The Straits Times
Mining in China fraught with danger, but higher pay draws workers to the industry
Chinese miners saved from hundreds of metres underground after being trapped for two weeks in a gold mine explosion in Qixia, China, on Jan 24, 2021. PHOTO: AFP
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China’s coal industry fights for survival in a greener world
The dirtiest fossil fuel dominates
the economy, but
it is at odds with Beijing’s goal to be carbon neutral
by 2060
By Dan Murtaugh and Karoline Kan / Bloomberg
The future of coal looks like an ice cream truck parked half a kilometer down a mine shaft in China’s Shanxi Province. The yellow-and-white vehicle is equipped with a 5G router from Huawei Technologies to gather data for the mine’s control center, where technicians monitor high-definition feeds on a screen the size of a two-story house.
They are tracking temperature and methane concentrations, while keeping watch over the black lumps zipping along conveyor belts on the way up to waiting trucks.
Chinaâs Coal Industry Fights for Survival in a Greener World
Dec 17 2020, 4:19 AM
December 16 2020, 3:30 AM
December 17 2020, 4:19 AM
(Bloomberg) The future of coal looks like an ice-cream truck parked half a kilometer down a mine shaft in Chinaâs Shanxi province. The yellow-and-white vehicle is equipped with a 5G router from Huawei Technologies Co. to gather data for the mineâs control center, where technicians monitor high-definition feeds on a screen the size of a two-story house. Theyâre tracking temperature and methane concentrations while keeping watch ove.
(Bloomberg) The future of coal looks like an ice-cream truck parked half a kilometer down a mine shaft in Chinaâs Shanxi province. The yellow-and-white vehicle is equipped with a 5G router from Huawei Technologies Co. to gather data for the mineâs control center, where technicians monitor high-definition feeds on a screen the size of a two-story house. Theyâre tracking temperatu
The operation produces about 2.4 million tons of coal a year, less than a tenth of a percent of China’s current demand. That much coal could generate as much as 5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide when it’s burned, even as Xinyuan employs emissions-reducing techniques such as using methane instead of coal in its boilers.
Coal’s long exit is part of a two-speed approach proposed by climate scientists at Tsinghua University. Citing the inertia of energy and economic systems, they proposed allowing coal power plants to continue being built until around 2030, when China will be richer and replacement technologies will have advanced. Then the plan calls for the ongoing transition to solar and nuclear to accelerate sharply.