China’s environmental crisis is reaching troubling levels. Major cities lurch from one red alert to the next, smog moves like a sandstorm, mask sales keep climbing, and so do criticisms of the government. Yet a large part of the Western world still asks, why is this happening? The reason combines multiple factors, from the industrial and energetic to the geographic.
It has unfortunately become an all-too-common image: Beijing, the capital of China, covered in smog. The authorities have tried many options: specific bans, artificial rain, drones… nothing seems to work. The problem is that there isn’t much point in attacking individual sources. Pollution requires a united front, and the longer time is lost, the higher the price paid by the population. Children and the elderly are the most affected because of the chilling number of particles in the air. Masks help only up to a point, but deep down no one wants to live like this. So if we follow the thread of China’s pollution, where does it lead?
Why winter makes it worse
By now, readers may have noticed that China’s air-quality problems multiply in winter. The cold season drives up demand for electricity used in heating, and the vast majority of that energy comes from plants that burn coal. Add constant industrial activity, the impact of traffic, and, believe it or not, a bit of geography. Beijing lies very close to the Xishan and Yanshan mountain ranges, which act as a natural barrier to air flow. When a high-pressure system enters the region, the air near the city’s surface gets trapped there, piling up more pollution.
Money, coal, and politics
How does China plan to face this challenge? First, with a lot of money: $360 billion in renewable energy projects, set to be implemented before 2020. It is a very ambitious vision, but it says nothing about reducing coal use. In fact, China is the country with the highest consumption of that fuel, and we must not forget the political component: coal moves a lot of money, which translates into lobbying, and by extension buys officials. On the other side, encouraging data: just in 2015, China installed the equivalent of ten thousand wind turbines in capacity. If they keep that pace, “2020” could turn into “2018”.
