China, Coal, and the State of the Environment

Most of the advanced countries are trying to stop or to reduce the usage of the coal; most of the countries try to shut down the coal-fired power plants because of their harmful effects. However, despite of the attempts done by these countries to stop the coal usage, this energy source is used in numerous countries, one of the biggest markets being China.

Canada, Australia, Indonesia, Colombia and South Africa, are just some of the countries which are exporting coal into China. In the previous years, China was one of the biggest coal exporters, but in the past previous time, it has become one of the biggest purchasers of coal. The United States of America ships coal to China, but it does it through Canada. However, many coal companies from the U.S are willing to open new coal mines which would have the sole task of shipping everything they collect to China. The Rockies and the Pacific Northwest are just two of the regions where the future mines might be constructed, and this might lead to a very tense situation.

The countries which I previously enumerated are the leaders when it comes to the care about the nature, yet they might reopen their coal factories in order to make money. Many experts are convinced that this will lead to political tensions, because some will care about the planet, whereas some will care about the money. Under normal circumstances, the coal is burned in the proximity of the area where it is collected, in order to produce energy. Things have changed in the past years, since China has become one of the biggest importers of coal. This has lead to a new trend: extracting the coal and then sending it to the countries which are in demand for it. Six billions tons of coal are used in each year, and China burns 3 millions of them. The developed countries have tried to stop the usage of the coal, but it seems that they are encouraging now. By exporting it to China they are helping the pollution of the atmosphere, not to mention that the actual process of delivering the coal to China is polluting as well.

David Graham-Caso, spokesman for the Sierra Club, which has the task of stopping the extraction of coal, and which has stopped the creation of 140 coal mines, has stated that the situation is very bad. He stated that the company does not want coal to be burned in the U.S and that it does not want to be burned anywhere else in the world, because that affects everyone. The situation has been similar in Australia, as the trains which carried the coal have been stopped on numerous occasions by protesters who stood on the train lines. Hundreds of kayakers have positioned themselves near the cargo ships in order to delay their shipment. Julia Gillard, Australia’s newly elected prime minister, stated during her campaign that she will put very high taxes on the carbon emissions. She stated that by doing so, the companies which extract coal will have too pay large sums of money, so they might shut down business.

However, the people have stated that such laws are useless as long as the country continues with the coal shipment into the Asian continent. Some have said that the country “exports global warming”, and that the claims which they made through which they promise to aid the environment are nothing but empty talks. This summer, China Power International Development has signed a $60 billion contract with an Australian company, through which Australia has agreed to construct numerous coal mines into the country in order to export the coal into China. This was the largest export contract signed by Australia, but as you can imagine, the people are not too happy about it.

The situation is complicated, because as the fight for protecting the environment progresses, newer regulations are being written. Most of them state that the usage of coal should be stopped, but none of them states that the act of extracting the coal should be punishable by law. The laws are concerned about the area where the coal is burned and not where it is extracted. It seems that the governments of numerous countries have found this as a loophole which they can exploit. The reality is that the coal mining business is very lucrative, both for the country and for the people. Thousands of people might get a job at a coal mine, and since we live in very harsh financial situation, it is very likely that they do not care too much about the effects which these mines might have. You can not blame them for that.

David Price, who is the director of the global steam coal advisory service at IHS-Cera, a global energy consultancy, has stated that in the past years, the main reason why these factories were opened, was because of the fact that people needed jobs. Vic Svec, who is the senior vice president of Peabody Energy, the largest coal company in the world, has stated that the company will send large amounts of coal into the country. He said that currently coal is the most popular fuel in China, and that it is very likely that it will continue to be so in the future as well. It seems that the United States of America is not the only country that has conflicts regarding the care for the environment and for the money. The same situation is present in Australia and in Canada as well. The United States Energy Information Administration stated that the country exported 2,714 tons of coal to China in the previous year. The situation completely changed this year, as it has exported 2.9 million tons only in the first six months.

It is very likely that the export will continue to grow in the following years, as China is in constant demand of the coal. There is a very intense fight going on between the environmentalists and the ones involved in the coal mining business. Protesting actions such as the ones I previously mentioned take place more often. The interesting thing is the fact that China does not seem to be affected by the recession, or at least when it comes to the money it spends on the coal. They have spent more than double since 2001, and it is very likely that they will spend more in the future as well. Things changed in 2009, when China imported more coal than it exported for the first time. Ian Cronshaw, who is the head of the energy diversification division at the International Energy Agency, stated that it is very likely that the collaboration with China will continue in the future, as the business is very lucrative.

China has the capability of using its own coal, but it decides not to do it, because the one from their lands is impure, as it has too much sulfur. The coal factories from China are on the coast, whereas their coal deposits are inland. Because of this, they find it much more convenient to import coal from other countries. China has been a lifesaver for many economies from the world, one of them being Europe where the coal has been in very low demand for a very long time now.