To improve the pasture utilization management.
GHG mitigation options
 GHG mitigation options in Energy sector
Energy Supply sector:
Electricity
 Improve efficiency of the existing CHPs
 Improve Structure Source of Central Energy system (CES)
 Increase renewable energy share in generation of electricity
and heating
 Utilize nuclear power energy
Heating
 Install new designed boilers with high efficiency in areas
which not connected to the central power grid;
 Replace the boilers located in remote soums (in distance
over 150) from coal mines but connected to the central
power electricity grid, with electric boilers or heat pumps;
 Install water treatment facilities at all boilers
GHG mitigation options in Distribution
System
 Improve motor efficiency
 Improve building insulation
 Introduce control & measuring devices into
energy consumption of Apartments
 Improve efficient lighting
 Improve steam systems (heat use of steam
condensate )
 Non--energy sector
Non
Transport sector
◦ Hybrid vehicles;
◦ Eliminate traffic problems in Ulaanbaatar;
◦ Modal shifts from road transportation to rail and
public transport systems (subway);
Agriculture sector
 To limit increase of total livestock number
 Natural regeneration
 Plantation forestry
Waste sector
 Landfill methane management
 GHG mitigation options in transport sector
The use of advanced technologies in the Mongolian transportation sector is low. For
example:
1. Diesel locomotives are used in railway transportation. Because many of the
locomotives are old and inefficient, fuel compsumption is high. One possible
solution would be to install an electric railway system and use electric locomotives
which would result in the following:
 Increases in efficiency of railway transportation; and
 A reduction in fuel consumption.

2. Automobile fuel consumption is increasing because of the importation of Japan-made

vehicles which are typically 9 years of age and older. The following technologies
could help improve fuel efficiency in the transportation sector:
◦ Hybrid vehicles;
◦ Eliminate traffic problems in Ulaanbaatar;
◦ Modal shifts from road transportation to rail and public transport systems
(subway); and
◦ Increase vehicle service to improve fuel efficiency.
 Thank YOU
for your kind attention!