Source: EIA

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released an alarming statistic about China’s consumption of coal. The statistics released on January 29^th show that China consumes almost as much coal as the rest of the world combined.  China alone consumed 3.8 billion tons of coal in 2011 while the rest of the world only consumed 4.3 billion tons. If these trends continued through last year, as seem likely, that means that China could already be consuming more than the rest of the world.

China is responsible for 82% of the world’s growth of coal use since 2000. Rapid economic growth and a rising middle class in China have contributed to a surge in energy consumption.  The EIA projects the growth trends will continue, and as a result, by 2017 coal will surpass oil as the world’s largest source of energy.

The burning of coal is responsible for 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions. But this is not just a global problem: the air pollution in China is getting worse, but coal consumption is not likely to slow down. Coal is one of the main contributors to manmade climate change. A more immediate concern is the local air pollution caused by coal-fired power plants, which is responsible for the air pollution which we see in countries such as China and India.

The EIA data comes on the heels of recent images emerging out of Beijing, showing unprecedented smog, which is extremely dangerous for humans to inhale.

The air quality index rates fine particulates in the air and it rates levels between 300 and 500 as “hazardous”.  Beijing’s air quality index soared off the charts with a rating of 755.

However, with the Chinese government concerned with maintaining high levels of economic growth, rapid coal consumption is likely to continue. China controls the third largest coal reserves, and its 3.7 billion tons of coal produced last year is enough to make it the world’s top producer. However, since its demand for coal is growing quickly, China has also become the world’s largest importer of coal.

Source: NASA

Because of public pressure caused by the current smog problem in Beijing and the new reports on China’s coal use, the Chinese government may be forced to take steps to reduce coal use. Pan Shiyi, a real estate tycoon in Beijing, asked his 14 million blog followers whether they believe China should adopt a strict clean air act. Ninety nine percent of people who replied were in favor of adopting an act of this sort.

The government has taken some initial steps to reduce air pollution in and around the capital. Since the air quality ratings skyrocketed, officials have shut down over 100 factories, taken about 30% of official vehicles off the road, and plan on removing roughly 180, 000 old, polluting cars off the roads.

Coal fired power plants make up 79% of China’s power and with more economic and population growth, this is likely going to continue to be a problem that China deals with for many years.

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