In an attempt to reduce air pollution, China may compromise water supplies in arid regions, Bloomberg reported.
China plans to counteract air quality (that reached levels so unsafe on Oct. 22 a school in the city of Harbin shut down) by building gas-to-coal plants, Bloomberg reported. The plants extract natural gas from coal and then burn the gas rather than burning the coal directly. The process limits air pollution, but requires significantly more water.
The government has approved 18 full sized plants, most of which will be built "in the west including Inner Mongolia, where China has its main production," according to Wen Hua, a Beijing-based analyst at the World Resources Institute.
The area Hua refers to is dry and water-stressed, a condition that will only worsen with the development of water dependent plants. Seventy six percent of proposed plants will land in regions desperate for water, according to Bloomberg. At full capacity, the plants consume 500 million cubic meters of fresh water per year. Water is necessary for cooling and to flush out contaminants.
Burning natural gas uses 18 times as much water as coal, but coal generates significantly more air pollution, Bloomberg reported. China's plan to derive "7.5 percent of its energy mix from natural gas by 2015 is boosting demand for the fuel," Charlie Cao, a Beijing-based analyst from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said. "The current supply of natural gas isn't enough, prompting the nation to adopt the method of producing gas from coal."
According to Wen, natural gas derived from coal may produce more carbon emissions. That outcome, however, could be counteracted by installing desulfurization equipment, according to Greenpeace.
Pollution is one of the most pressing issues in China and the "leading cause of social unrest," according to Chen Jiping, a former member of the Communist Party's Committee of Political and Legislative Affairs.
