Custom Essay Writing

February 27, 2010

Assess the sustainability of China’s energy usage using examples…

Filed under: Area & Country Studies — admin @ 8:30 am

China relied heavily on coal during the mid-1990s due to the large deposits of coal that made up nearly 1/5 of the worlds total. South of the Yangtze River production is lower than other parts, but not as little as in the mountainous western areas of China. The abundance of coal led to industry, transport and homes burning coal in one form or the other. As a result many cities experienced severe atmospheric pollution, and China was blamed for releasing 10% of the world’s annual greenhouse gases. During this period China was not at all sustainable in its energy usage.

Not all of China’s energy came from coal; the rest was produced from oil and hydroelectricity. By 1995 it ranked 2nd in the world for generated electricity with 12 power grids, 35 power plants of which 26 were thermal, 7 hydroelectric (largest being Gezhouba on the Yangtze) and 2 nuclear.

More recently China has taken several major changes in an attempt to be more environmentally friendly and sustainable. The more notably changes are the attempts to close small coalmines, thus reducing the production and various forms of pollution. Current efforts are focused on eliminating irrationally located coal mines within the large state owned coal mines’ areas of operation and the mines failing to meet the requirements for reopening following upgrading. In the first for months of 1999 20,125 small coal mines were shut down, reducing output by 81.36 million tonnes, the target was a reduction in output by 250 million tonnes and the closure of 25,800 coal mines due to over supply and environmental safety concerns. The closure of coalmines is a positive step to reducing the number coal fired power plants; this leads to a greater use on cleaner fuels such as gas and oil to compensate the loss of the coal power plants as well as a quick reduction in sulphur emissions. However HEP is set to become a major player in the production of energy now that the Three Gorges Dam and its two power stations are completed.

The Annual use of natural gas in the country is to be increased from 22 billion m3 to 80 billion m3, a rise by nearly 260% in a space of 10 years. The new initiative to use cleaner fuels is a sign that China regards itself as environmentally aware, but also far enough in development to consider this changed that may cost the country a substantial amount. However transporting natural gas in high pressure pipelines is risky but the fact is most of the major reserves are in the mountainous west while the main consumers of energy, i.e. major cities are concentrated in the east thousands of kilometres away. This presents a problem as if there were to be an accident a lot of damage could be done to the environment in terms of fire and air pollution.

Nuclear power in many MEDC’s is slowly being discontinued over fears that it is dangerous and the waste produced remains dangerous and toxic for thousands of years. However in China the percentage of energy produced by nuclear is expected to be roughly 3% by 2006, a rise by 2%. Presently there are 2 power stations under commercial operation; the Qinshan nuclear power station in East China’s Zhejiang Province and the Daya Bay nuclear power station in South China’s Guangdong Province. Construction of the second and thirds phases of the Qinshan ad Ling’ao nuclear power stations and the Lianyungang nuclear power plant is under way. The advantage of nuclear over the oil and gas stations is that the raw material is not very hard to transport and lasts a long time, therefore the stations can close to major consumers of energy, unlike gas, which has to be transported in large quantities. More than a dozen provinces including Shandong, Fugian and Hunan are preparing to build nuclear power stations.

The increase in nuclear power may seem to be less environmentally friendly than other power generating schemes, however it is much more efficient and cleaner (in terms of air pollution) than coal or oil. There is no doubt that many of the schemes underway are an effort to be more sustainable, more projects like the 3 gorges dam are likely to be even more environmentally friendly in the long run than all other types of energy production as eventually these sources will run out and the only other alternative would be HEP, wind and other sustainable means.

Notes: This short essay is useful if you need facts and examples, or just evidence of China’s advancement. All facts are useable though some may have changed but not significantly…

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