Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
the demand for cement is high, and making cement pollutes the air a great
deal. The fuel is coal, not burned very efficiently, plus the limestone raw
material creates dust that enters the atmosphere. Steel manufacturing pol-
lutes greatly. Building construction and automobiles take a lot of steel.
Since the days of Mao, steel has been a favorite of the party, being a symbol
of industrialization. This is one more way that the PRC imitated the Soviet
Union. At least half of Chinese households use coal briquettes for cooking
and heating.
Even though China has vast coal reserves, the country imports more
than 200 million metric tons, out of total consumption of 3.2 billion tons.
The reason is that foreign coal is cheaper. Most coal comes from Australia
and South Africa, but to meet the increasing demand, imports will come
from the United States and Columbia. Chinese coal mines are notoriously
dangerous. About 6000 miners are killed each year. Several factors con-
tribute to this. First is that only 10% of the operations are strip mining,
which is much safer than underground mining. Second is that many
mines are small, often owned by TVEs, that are inherently more danger-
ous. Third is that that safety is poor in many industries, not just mining.
Finally, it is financially expedient to neglect safety. Miners earn as little as
$150 a month, and the compensation paid to a family in the case of a death
ranges from a few hundred dollars to $2,400. 6
Besides local pollution, coal creates acid rain that travels long distances.
Sulfur dioxide from burning coal floats up in the atmosphere where it
combines with oxygen to form an acid. Nitrogen oxides from petroleum
similarly form acid. This falls out in rain or snow. In cities, the acid leaches
away on stone buildings. Damage is worst in the south. Some acid goes
high in the atmosphere where it is carried across the sea to fall on Korea
and Japan. In addition, low-level pollution of soot, dust, and sulfur also
blows over to Korea and Japan.
Automobiles and trucks have become a major source of air pollution.
A generation ago, there were scarcely any motor vehicles. The cities were
famous for thousands upon thousands of bicycles. There are many buses,
usually jammed with riders. Only a few cities have subway trains. Today,
there are 170 million motor vehicles, three quarters of them privately
owned. Annual production of automobiles is 18 million, surpassing the
United States. The People's Republic enacted its first emissions controls on
automobiles in 2000 and has raised them several times since. The autos
demand a lot of petroleum. China has limited domestic oil reserves, which
means it will need to increase imports. Now over half of it is imported,
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