Chinese civilization is one of the most ancient in the world. Its long and rich history was marked by the falls and rises, wars and times of peace. Each period of the Chinese history presented the world with various achievements in arts, philosophy, architecture
Chinese civilization is one of the most ancient in the world. Its long and rich history was marked by the falls and rises, wars and times of peace. Each period of the Chinese history presented the world with various achievements in arts, philosophy, architecture, warfare, and literature. Many monuments, palaces, and temples serve as reminders of the times of prosperity and deterioration. Thousands of tourists from all over the world pay visits to explore the places of interest and experience the culture of the ancient land. However, when the tourists leave the plane, the first impression they receive about the country is far from being positive. The upsurge of the Chinese economy has required consistent sources of energy. The preference of coal as a primary source over others entailed the pollution, especially in the major cities; today, it affects the health of people around the country, as well as brings significant changes to the world climate.
The introduction of the command economy in China has brought little benefit to people. The attempts of the Chinese communist leader, Mao Zedong, to reach economic stability for the country, and become a leader on the world market were not destined to bring any change. Only after the reforms, introduced in 1979, the Chinese economy was decentralized. The priority to control the provincial and local performance was delegated to provincial and local governments respectfully. Special incentives were granted to farmers, who were encouraged to sell some of their crops in the open market. The government promoted the opening of the new businesses by the people (Morrison 2-3).
The economic rise induced the vast constructions that required a powerful source of energy. The pursuit of economic stability entailed the construction of the new houses for the citizens (Minter 58). The developing and rapidly growing industries were in need of water and power for maintaining the manufacturing processes. Therefore, laying of channels, pipelines, and power lines was initiated countrywide (Fairley 58). The economy was also in need of organized and fixed infrastructure. Therefore, the government started the construction of highways and repair works of the roads across the country (60). Coal became the primary energy source for the development plan implementation. It is still utilized to produce three quarters of all the energy in China (Ohshita 75).
Having been chosen as a primary source of energy due to its accessibility, coal has become a primary reason of pollution in China. The extensive combustion of coal in the industrial processes and households has inflicted a spectrum of nationwide environmental issues. The coal combustion releases carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and many other hazardous substances that contaminate the air and cause the greenhouse effect. Moreover, the gases cause the acid rains, which, in turn, pollute the water, and ground. The flora and fauna diminish; the fact induces the desertification of the land, especially in the rural areas ("China: Just the Facts" 24).
Coal vs. Renewable Energy Sources
Coal is the most accessible source of energy in China. According to the estimations, coal available on the territory of China is enough to sustain the development of the country for more than a century. Northern China provides industry and households with the obtained coal. The biggest coalfield called Shenfu Dongsheng stretches for 31,000 kilometers from the furthest corner of Shaanxi Province to Inner Mongolia (Fairley 57). Nowadays, 26,000 active mines extract coal all over China, emitting 13.5 billion cubic meters of methane in the atmosphere ("Water Shortages and Air Pollution" 22).
In the 1990s, the Chinese government expected the rush in the extraction and use of coal. Therefore, they started to explore methods that would make the obtained coal clean. The Chinese scientists proposed a procedure that originated in the early twentieth century - coal gasification. The coal gasification method produced a gas, which was abundant in hydrogen, and was called synthetic gas. The syngas could be burnt by the plants as cleanly as the natural gas. Moreover, the right conditions and catalysts could transform the syngas mixture into the gasoline and diesel fuel. Therefore, the coal gasification could eliminate the soot and smog produced by the power plants, as well as decrease the need in oil supplied from abroad (Fairley 57).
The technology of the coal gasification did not receive the wide popularity due to a number of reasons. Firstly, the central government agencies pursued different goals while developing the policies. Secondly, despite the delegation of some responsibilities to the provincial and local governments, there was still some tension between the central and local authorities concerning the policies implementation. Moreover, the enterprises and plants were not encouraged by the government to use the clean coal technologies (Ohshita 75).
Despite the attempt to i