U.S. Exports Coal to China.....International Investors Bankroll China's Coal Burning Plants

[amborin]

Nations That Debate Coal Use Export It to Feed China’s Need

At ports in Canada, Australia, Indonesia, Colombia and South Africa, ships are lining up to load coal for furnaces in China, which has evolved virtually overnight from a coal exporter to one of the world’s leading purchasers.

The United States now ships coal to China via Canada, but coal companies are scouting for new loading ports in Washington State. New mines are being planned for the Rockies and the Pacific Northwest. Indeed, some of the world’s more environmentally progressive regions are nascent epicenters of the new coal export trade, creating political tensions between business and environmental goals.

Traditionally, coal is burned near where it is mined — particularly so-called thermal or steaming coal, used for heat and electricity. But in the last few years, long-distance international coal exports have been surging because of China’s galloping economy, which now burns half of the six billion tons of coal used globally each year.
As a result, not only are the pollutants that developed countries have tried to reduce finding their way into the atmosphere anyway, but ships chugging halfway around the globe are spewing still more.........

“This is a worst-case scenario,” said David Graham-Caso, spokesman for the Sierra Club, which estimates that its “Beyond Coal” campaign has helped to block 139 proposed coal plants in the United States over the last few years. “We don’t want this coal burned here, but we don’t want it burned at all. This is undermining everything we’ve accomplished.”


snip

“Coal is the fastest-growing fuel in the world and will continue to be largely driven by the enormous appetite for energy in Asia,” he said.
The conflict between environmental and trade concerns is gaining momentum in the United States and Canada as well as Australia.
Last year, the United States exported only 2,714 tons of coal to China, according to the United States Energy Information Administration. Yet that figure soared to 2.9 million tons in the first six months of this year alone — huge growth, though still a minuscule fraction of China’s coal imports.

snip

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/science/earth/22fossil.html?scp=1&sq=coal%20to%20china&st=cse


************************

International Investor Class Bankrolls China's and India's New Coal-Burning Plants


.......China is the largest coal user. India is another rapidly developing society that is highly dependent on coal. And many of us are — perhaps inadvertently -– encouraging that dependence.

Coal India, a huge government coal company, recently offered shares to international investors in what was the largest initial public offering ever on the Indian stock exchange. “What was at stake was essentially a $35 billion bankrolling of enhanced global warming by the capital markets,” Jeremy Leggett wrote in a fascinating post on The Guardian’s Sustainable Business blog............

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/should-nations-bankroll-coal-dependence-overseas/?scp=1&sq=coal%20plants%20in%20china&st=cse

[amborin]

1. kick

[MyChinaBusinessBlog]

2. Lots of coal here in China

Yes, China does use a lot of coal. It is still common to see the round "hockey pucks" of coal that the locals use to put in their stoves for cooking and warming their homes. The apartment complexes have central heating, though a huge percentage of these 1.3 billion people don't live in apartment complexes, so most of them still rely on coal for heat and cooking.

As the poorer parts of China develop more, it is possible that their reliance on coal can be reduced, though probably not before that time. I think the best we can hope or is a continued rapid development of the whole China populous.

Steve
http://www.MyChinaBusinessBlog.com