[Marxism] China coal contradictions

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

NY Times June 11, 2006
The Energy Challenge
Pollution From Chinese Coal Casts a Global Shadow
By KEITH BRADSHER and DAVID BARBOZA

HANJING, China ? One of China's lesser-known exports is a dangerous brew of 
soot, toxic chemicals and climate-changing gases from the smokestacks of 
coal-burning power plants.

In early April, a dense cloud of pollutants over Northern China sailed to 
nearby Seoul, sweeping along dust and desert sand before wafting across the 
Pacific. An American satellite spotted the cloud as it crossed the West Coast.

Researchers in California, Oregon and Washington noticed specks of sulfur 
compounds, carbon and other byproducts of coal combustion coating the 
silvery surfaces of their mountaintop detectors. These microscopic 
particles can work their way deep into the lungs, contributing to 
respiratory damage, heart disease and cancer.

Filters near Lake Tahoe in the mountains of eastern California "are the 
darkest that we've seen" outside smoggy urban areas, said Steven S. Cliff, 
an atmospheric scientist at the University of California at Davis.

Unless China finds a way to clean up its coal plants and the thousands of 
factories that burn coal, pollution will soar both at home and abroad. The 
increase in global-warming gases from China's coal use will probably exceed 
that for all industrialized countries combined over the next 25 years, 
surpassing by five times the reduction in such emissions that the Kyoto 
Protocol seeks.

The sulfur dioxide produced in coal combustion poses an immediate threat to 
the health of China's citizens, contributing to about 400,000 premature 
deaths a year. It also causes acid rain that poisons lakes, rivers, forests 
and crops.

The sulfur pollution is so pervasive as to have an extraordinary side 
effect that is helping the rest of the world, but only temporarily: It 
actually slows global warming. The tiny, airborne particles deflect the 
sun's hot rays back into space.

But the cooling effect from sulfur is short-lived. By contrast, the carbon 
dioxide emanating from Chinese coal plants will last for decades, with a 
cumulative warming effect that will eventually overwhelm the cooling from 
sulfur and deliver another large kick to global warming, climate scientists 
say. A warmer climate could lead to rising sea levels, the spread of 
tropical diseases in previously temperate climes, crop failures in some 
regions and the extinction of many plant and animal species, especially 
those in polar or alpine areas.

Coal is indeed China's double-edged sword ? the new economy's black gold 
and the fragile environment's dark cloud.

Already, China uses more coal than the United States, the European Union 
and Japan combined. And it has increased coal consumption 14 percent in 
each of the past two years in the broadest industrialization ever. Every 
week to 10 days, another coal-fired power plant opens somewhere in China 
that is big enough to serve all the households in Dallas or San Diego.

To make matters worse, India is right behind China in stepping up its 
construction of coal-fired power plants ? and has a population expected to 
outstrip China's by 2030.

Aware of the country's growing reliance on coal and of the dangers from 
burning so much of it, China's leaders have vowed to improve the nation's 
energy efficiency. No one thinks that effort will be enough. To make a big 
improvement in emissions of global-warming gases and other pollutants, the 
country must install the most modern equipment ? equipment that for the 
time being must come from other nations.

Industrialized countries could help by providing loans or grants, as the 
Japanese government and the World Bank have done, or by sharing technology. 
But Chinese utilities have in the past preferred to buy cheap but 
often-antiquated equipment from well connected domestic suppliers instead 
of importing costlier gear from the West.

The Chinese government has been reluctant to approve the extra spending. 
Asking customers to shoulder the bill would set back the government's 
efforts to protect consumers from inflation and to create jobs and social 
stability.

But each year China defers buying advanced technology, older equipment goes 
into scores of new coal-fired plants with a lifespan of up to 75 years.

"This is the great challenge they have to face," said David Moskovitz, an 
energy consultant who advises the Chinese government. "How can they 
continue their rapid growth without plunging the environment into the abyss?"

full: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/business/worldbusiness/11chinacoal.html


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