CHINA: Coal in China reigns supreme despite increasing evidence of global warming

Record ID: 216890

  • Title: CHINA: Coal in China reigns supreme despite increasing evidence of global warming
  • Date: 3rd February 2007
  • Summary: WOMAN STOKING FIRE INSIDE HOISE CLOSE OF COAL BRIQUETTE BURNING WOMAN PUTTING KETTLE ON STOVE
  • Embargoed: 18th February 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Industry
  • Reuters ID: LVA5XFGUCB80R6BW08RHEAKL85QV
  • Story Text: Coal is still king in China - it fuels the nation's economic boom and keeps its people warm during long winters. But things may have to change as a new UN report on global climate change is likely to swing the spotlight onto China and other major greenhouse gas emitters. On the outskirts of Beijing the Gaojing power plant is running at full steam.
    Gaojing has been modernising its equipment in favor of "greener" technologies since 2004 - part of Beijing's effort to scrub itself clean of coal dust ahead of the 2008 Olympic games.
    It is one of an extensive chain of coal-fired power plants strung across the nation - generating 85 percent of China's electricity.
    Every week an average of one new coal-fired plant goes goes into business.
    At this rate China will overtake the United States by 2009 as the largest emitter of carbon dioxide - one of the main greenhouse gases that warm the planet.
    The United Nations will release a major report on global warming on Friday (February 2), and the heat will be on China and other major energy consumers to rein in rising greenhouse gas emissions.
    Environmentalists say years of blind industrialisation have wreaked environmental havoc - but there are signs of change.
    "They didn't take adequate protection in the early stages - it was focused totally on economic output. That recognition is changing fast, but I think it is going to take a number of years before we can start to turn that around. So I think the next few years are going to continue to be difficult. But hopefully that strong action - and certainly there has been some strong words - means that in the next five to ten years we will see some concrete improvements," said Dermot O'Gorman, Country Representative for WWF.
    China is making an effort. The nation has set a goal to cut energy consumption per unit of national income by 20 percent by 2010.
    And there are other emissions-combatting projects underway - by the end of 2007 coal boilers and furnaces in the city proper will be powered by gas or electricity.
    Residents are already feeling the winds of change.
    A small factory in the heart of Beijing continues to produce coal briquettes, which pollute the air. Every day, delivery man Li Guangzhong (pron: lee gwahng djohng) trundles down the narrow alleyways between old courtyard houses distributing the fuel to families that still have no access to centralised heating.
    But he has already seen business flagging.
    "Now the country is giving a new make-over to our cities. They are trying to make the city look better. So the amount of coal that people need is going to drop. How much coal I can deliver is not up to me now," Li says.
    But for now, it is the cheapest option for thousands of households.
    "I'd like a different way of heating as well. But everything comes down to money. I know how great electricity can be. It's warm, convenient and it's clean. But the thing that really matters to us is the price," said 62 year-old Lu Guolun (pron: loo gwoh lwin).
    Beijing residents in the city's oldest neighborhoods can stay warm by burning 800 to 1000 briquettes a winter season.
    At 0.7 yuan a pop (approx .09 USD), it is a bargain compared to electricity-run heating units.
    Not all the city's residents are clear about what global warming is, but they know that temperatures today just aren't what they used to be.
    "The weather is definitely getting warmer and warmer. It used to be so cold in the winter time. It has a lot to do with the environment changing, skyscrapers and car pollution. Before it was all flat here and the wind would just sweep through," said 55 year-old Chen Xiuyun (pron: chuhn hsee-oh ywin).
    Warmer temperatures could increase pressure on China's already scarce water resources, change its forestry industry, cause flooding along the coastline and massive melting of glaciers. It can also extend the range of diseases like malaria.
    But China is reluctant to slow its industrial machine. Top leaders rarely mention rising temperatures.
    China has ratified the Kyoto Protocol but it has resisted calls for a cap even on emissions growth -- although the International Energy Agency says it could be the top emitter by 2009.
    Chinese officials argue that most carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was produced by developed nations as they industrialised - and they have no right to deny the same economic growth to others.
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