06-02 China

Just imagine living in a place where you put on a gauze mask leaving your home to protect yourself from the smog and pollutants caused by burning coal.
This is what happens in areas of China where coal is used not just to create electricity, but for cooking and heating.
In 1985, while touring China, I saw bicycles used for transporting coal door to door. I asked about these round discs of coal and was told they were created from the fine dust that is removed when coal is washed to make it look pretty for export purposes. The dust and water are compacted to create a product that serves the domestic market.
And during our China tour we never visited the provinces that are the major centres for coal mining. How about Shanxi and Shaanxi. How about Inner Mongolia. Not tourist destinations.
This photo shows workers at a small private mine, doing whatever. Very labour-intensive, very dirty, and for those working underground, very dangerous.
This is the China problem. A nation where provincial authorities that are good party members can override national authority.
So, when the national authority is busy shutting down coal mines, provincial authorities are just as busy opening them up. And on top of about 30,000 legal mines, there are thousands of illegals. And don’t forget the six million workers.
So much for the issue of climate change and reducing the carbon footprint of coal around the world. The massive coal production and consumption of coal in China seems to be a monstrous unsolvable issue.
Here is an interesting bit of information. China represents 46% of the world’s production of coal, but 51% of the world’s demand. So, China must import coal and the major sources are Australia, the United States, Russia, India, Indonesia, North Korea and yes, Canada.
As someone who was a power engineer in a former life, my concern was not about carbon dioxide, which is the clean stuff you send up the flue. It was about reducing the carbon monoxide in the exhaust which meant more carbon dioxide. And more carbon dioxide meant that you were getting more heat out of your fuel. And this is what is going on in China. Making coal-fired power plants more efficient.
And on top of that they are taking a lead in technologies to remove the real “poo that goes up the flue”. Stuff like sulphur dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.
And don’t forget coking or metallurgical coal, which the world needs to produce coke that is critical in the production of steel. Chinese coke is exported to the world.
If I was to make an educated guess, China’s contribution to global warming will come from outlawing the internal combustion engine, not closing its coal-fired power plants.
All the nations that are big producers of energy have the China political problem. Determining where and how they can let the economics of renewables overpower the politics of the fossil fuel industry. Fighting the good fight, of course, with anti-carbon environmental sincerity.