Environment - burning coal flames / David Bailo

Will the growth in China, which is accompanied by burning more coal than the US, Europe and Japan combined, put the efforts to reduce carbon emissions in the rest of the world to God?

China has promised to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by 2020, but will need to do more than proactive blackouts to meet its promise

China has won international praise for its commitment to protecting the environment. It has committed to reducing carbon emissions by at least 40% per economic unit by 2020 and is adding alternative sources to its energy basket, such as wind and nuclear energy, at a faster rate than any other country in the world.

But this nation is also in the midst of unprecedented economic growth, and with it an unprecedented increase in energy consumption, which in China means coal consumption. China burns more coal than Europe, the United States and Japan combined, and this is the main reason it is the world leader today in greenhouse gas emissions. "Will China's carbon dioxide emissions flood the entire world?" asks Mark D. Levin, a senior scientist from the American Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory working on measures to optimize energy consumption in China. "That's the question," he states.

China's growth outpaces any green effort. In a recent tour to examine the issue, it was found that one of the biggest difficulties is a combination of uneven and contradictory policies on the part of the central government and a dismissive attitude on the part of regional officials. And these are the defaults of China:

clean carbon. Like the U.S. government and U.S. power companies, Chinese officials also argue that the technology needed to capture carbon dioxide emitted by coal-fired power plants is too expensive. China's decision makers, or at least some of them, do not look favorably on coal technologies that could allow carbon to be captured and stored deep underground for the earth, such as the conversion of coal to gas before burning it. "The cost [of the coal converted to gas] is comparable to that of nuclear energy," says Zhong Gubao, the vice chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), which is the government authority that determines China's industrialization and energy policy. But unlike the US, China continues to build large coal plants that are expected to release greenhouse gases for decades to come. .

New energy. In an attempt to reduce China's dependence on coal, the NDRC ordered all electric companies in China to generate at least 8% of their output from "new" energy, meaning nuclear power plants or wind turbines. But it is difficult to trust the wind: there are districts where it is strongest in autumn and winter, just when the coal stations are most needed for their second product: heat. And although China is building nuclear power plants, the uranium miners have yet to replace a single coal plant.

efficient energy. In November 2010, when it appeared that China was about to exceed the energy efficiency targets set for the end of 2010, government officials ordered a shutdown of electricity in certain areas to meet the targets. Because of this, to avoid fines for late delivery of goods, factory owners had to use their emergency generators, which are powered by diesel and also emit CO₂. China is willing to do "very irrational things" to meet efficiency targets, says Levin of Berkeley Lab.

The Chinese are talking about the double standards of the US. "We have only been developing our economy for the last thirty years, and now we are under heavy pressure [to reduce pollution]. It's not fair," says Jung from NDRC. He reiterates his commitment to adding more alternative energy sources, however, he says: "For the foreseeable future, coal will continue to occupy a significant part of our energy mix."