At the regular session of the Cabinet of Mongolia on December 4, 2024, Uchral Nyam-Osor, Head of the Cabinet Secretariat of Mongolia, presented measures aimed at reducing carbon emissions and providing clean energy in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia.

The population of Ulaanbaatar has increased by 27 percent over the past 10 years and tends to exceed 2.5 million by 2030 if this growth rate continues. Eighty percent of Ulaanbaatar’s air pollution is attributed to stoves used by households in ger districts and steam boilers operated by businesses and institutions. Ten percent comes from the more than 500 thousand vehicles on the roads, while the remaining portion is caused by other sources such as thermal power plants, ash ponds, road dust, and open waste. Although various measures have been implemented in recent years to reduce air pollution, the intended results have not yet been achieved.

Currently, the level of CO2 greenhouse gas emissions in Ulaanbaatar city exceeds the permissible limit by 30.7 percent, posing risks to public health. Alleviating carbon emissions through adopting clean energy or new decentralized energy sources, utilizing advanced and internationally qualified technologies, is being explored as a solution. This is an effective way to reduce air pollution in Ulaanbaatar in the short term. Most cities have adopted liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as a thermal energy source, demonstrating that it is clean, safe, accessible, non-toxic, and more efficient. In Ulaanbaatar, it is feasible to implement such a project in three phases at the ger districts.

In connection with the presentation, the Cabinet assigned Minister of Energy of Mongolia Choijilsuren Battogtokh, and Governor of the Capital City and Mayor of Ulaanbaatar Nyambaatar Khishgee to study options for establishing decentralized energy systems in Ulaanbaatar and increasing installed capacity. They were also tasked with identifying solutions to provide households in ger districts with advanced energy sources, reducing their reliance on refined coal briquettes.