Coal Dust

[Randy W]

The map is somewhat misleading, since the red dots don't change size as you zoom in, so I won't reproduce it here. At the most zoomed out level, the same red dots cover Eastern Asia from Indonesia to India and part way into Russia.

 

But the significance may lie in the extensive use of coal in China, especially north of he Yangtze River, where it is used for winter heating systems. I would be surprised if there were any filtering or scrubbing systems on any of the coal stacks anywhere.

 

The conclusion is a bit of a stretch, since none of the deaths can be directly attributed to coal, but still of interest

Infomap: The impact of coal plant emissions on estimated premature deaths in China

http://shanghaiist.com/2013/12/16/impact-coal-plant-emissions.php

 

The interactive map is here - - remember that the red dots stay the same size as you zoom in - you'll see at higher zoom levels that they cover MUCH less of the territory.

 

Greenpeace's analysis suggests that the level of emissions coming from coal plants contributed to a total of 257,000 premature deaths in 2011.

 

According to the map, Shanghai's 22 coal plants cause more than 4,370 premature deaths a year while Beijing's 10 plants contribute to 1,004 deaths a year.

The some 257,000 premature deaths - which theoretically could have been avoided if there was no air pollution - were calculated using modeling techniques based on the links between air pollution and risk of illness or death.

 

. . .

 

According to Greenpeace, the provinces with the highest number of premature deaths (Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Jiangsu and Inner Mongolia) , consumed 32.7% more coal in 2011 than in 2006. Shandong, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia alone burn nearly one-third of the China's total coal production--around the same amount that the US consumes.

 

According to Quartz:

Burning coal gives off sulphate and nitrate, which make up 80% of the particles in Shanghai’s PM2.5, the common measure of fine particles in the air that, when breathed, lodge far enough into the lungs to enter the bloodstream."

 

 

 

 

 

from the Greenpeace analysis - http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/newsdesk/energy/analysis/qa-chinas-airmaggedon-0

 

A WHO's Global Burden of Disease report estimated that 1.2 million people died prematurely in China in 2010 due to air pollution. Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) in July found that air pollution has caused the loss of more than 2.5 billion years of life expectancy in China – shaving 5.5 years off the average life expectancy.

 

Fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) caused some 9,900 premature deaths in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region (Jingjinji region) of China in 2011, and almost 70,000 outpatient visits or hospitalizations in 2011, according to research commissioned by Greenpeace China.

 

 

 

Some of the coal burning around Yulin - these are used in the making of bricks

 

 

[Randy W]

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from the Global Times

 

Coal blamed for heavy pollution

 

 

Yu Yanshan, a director at the National Energy Administration, attributed the high pollution readings to consumption of coal, news agency China News Service reported Saturday.

Yu said that on average, the Yangtze River Delta consumes 10,000 tons of coal per square kilometer each year, leading to the poor air quality, according to the report.

The Yangtze River Delta, including cities in East China's Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, is an area with heavy manufacturing and industrial activity, the report noted.

In Jiangsu, 13 cities have seen heavy pollution this winter. Jiangsu ranks highest in China in terms of thermal power generation and cement production, and the province also has the second-largest steel output in China, the report said, noting that the three industries require heavy use of coal.

The high level of coal consumption is not just a regional but a national problem for China, Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times Sunday.

China consumed 3.78 billion tons of coal in 2012, with coal accounting for 68 percent of the country's energy consumption, so it is impossible for China to avoid smog, Lin said.

Upgrading the quality of petrol could help, Lin said, but reducing coal consumption is more important.

 

[Randy W]

. . . and this

 

Researchers identify primary sources of city air pollution

 

Research fellows have found the main source of particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns in the Beijing air is fossil fuel combustion emissions, Xinhua reported Monday.

A research team at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics in the Chinese Academy of Sciences found six sources: soil dust (15 percent), coal burning (18 percent), biomass burning (12 percent), vehicle gas emissions and garbage burning (4 percent), industrial pollution (25 percent) and secondary inorganic aerosols (26 percent).

Coal burning, industrial pollution and secondary inorganic aerosols combine to form fossil fuel combustion emissions, a total 69 percent of pollutants.

Researchers analyzed samples mainly in downtown Beijing through 2009 and 2010.

In winter, researchers found coal burning was the main culprit. Biomass burning stepped up in spring and fall.

 

 

No word as to how the percentages vary with the season

 

I have to wonder just how flammable that coal dust may be when in settles in vacant or partially sheltered areas.

[Mick]

I wonder why they lump vehicle gas emissions and garbage burning together. It would seem to me that vehicle gas emissions would fall under fossil fuel combusion emissions and perhaps should be added to the total. Any idea what the reasoning was in terms of why vehicle gas emissions was paired with garbage burning?

[Randy W]

I wonder why they lump vehicle gas emissions and garbage burning together. It would seem to me that vehicle gas emissions would fall under fossil fuel combusion emissions and perhaps should be added to the total. Any idea what the reasoning was in terms of why vehicle gas emissions was paired with garbage burning?

 

Yeah, it seems like they should have been able to differentiate between vehicle gas emissions and garbage burning to be able to separate the two.

 

But what caught my eye there was that the vehicle gas emissions must be LESS than 4%, which would make that the maximum they could pick up by banning ALL vehicles. So they've gained a lot from the pollution controls imposed on gasoline engines by Western countries, and really can only blame it on their own industry.

 

I also see that they didn't break out pollution from outdoor bar-b-q grills - lol.

 

I took this photo today of the dust build-up on a outdoor ledge (public area) which is inaccessible to cleaning, and partially sheltered from wind and rain. This is on the 11th floor.

 

Edited January 1, 2014 by Randy W (see edit history)