From coal to natural gas: analyzing PM2.5 concentration changes caused by district heating plant fuel switch

Abstract

Kragujevac is one of the biggest industrial and educational centers in the Republic of Serbia with more than 150000 citizens. For many years this city has struggled with intensive air pollution caused by particle matter (PM), consequently influencing the environment, citizens' health, and life quality. One of the biggest sources of pollution in this city is the heating plant which was powered by coal until heating season 2022/2023, and from heating season 2022/2023 it operated using natural gas. By utilizing a machine learning approach, this study analyzes how the transition of the heating plant from coal to natural gas affected the PM2.5 pollution.