China's heavy use of coal degrades global environment

The good news is that they realize it. The bad news is they’re dependent on coal as an energy source.” The costs, however, go far beyond China. The soot from power plants boosts global warming because coal emits almost twice as much carbon dioxide as natural gas. Researchers from Texas A&M University found that air pollution from China and India has increased in cloud cover and major Pacific Ocean storms by 20 percent to 50 percent over the past twenty years. “We know dust from factories in China, India, Mexico and Africa does not simply disappear; the wind brings it here,” said the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Bill Kovacs. Kovacs said overseas dust is adding to the number of counties that do not qualify for federal transportation funds because they are out of compliance with ozone standards. There are 192 countries in the world, and more than 100 of them do not meet the limit of 84 parts per billion. China alone contributes 3 to 5 parts per billion, estimates Daniel Jacob, professor of atmospheric chemistry and environmental engineering at Harvard University. Mercury, a byproduct of some coal-mining, is another major concern. The potent toxin falls into waterways and shows up in fish. Asia’s contribution to U.S. mercury levels has shot up over the past twenty years. Jacob estimated half of the mercury in the United States comes from overseas, especially China. “It’s a global problem and right now China is a source on the rise,” he said. “If we want to bring down mercury levels in fish, then we have to go after emissions in East Asia.”

China has closed some polluting factories and says it will retire 50 gigawatts of inefficient power plants, or 8 percent of the total power grid, by 2010, according to the Pew Center for Global Climate Change. The government has also mandated that solar, wind, hydroelectric, and other forms of renewable energy provide 10 percent of the nation’s power by 2010, and ordered key industries to reduce energy consumption by 20 percent. China, though, has fallen short of its national targets for using energy more efficiently, and coal remains a major energy source. Robert Schock, the director of studies for the World Energy Council, agreed that coal, cheap and abundant, will remain a crucial source of energy for many years and be crucial to improving living standards in developing countries. “Twenty-five percent of the world’s electric power is now generated by coal, and those plants are not likely to disappear overnight,” Schock said.