Coal Power and China

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This article was published in Nederlands Dagblad (daily journal) on Monday 28 July 2008.

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Coal Power in China: West Should Set Example

In China every month five new coal powered electricity plants open. That is a worrisome development. Yet, according to Sander Chan the alarming reports in Western media are often motivated sinophobia (fear of China) rather than by a real concern over climate change. The West should give better a better example.

by Sander Chan

China depends for about seventy per cent of its energy supply on coal power, a relatively CO2 intensive energy source. Every month on average five new coal plants open in China. Meanwhile China has overtaken the US as the world's largest CO2 emittor. The developments are gloomy, but alarming reports in Western media often seem to be motivated by sinophobia (fear of China) rather than a genuine concern about climate change. What are China's energy options and how can the West act to limit climate change?

Four out of ten Americans hold China responsible for increasing CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere, in spite of the fact that the average American makes many more SUV miles than an average Chinese. Also in Europe, critical voices are heard about China's role in climate change. Yet, average per capitat energy consumption in China is still only a third of Europe's, and a seventh of the average energy consumptionin the US. Moreover, a large part of China's energy use increase is due to industrial production for Western consumers.
Reports that China opens another coal power plant and thereby threatens the future of our planet are exaggerated and tendentious. What is not reported is the fact that China also closes a large number of coal power plants to replace them with more efficient ones. This raises suspicion that news reports are often incomplete and motivated by sinophobia.

Wind Power
Climate and the environment have steadily become policy priorities in China. The State Environmental Protection Agency has recently been promoted to ministrial level. China is also the first developing country to devise a climate policy plan, while a commission of high officials (with prime minister Wen Jiabao) oversees its implementation. China's renewable energy ambitions are high, even compared to many Western industrialised countries. Meanwhile China has become the fourth largest wind energy producer. Beijing recently raised its midterm objectives for wind-generated electricity from five to ten GW in 2010, because the earlier objective had already been met in 2007.
However, there are still plenty of reasons to worry. In spite of China's renewable energy ambitions, it still remains heavily dependent on coal power. The possibilities to increase the share of renewable energy are limited. Wind energy generation fluctuates, while China's electricity grids are built for a constant coal generated power; only two thirds of wind energy reaches the grid. 'smart grid' that can cope with fluctuating electricity supplies, requires sky high investments. Moreover, water power plants have increasingly become (politically) controversial. The construction of the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest, has raised criticism, both in China and abroad. Dams have devastated natural environment and caused massive evacuations. Since the Sichuan earthquake earlier this year, we know that dams are not as safe as the government claims. Hundreds of millions of Chinese live downstream of the Three Gorges Dam, so China risks unprecedented political disorder with so many stakeholders. For these reasons, it is very likely that coals remain the main electricity source for China on the mid and short terms. Moreover, coal is one of the very few natural sources that China is not short of (although China's production capacity is only slow catching up with its consumption, China has become a nett importer). Moreover millions of Chinese are employed in the coal and related industries. To avoid political unrest Beijing is bound to secure employment.
The high proportion of coal in China's energy mix is also the result of another policy priority: energy security. As China tries to ensure its future energy supplies, it does not only opt for sustainable, renewable options. For instance, China is extracting diesel fuel from coals, a CO2 and water intensive process. China's efforts to secure energy is also an international challenge. Human rights conditions do not hold China at investing vastly in energy rich countries like Sudan.

To Set an Example
What can we do in the West? It is impossible to require that China's quits the construction of coal power plants. Moreover, China's environment problems demand for radical political changes: more democracy and a better implementation of laws - which are matters that are certainly considered home affairs. However, international organisations, such as the European Union and the United Nations, can make the choice for renewable energy more attractive. Also bilateral collaboration can be useful for technological transfer and the dispersion of knowlegde. For instance, the US stimulates the use of captured methane in Chinese coalmines.
It is important to consider that a part of China's energy consumptio is ours. A large part of China's industrial production is for the Western consumer. It is therefore our responsibility to cricically reflect on our own production systems and consumption patterns. It is difficult to argue why China should not enjoy the comforts of an energy intensive society that the western world enjoys. The greatest challenge for western countries is the give a good example and switch over to renewable energy and energy saving. Current ambitions, however, are barely higher than China's. Moreover, countries like the UK and the Netherlands are giving the wrong examples by the construction of more coal power plants.

Sander Chan is a PhD Candidate at the Institute for Environmental Studies iN Amsterdam. He is also board member of the ChristenUnie party in Amsterdam.

China,environment,energy,coal,renewable