Anhui and coal

From Global Energy Monitor

Coal plants in Anhui

For a full list and map of all coal plants in Anhui Province, China, go to CoalSwarm's Global Coal Plant Tracker and choose Region East Asia, Map China - Anhui.

History

Anhui’s province has reported to own 25.3 billion tonnes of coal reserves, according to China Coal Resource. The region is about 139,900 square km (54,00 square miles.) It has a population of 59,500,510 as of 2010 census.[1] Anhui’s industrial capital was limited until the 1950’s when the Anhui's coal basin was developed. The coal from these basins in Anhui became the primary source of power. Hydroelectric power units were built in this province on tributaries which also supplied the province’s major industrial centers.

Environmental impacts

Air pollution cut northern China lifespans

A new study has linked that air pollution from coal burning in Northern China has shortened lives. Half a billion people alive in Huaibei, in China’s Anhui province in the 1990s will live an average of 5 ½ years less that people in Southern China because of dirtied air due to reliance on coal power. For decades China provided free coal for heating in Northern China in cities near the Huai River and researchers found a difference in air pollution compared to the regions that were less reliant on coal. “This study provides a unique setting to answer the life expectancy question because the (heating) policy dramatically alters pollution concentrations for people who appear to be of otherwise identical health,” said Greenstone a professor of environmental economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The researchers collected data for 90 cities, from 1981 to 2000 stating that the difference in life expectancies was almost exclusively due to an increased incidence of deaths classified as cardiorespiratory: those from causes that had previously been linked to air quality.[2]

Articles and resources

References

  1. "Anhui" Encyclopedia Britannica, July, 2013.
  2. "Air pollution cut northern China lifespans" Khaleej Times, July, 2013.

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External resources

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