Controlling Pollutants in Coal-Fired Power Plants in China - Mercury Emission and its Control in Chinese Coal-Fired Power Plants - page 2

power plants (GB 13223-2011), including mercury emission control standards, in
July 2011. This chapter discusses the coal consumption and air pollution control
devices of coal-fired power plants in China, and the current status and control of
mercury emissions in the country.

1.2 Coal Consumption and Air Pollutant Control in Coal-Fired
Power Plants in China

For a long time, the use of coal as the main source of energy has played a key role in
the structure of energy consumption in China. The percentage of coal consumption
in total energy in China from 1990 to 2007 [5,6,7] is shown in Fig. 1.1.

100

80

60

40

20

0

1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008

Year

Fig. 1.1 Percentage of coal consumption in total energy from 1990 to 2007 in China
As can be seen, coal consumption occupied a high proportion of total energy in
China. The percentage of coal consumption was lowest at 65.6% in 2002, increas-
ing to 68.7% in 2009. It is estimated that coal consumption can reach 62.6% in 2015
and continue to reach levels above 50% in 2050. So, not only now, but also for quite
a long period, though the proportion of coal in the energy consumption structure
will drop year by year, the role of coal as the main source of energy in China shall
remain.
The capacity and coal consumption of electric power generation in China are
shown in Fig. 1.2. Coal-fired power plants are the most popular type of electric
power generation in China. The average installed capacity of coal-fired power
plants was about 75.2% of the total installed capacity from 1990 to 2008. In 2008,
the capacity of electric power generation was 792.5 GW, including 601.3 GW from
coal-fired power plants, which was about 75.9% of the total. In all, these plants have
consumed a total of 1.34 billion tons of coal.