[Chinese state subsidized electricity is nationally mandated to be just 8¢ per kiloW hour. The residents are further subsidized for electrical use under their socialist housing. In the US, it can be as high as 31¢ per KWh. . . Or as low as 11¢. In addition, some cooking is done with barbecue grills, using charcoal, on balconies. More sulfur dioxide released as people stay home and cook. ]
And it actually stands to reason. Relative to incomes, housing is very expensive in China. Pork is about $3.50 a lb there. They can’t use motorcycles because they’re banned in most cities, cars are more expensive in absolute terms, gasoline costs more because of onerous gasoline taxes, cars are subject to road taxes and hefty registration fees - bottom line is that there is no excess income left for frivolities like home heating, on incomes that are 1/6 or 1/7 of US levels.
Not true. When a large percentage of a population eats at a communal kitchen at work, or at a restaurant, or even a street vendor, the amount of SO2 will be significantly lower as most of those cooking stations will be powered either by gas or electricity, not charcoal. A multitude of single source cooking devices from multiple apartments are nowhere as efficient as large scale cooking stations. It just is much more efficient to cook large amounts of food than to cook for individuals or for small groups. That is common economics.