14 DAY TRIAL // China is currently unparalleled in its expansion of the electrical supply sector, as several new massive power plants go online in the country every week. For now, their power grid is second only to that of the U.S. but at the rate things are going, it's safe to assume that, in a few years, the Chinese will develop their network to a point where they will virtually have the largest production capabilities in the world. The only problem with this rate of expansion is that is has an utter disregard for the environment.
According to an independent MIT study, conducted at about 85 plants in 14 Chinese provinces, the technologies involved in the production processes are not old or obsolete, as thought at first. For years, the Western governments assumed that the reason China emitted so much carbon and sulfur in the atmosphere was because it used second-hand equipment when assembling its power stations. However, Edward S. Steinfeld, Richard Lester and Edward Cunningham, all at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), revealed in their study that some of the plants were actually equipped with state-of-the-art technologies.
Apparently, the high levels of pollution are tightly related to the fact that purchasing costs prevent most power plant managers from acquiring high-quality coal or from turning on decontamination equipments, such as carbon-traps. As a result, they use low-grade coal, which gives off a lot of sulfur dioxide and very little energy. In the process, carbon emissions are substantially increased, as more and more coal needs to be burnt to keep the plant working.
The Chinese government doesn't currently have any effective means of controlling what happens in its distant provinces, so it relies on local authorities to send back data about productivity numbers and environmental impacts. But these local officials are often in league with major power suppliers, so they send back false information. Fortunately, Beijing has shown signs of increased will to crack down on those responsible for the name the country has made for itself, as the most polluting nation on Earth.
Looking on the bright side, because the Chinese power production structure is in a better shape than thought at first, it will be much easier for the government to improve the quality of the environmental emission its structures put out. By employing nation-wide protective measures, the Chinese could, in time, render their electrical grid green.