HARBIN, China – The largest city of the Heilongjiang province, Harbin, in China’s northeast region, can get as cold as -40 degrees Celsius in the winter. Consequently, residents are heating their homes for almost half the year, however a problem arises because of their primary energy source: coal.
China is the world’s largest consumer of coal, with 70 percent of its energy fueled by it. These carbon emissions have dangerous and deadly consequences for the population, and highlight China’s growing air pollution problem.
These concerns have risen to new highs after a strike of cold air resulting in the simultaneous start up of heaters across the province. Moist air trapped the pollution at ground level causing a blanket of smog to settle on the city. Schools were shut down, buses were ordered off the roads, the airport was closed, and everyone wore face masks. And with winter quickly approaching, residents in the north are afraid of what is to come.
Studies currently show that these carbon emissions can shorten residents’ life spans by an average of five years. A study released in Nature Climate Change said that more than 500,000 lives could be saved globally each year by 2030 if the world took action to curb climate change. The study said that these would be most noticeable in China, and that ideally the use of fossil fuel would diminish and instead be replaced with nuclear and renewable energy.
Huang Wei, a representative from Greenpeace East Asia, stated that officials needed to focus instead on these long-term solutions, rather than stopgap measures.
“The situation will not change as long as China has an over 70 percent energy dependency on coal,” she said. “The long-term solution is to get rid of heavy energy-consuming industries.”
Greenpeace, an independent nonprofit campaign founded in the 1990s in Toronto is one of the leading NGOs working on campaigns to reduce sources of air pollution in China. They have been pushing to have the government update its Air Quality Objective — which is both outdated and below the standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO).
They’re also focusing on China’s coal use.
For the last ten years, in light of their industrial blossoming, China has been trying to brush their resulting environmental problems under the carpet. However, awareness for these causes has been rising lately, with news media reporting more on the causes and effects of pollution. China at the beginning of the year even announced a ban on new coal plants in three regions near Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.
Recently, the Chinese government has even approved nine large-scale projects that would turn coal into synthetic natural gas (SNG). However, while this might prove effective in immediately addressing China’s coal problem, it comes at a long-term environmental cost.
Chi-Jen Yang, a researcher at Duke University warns, “their near-sighted policy will lock them into a long-term unsustainable path of development.”
The Chinese, however, want immediate blue skies. And this can only be accomplished using stopgap measures.
In the meantime, on days when pollution is hitting record levels, “red alert” warnings will be given out. Schools will be shut down, and everyone is recommended to stay home. Alternating driving days will be implemented and while a lot of the kinks need to be ironed out, the Chinese government is taking steps in the right direction.
– Chloe Nevitt
Feature Writer
Sources: New York Times, Greenpeace, National Geographic
Photo: Primera