14 DAY TRIAL // China is now dealing with a major air pollution crisis that ends up making headlines every other day, and the fact that the country goes through massive amounts of coal on a yearly basis is part of the problem.
As reported, air quality in several of China's regions is so poor that researchers have warned that, all things considered, environmental conditions in these areas are not all that different to those one would expect to encounter in the midst of a nuclear winter.
Hence, the country's government is aiming to implement a series of measures that will hopefully help curb local air pollution and limit threats to public health.
According to Oil Price, one of these measures might be a ban on the import of coal that has a high sulfur content. Thus, the Chinese government is said to have recently announced plans to only allow coal of a higher quality to enter the country.
Recent reports say that, presently, China's coal consumption rivals that of the world. This means that, for the time being, this country burns about as much coal as all other nations worldwide combined. In fact, it was in 2013 that China's coal consumption hit a record 330 million tons.
Despite evidence indicating that the country's use of coal will not increase at a rapid pace in the years to come, the fact remains that China does rely heavily on this dirty energy source, and that its dependence on coal is having a devastating impact on the environment and on public health.
Specialists say that, should the country move to ban high-sulfur coal imports, its energy sector might just green up its ways a bit. This is because, when compared to regular coal, low-sulfur one is of a higher quality and has been documented to produce less air pollution.
Besides, odds are that, simply by outlawing high-sulfur coal, the country will manage to put a leash on how much of this dirty energy source enters its territory and gets burned for energy on a yearly basis.
Interestingly enough, word has it that the Chinese government is not looking to green up the country's energy sector by curbing coal imports just because it is very much preoccupied with the threats that air pollution poses to public health, but also because there are concerns that, unless air quality in this part of the world improves sooner rather than later, social unrest will shortly follow.