The green community is rejoicing this week at the news of China’s slumping coal industry.  As many as 6,000 coal mines are set to be shut down in China.

Coal output in the country reportedly fell 2.5% in 2014, its first ever decline since 2000.  Two point five percent may not seem much, but it’s a significant drop.  Analysts point out a host of factors responsible for this: a record decline in economic growth, reduced demand from the construction industry, especially steel and concrete, a shifting focus on renewable energy, a safety push for miners exposed to health hazards, and new policies regarding pollution.

Perhaps most importantly, China is simply making good on its promise during all those climate change conferences and negotiations.

Coal dependence have taken a big toll on China’s environment.  Polluted skies and suffocating smog became commonplace in the major cities of China.  And the effects aren’t just limited to the country: China’s greenhouse gases are warming up the planet as well.  2014 in fact was the hottest year since record-keeping began in 1880.

Saying No to coal is indeed a logical step to cutting back on global emissions.

Says Lauri Myllyvirta, a coal researcher with Greenpeace,

“The leadership has resisted the urge to prop up growth with a new round of spending on infrastructure and industry…  That is very important going forward as it indicates the government is serious about rebalancing away from the dirtiest industries and is comfortable with trading some quantity for quality in the GDP numbers.”

Enter Renewable Energy

Coal’s popularity is understandable: it’s cheap, easy to source, and packed with significant BTUs of energy.  But coal’s awesome energy comes with serious environmental and health costs.  Despite what some coal advocates would say, coal is still a dirty fuel.  Not just in the literal sense, but because of the dirty politics used by governments to give it subsidies.

Then there’s so-called clean coal, which depending on whom you ask, might either be a legitimate technology or simply an advertising slogan.  Unlike Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) where captured and compressed CO2 is buried underground (with no guarantee of it staying safely buried), emerging clean coal technology captures carbon dioxide before it can leave the smokestacks.

Thankfully, coal isn’t the only game in town.  China is big on renewable energy in recent years, more remarkable than in the US.  Renewables are far cleaner, more cost-effective, and not as damaging as coal.  Hydro, wind, and solar are China’s foremost favorite low-carbon energy sources.

Of course, these three have their own respective drawbacks.  The creation of hydroelectric power dams disrupts and damages biodiversity in lakes and rivers.  Wind turbines, meanwhile, are costly to set up, not as efficient and are hazards to birds.  As for solar cells, they often use toxic metals, while also being inefficient in converting sunlight to electricity.

A dam in China bursts forth with so much potential energy. (Photo from Transatlanticacademy.org)

Despite these, there’s more good than bad in renewables.  According to Global Research, in 2013 China added about 100 GW of new capacity, 58% of which came from the three above-mentioned renewables, while coal accounted for less than 40%.

Nuclear energy is now a priority in China as well, as evidenced by the four proposed AP1000 nuclear power plants set to be built by Westinghouse in the country by 2016.  Nuclear energy is cheap to produce, efficient and continuous, and best of all, has low greenhouse gas emissions.

In recent years, China has also been aggressively exploring and appropriating other islands of neighboring countries, all in the name of natural gas and oil reserves.

From Extraction to Harnessing

It’s tempting to feel sorry for China’s shut-down coal mines, especially the laid-off and displaced workers, but coal dependence cannot go on if we are to take global warming seriously.  Green building has already done its part by creating and retrofitting structures to make them energy-efficient and ready for renewables.  But more greening up can be done by simply cutting back on coal reliance.

China’s shifting focus is no longer the extractive activities of coal mining, but harnessing and manufacturing energy sources that are freely available.

As Global Research notes:

“Manufacturing generates increasing returns, and can be expanded almost indefinitely—particularly if it works off recirculated materials, consistent with China’s goal of building a Circular Economy.  By contrast, extractive activities are faced with eventual diminishing returns. This is why China’s swing towards renewables is good for China, and for the world.”

Clearly, coal is on the decline.  It’s still very much in the picture, but it’s on its steady way out.  Fingers crossed.