China's Hazy Green Future

November 2013

China's Hazy Green Future

Link: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/collideascape/2013/11/22/chinas-green-future-hazy-skies/#.UpkxMcRDtsI

     China's densely polluted air normally makes the news with an emphasis on the public health aspect of the country, as opposed to the global warming angle. However, China’s reliance on coal is most definitely known.

     According to the article, there are signs that China is attempting to harness its smog problem by reducing its coal dependence. However, Christina Larsen reported several months ago in a Bloomberg story that this may not be so good for the planet. Although none of the newly proposed plants (converting coal to gas) are situated near China's large cities, the entire life cycle of harvesting coal and turning it into gas produces from 36 percent to 82 percent more total greenhouse gas emissions than burning coal directly 

     The article also mentions Slate’s Joshua Keating article about China's smog. He states that China's CO2 emissions are a much bigger problem than its smog. The article reports that China’s smog reduction plan could actually increase its emissions by moving to synthetic natural gas converted from coal, which burns cleaner than coal but produces more CO2 overall. Mr. Keating states that dealing with CO2 is going to be a much more difficult problem, and a much harder one to resolve with the country’s desire to maintain its fast pace of economic development.