In 2013, the Chinese government approved 15 large coal mining projects that will produce more than 100 million new tons of coal a year. The expansion will lead to a 2 to 3 percent growth in coal production over the next several years, even as the country announced moves to reduce the severe air pollution choking major cities such as Beijing.
Chinese officials will increase coal production while reducing pollution in population centers by closing outdated coal plants and creating huge “coal bases” that will mine and burn coal in remote regions of northwestern China, such as Inner Mongolia. Those bases, which will cost $8.9 billion to build, will generate electricity that will be transferred over an improved electricity grid to cities in China’s central and eastern regions.
Deng Ping, an environmental campaigner with Greenpeace, said the scale of the new coal bases is unprecedented for China, adding, “Despite the climate change pressure, water resource scarcity, and other environmental problems, the coal industry is still expanding fast in northwest China.”
Article appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360.
