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February 11, 2008
What's Old is New
As China waged its "war on snow havoc" last week, The New York Times noted that the country's energy supply problems are exacerbated by geography:
The provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Anhui and Jiangsu had the worst problems, with more than 30 million people affected by blackouts or brownouts, according to government estimates....
The bulk of China’s coal is mined in the western provinces of Shaanxi and Shanxi and the northwestern region of Inner Mongolia. But many coal customers are clustered in the industrialized southeastern and central coastal provinces, so coal must be hauled on China’s vast but overextended rail network.
More than 40 percent of rail capacity is devoted to moving coal, and the authorities have been investing heavily in new lines and cargo-handling facilities in an attempt to keep up with demand.
But, as you can see from the 1972 poster above, China has been trying to solve the problem of coal transportation for more than 35 years. The inscription along the bottom reads, "Strive to eliminate the need to transport coal from North to South."
Needless to say it's something easier said than done, and it's very low on the list of top priorities at the moment. In fact, Chinese officials responded to the impending doom in the week leading up to the New Year by suspending coal exports, loading up 125 ships with 4.5 million tons of the stuff, and sending it down to Guangzhou (in the south) from Bohai (in the north). Strive on, comrades.
posted February 11, 2008 at 12:07 PM unofficial Xinjiang time | HaoHao This!
Comments
Three Gorges Dam is partial answer. The Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest hydro-electric power station by total capacity, which will be 22,500 MW.
22500 megaW = ??? tons of coal?
Some one help out please.
Posted by: Possible at February 13, 2008 01:53 AM
coal is still the main energy source in china n the dam is not gonna change the fact that most rural areas in china still rely heavily on traditional coal gas rather than electricity generated heating and hob
one day coal s gonna run out n we ll be screwed, well then one day oil runs out n everybody wil be screwed
Posted by: sherylwho at March 6, 2008 05:56 PM