Coal Dependency Hits Environment

[one...two...tree 2,762]

By MICHAEL CASEY/AP

(TAIYUAN, China) — It takes five to 10 days for the pollution from China's coal-fired plants to make its way to the United States, like a slow-moving storm.

It shows up as mercury in the bass and trout caught in Oregon's Willamette River. It increases cloud cover and raises ozone levels. And along the way, it contributes to acid rain in Japan and South Korea and health problems everywhere from Taiyuan to the United States.

This is the dark side of the world's growing use of coal.

Cheap and abundant, coal has become the fuel of choice in much of the world, powering economic booms in China and India that have lifted millions of people out of poverty. Worldwide demand is projected to rise by about 60 percent through 2030 to 6.9 billion tons a year, most of it going to electrical power plants.

But the growth of coal-burning is also contributing to global warming, and is linked to environmental and health issues including acid rain and asthma. Air pollution kills more than 2 million people prematurely, according to the World Health Organization.

"Hands down, coal is by far the dirtiest pollutant," said Dan Jaffe, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Washington who has detected pollutants from Asia at monitoring sites on Mount Bachelor in Oregon and Cheeka Peak in Washington state. "It is a pretty bad fuel on all scores."

To understand the conflict over coal, look at Taiyuan and the surrounding Shanxi Province, the country's top coal-producing region — and one of its most polluted.

Almost overnight, coal has turned poor farmers in this city of 3 million people into Mercedes-driving millionaires, known derisively as "baofahu" or the quick rich. Flashy hotels display chunks of coal in the lobby, and sprawling malls advertise designer goods from Versace and Karl Lagerfeld. Real estate prices have doubled, residents say, and construction cranes fill the skyline.

A museum in Taiyuan celebrates all things coal. Amid photos of smiling miners, coal is presented as the foundation of the country's economic development, credited with making possible everything from the railroad to skin care products.

"Today, coal has penetrated into every aspect of people's lives," the museum says in one of many cheery pronouncements. "We can't live comfortably without coal."

Yet the cornstalks lining a highway outside the city 254 miles southwest of Beijing are covered in soot. The same soot settles on vegetables sold at the roadside, and the thick, acrid smoke blots out the morning sun. At its worst, the haze forces highway closures and flight delays.

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1681239,00.html

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Nuclear power looks like a better option every day,

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Nuclear power looks like a better option every day,

Is China building nuclear power plants?

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Nuclear power looks like a better option every day,

Is China building nuclear power plants?

yup. They are more likely to recycle their fuel too. Something we stopped years ago.

* Mainland China China has eleven nuclear power reactors in commercial operation, five under construction, and several more about to start construction.

* Additional reactors are planned, including some of the world's most advanced, to give a fivefold increase in nuclear capacity to 40 GWe by 2020 and then a further three to fourfold increase to 120-160 GWe by 2030.

* The country aims to become self-sufficient in reactor design and construction, as well as other aspects of the fuel cycle.

* Electricity demand is growing very rapidly.

* Mainland China is starting to rely heavily on imported uranium to fuel its nuclear power program.

http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf63.html

[Jasman0717 9]

I remember going to the coal mine with I was a kid. I hated coming home though, had to shovel the damn stuff into the coal bin

[JODO 2]

I remember going to the coal mine with I was a kid. I hated coming home though, had to shovel the damn stuff into the coal bin

Thinks about the coalminer's daugher song

[Jamie76 0]

It has been estimated that China would need to build 6,000 1,000MW nuclear power plants by 2050 to keep up with current and future demands. They have plans to build an addition 500-550 coal fired power plants in the near future. I hope their nuclear power plant designs are not based on old, outdated technology. With an additional 500+ coal fired power plants I can almost taste the mercury