When Will China Get off Coal?
As China looks to meet its energy demands, there has been a rush for coal, with prices hitting record highs in October. Despite pledges by Beijing to pull back from fossil fuels, the power crisis has exposed shortfalls in the country’s ability to...
Another Problem with China’s Coal: Mercury in Rice
Mercury enters rice through local industrial activities and through burning coal.
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Kills More Than 100 in China This Year
Gas poisonings in southern China have left at least 104 people dead and hundreds hospitalized.
China Is Winning Its War on Air Pollution, at Least in Beijing
China is seeing signs of success in its fight against smog as pollution levels slump dramatically in the capital region Beijing.
China Unveils an Ambitious Plan to Curb Climate Change Emissions
China released plans on Tuesday to start a giant market to trade credits for the right to emit planet-warming greenhouse gases. The nationwide market would initially cover only China’s vast, state-dominated power generation sector, which produced...
Trump’s Claim That West Virginia Is ‘Sending Clean Coal’ to ‘China’
“If you look at what’s happened in West Virginia and so many different places, we’re sending clean coal. We’re sending it out to different places — China," Trump said last Tuesday.
Need Stretchy Pants? China's Energy Squeeze May Mean Higher Prices
Homes, businesses and even hospitals across northern China are running short of natural gas. Some schoolchildren are shivering. And in the chemical industry — well, the spandex supply is getting tight.
China’s Drive for Cleaner Energy Is Causing a Gas Shortage for Winter
China's push to clean up its environment may have had an unintended consequence: a shortage of heating fuel supply is hitting some regions in the dead of winter, sending prices of domestic liquefied natural gas (LNG) to a three-year high.
Why China Wants to Lead on Climate, but Clings to Coal (for Now)
Barely a month ago, in a landmark speech to the Communist Party Congress, President Xi Jinping of China promised that his country would take a “driving seat in international cooperation to respond to climate change.”
China Targets Pollution on Eve of Xi Jinping’s Second Term
A wave of environmental inspections in China has led to the closure of tens of thousands of businesses producing commodities from industrial chemicals to cement and rubber, pushing up prices and disrupting some global supply chains.
China’s Putting the Brakes on Coal for Heating Millions of Homes This Winter
China might start to see better air this winter as it prepares to heat heat millions of houses for the first time by gas, and continues a clampdown on coal to battle its deadly pollution.
China’s War on Smog Shakes up Ports; Tianjin Loses, Rivals Benefit
China’s war on smog is shaking up the country’s busiest ports, which handle billions of tonnes of cargo a year, forcing Tianjin to overhaul its business as northern rivals snare a greater share of vast coal and iron ore shipments, results show....
Power of Love: China's Latest Arranged Match Rattles Utilities
Beijing announced its latest arranged marriage by matching the country’s top coal miner with one of its biggest utilities to create a global powerhouse worth $280 billion on China’s Valentine’s Day.
China Bans North Korea Iron, Lead, Coal Imports as Part of U.N. Sanctions
China announced a ban on imports of iron ore, iron, lead and coal from North Korea on Monday, increasing economic pressure on the Pyongyang regime while moving to implement a package of sanctions put together by the U.N. Security Council.
Should China Support the U.S. in a War with North Korea?
On August 9, U.S. President Donald Trump warned North Korea that if it does not stop threatening the United States, it will be “met with fire and fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.” Just hours later, the...
Crowded Beijing Revives Old Plan for New Overflow City
from chinadialogueOn April 1, 2017—April Fool’s Day—the government made a surprise announcement that a satellite city bigger than New York would be built from scratch on the outskirts of Beijing. Official news site Xinhua described...
CPEC: The Growing Resentment and Resistance among Poor Pakistanis Can Cost China Dearly
In Pakistan, there’s no topic hotter than the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multi-billion dollar bilateral development project that will officials promised in 2015, “usher in an era of unprecedented progress and prosperity.”
Can the AIIB Support Asia’s Energy Revolution?
from chinadialogueThe Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), headquartered in Beijing, held its second annual meeting on the Korean island of Jeju last week. Korea is currently positioning Jeju as a zero-carbon tourist destination, so the...
Coal on the Rise in China, US, India after Major 2016 Drop
The world’s biggest coal users — China, the United States and India — have boosted coal mining in 2017, in an abrupt departure from last year’s record global decline for the heavily polluting fuel and a setback to efforts to rein in climate...
China’s Clean Energy Ambition Floats on Abandoned Coal Mine
China’s ambitions to dominate new energy technologies are unfolding at the site of an abandoned coal mine about 300 miles (483 kilometers) northwest of Shanghai.
As China Pulls Trade from North Korea, Russia Gets Cozy with Kim Jong Un
Trade between Russia and North Korea increased by 73% during the first two months of 2017 compared to the same period the year before, boosted mostly by increased coal deliveries from Russia, according to Russian state-owned news site Sputnik....
China Is Getting Serious about Fighting Climate Change at Home. Abroad, Its Investments Tell a Different Story
China, the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter, has in recent years emerged as a global leader in climate action. The country’s use of coal — considered the single biggest contributor to anthropogenic climate change — has dropped every year...
China Is Squeezing North Korea - but Not Too Hard
China wields huge influence over the North Korean economy, accounting for more than 80% of its smaller neighbor’s foreign trade and serving as its main gateway to the rest of the world.
China Says Its Trade with North Korea Has Increased
Amid sharply rising tensions over North Korea’s nuclear arms program, China said on Thursday that its trade with the country had expanded, even though it had complied with United Nations sanctions and stopped buying North Korean coal
China Rejects North Korean Coal Shipments after Missile Test and U.S. Pressure
China is turning back shipments of North Korean coal from its ports, a sign of Beijing’s growing concern over the nuclear weapons capability of its wayward neighbor.
Climate Change: China Calls U.S. ‘Selfish’ after Trump Seeks to Bring back Coal
State-run tabloid says Beijing cannot fill vacuum left by U.S. and urges west to pressure Trump on global warming
Trump Promises More Coal and Steel Jobs. China Is cutting 500,000
As President Trump talked up his plans to help American coal and steel workers in his address to Congress, a top official thousands of miles away in Beijing was detailing China’s plans to cut half a million jobs in heavy industries this year.
China to Suspend All Imports of Coal from North Korea
China will suspend all imports of coal from North Korea starting Feb. 19, the country’s commerce ministry said in a notice posted on its website on Saturday, as part of its efforts to implement United Nations sanctions against the country.
China Wants to Be a Climate Change Watchdog, but Can It Lead by Example?
Like some other nations, China, the world’s biggest polluter, has refused to accept international monitoring of its emissions and says it will provide data to outside observers.
Going Green in China, Where Climate Change Isn’t Considered a Hoax
Chinese leaders want to improve the quality of life in their nation's cities
China is Outsourcing Its Pollution
Beijing's diplomacy is increasingly green, but its international trade is getting ever more coal-black
Despite Climate Change Vow, China Pushes to Dig More Coal
Desperate to deliver coal before power stations run out, China mobilizes trains and half-mile lines of trucks
China Risks Wasting $490 Billion on New Coal Plant, Say Campaigners
Carbon Tracker says many plants running at overcapacity but China reluctant to wean itself off coal, fearing unemployment and unrest
Will China Take the Lead on Climate Change?
All 33 Miners Trapped in China Coal Mine Found Dead
The State Administration of Work Safety ordered an investigation into the blast, adding that “those responsible must be strictly punished”
Search Continues for 20 Miners Missing After Blast in China
35 miners were working at the privately-owned Jinshangou mine when the explosion happened Monday morning; two escaped alive, and 13 have been confirmed dead
China’s Coal Cap Will Bite
Can the shift to more domestic output be met without blanketing China's cities in smog?
China’s Coal Towns Are Literally Sinking
Hundreds of thousands are being moved from regions made unsafe from coal companies.
China Pulls Emergency Stop on Coal Power Construction
from chinadialogueChina’s central government has ordered local authorities to delay or cancel construction of new coal-fired power plants, as regulators attempt to reduce a glut in capacity, just one year after decisions were delegated to the...
Statistics From China Say Coal Consumption Continues to Drop
China released new statistics indicating less coal use last year than in 2014, lending support to the view that the country may have reached a peak in coal consumption.
Is China a Leader or Laggard on Climate Change?
As ongoing climate talks wind down at COP21 this week, participants in and observers of the summit in Paris wrote in to share their assessment of the message coming from the official delegation from China, currently the world’s largest emitter of...
China Plans to Upgrade Coal Plants
China's cabinet announced that it would try to cut pollution from coal-fired power plants by 60 percent by 2020 through upgrades to plants.
Putting China’s Coal Consumption Into Context
Few issues are more likely to provoke interest about China.
The Chinese Road to Paris 2015
from Chinese DoodlesBeginning on November 30, Paris will host the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (COP21). Whatever progress is made toward the parties’ agreement on a path forward will depend in large...
Beijing Tells Mayors of Chinese Cities to Clean Up Their Air
from chinadialogueIn China, “APEC blue” was the sarcastic term used to refer to the unusually clear skies Beijing enjoyed when an Asia-Pacific leaders summit was in...
China’s Shift From Coal to Hydro Comes at a Heavy Price
from chinadialogueAs outlined in China’s national climate plan, submitted to the United Nations last month, the country’s aim to...
China's Pollution Quagmire
China’s efforts to reduce air pollution could be negated by its unregulated and unmonitored burning of petcoke, a fuel dirtier than coal, an expert on Chinese climate and energy policy said.
China Deepens Planned Cuts to Carbon Intensity
from chinadialogueChina has mapped out how it will try and peak greenhouse emissions by 2030 or before, details that could have a major bearing on U.N. climate talks aimed at delivering a deal in Paris later this year.
The world’s largest emitter of...
A Flash Point in China-Africa Relations Re-Opens in Zambia
When critics of the Chinese in Africa make their case, the Collum coal mine in Zambia is invariably on their list of grievances. The controversial mine has been the site of violent labor disputes that have severely injured, even killed, both...
Fracking May be Needed in China to Wean it Off Coal
from chinadialogueFracking of China’s huge shale gas reserves will only have a modest impact on the environment if anti-pollution controls—many of them new—are enforced rigorously, says a new report from the U.K.-based...
Coal Boomtowns Fade as China Declares War on Pollution
China is headed towards peak coal which means cities reliant on coal mining struggle.
World Coal Investments Increasingly Risky, Especially China’s
from chinadialogueThe investment case for coal-fired power is looking increasingly unconvincing, but more plants will need to be cancelled if the world is to avoid runaway climate change, a report published on Monday said.
The...
China’s Coal Use and Estimated CO2 Emissions Fell in 2014
Glen Peters of the Global Carbon Project calculates that China's CO2 emissions have also fallen, by 0.7 percent, for the first time this century.
The Film That Is Going to Change China
Chai Jing's stunning documentary on the smog problem was viewed more than 100 million times in little over two days.