Leggett, "China's Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Mitigation Policies," (paper presented to the 112th Congress, Washington, DC, July 18, 2011). Another limitation of this paper is the rate of change and reform of China's coal policy.
China’s Coal Policy
Three major problems exist in the organization of the governmental mechanisms intended to formulate China's coal policy. This status therefore explains the weak language of the Chinese in the UNFCCC and all subsequent environmental treaties. China's status as a developing nation was strongly contested and ultimately led to the refusal of the United States, Australia and Canada to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.
Trends in Energy Use
According to an energy report from Greenpeace, coal consumption in the first three quarters of 2014 was 1 to 2 percent lower than the year before. Furthermore, if China's coal use remained stable in 2014, this does not necessarily translate into a trend of reduced coal dependence, as coal use fluctuates annually. 75 Damian Carrington, “China's coal use to fall for first time this century, analysis suggests,” The Guardian, October 22, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/oct/22/chinas-coal-use - analysis -suggests-a-decline-for-the-first-time-this-century.
76 “China unlikely to reduce coal use in next decade,” China Dialogue, February 12, 2014, http://www.chinafile.com/china-unlikely-reduce-coal-use-next-decade. The vast majority of this renewable energy, about 85 percent, comes from hydro, followed by thermal, wind, and solar.79 In 2012, China's clean energy investments reached US$67.76 billion, surpassing any second country and nearly 50 percent more than the next highest country, the United States.80 Current investment in the sector equals one-fifth of total global investment in renewables, significantly more than any other country .81 From 2006 to 2020, China plans to invest about 210 billion dollars. It has also proposed a subsidy of 20,000 yuan/kilowatt ($3,228/kilowatt) of solar power.82 These investments have been put to good use; China doubled its solar capacity in 2013, installing 12 gigawatts of solar panels, more than ever before by a single country in one year.83 Meanwhile, China's wind energy sector is the fastest growing in the world. .84 The country also now has more installed wind power capacity than anywhere else; 20.7 gigawatts compared to the United States' 4.7.85 However, although China has more turbines installed, the technology has proven to be less efficient than that of other countries.
84 Best og Levina, "Facing China's Coal Future: Prospects and Challenges for Carbon Capture and Storage". 88 Best og Levina, "Facing China's Coal Future: Prospects and Challenges for Carbon Capture and Storage".
Economic Objectives
Using the average prices from Beijing, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Urumqi and Chengdu, cities that span the country, we can get a good indication of the average price of natural gas in each of the four sectors. The above prices cannot provide a clear indication of the true price of each type of energy, as they do not take into account how much of each source is required to provide the same amount of energy. Therefore, each measurement must first be converted into a unit that is easier to compare in order to get a good representation of the true cost of each energy source in relation to each other.
One Btu of energy is roughly equivalent to 1055 joules, or the amount of energy needed to heat one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit.98 A metric ton of coal contains anywhere from 24 to 28 million Btu depending on the hardness of the coal (coal strong is more energy-rich). The prices of the three types of oil, gasoline, diesel and kerosene, averaged 196.90 yuan per million Btu, although gasoline was significantly more expensive. China currently produces 45 percent of the world's iron and steel, significantly more than any other country.108 Although the iron and steel industries are important to the country's economy, accounting for 7.42% and 8.19% of the country's GDP, respectively. and second and third place. the biggest.
According to the head of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Yuehui Xiong, more than 60 percent of steel companies have not completed the approval process and do not have any permits. 109 Changfu Zhang, “The Role of the Iron and Steel Industry in China's Future Economic Development.”
Environmental Objectives
117 “Di Er Ci Quanguo Jingji Pucha Zhuyao Shuju Gongbao (Di San Hao) [Second National Economic Census Main Data Bulletin (No. 3)],” 中华人民共和国国家统计局 (State Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China), 25 .December 2009. The main criterion for this assessment is how well the trustee has worked towards the goals set out in the five-year plan and the Government Work Report (GWR), a document published each year by central and local government that sets out five fundamental goals for that year.122 Although all GWRs should follow the central government's lead, each province is responsible for its own document, so each province's goals and achievements are slightly different. This system, while good for the economy, allowed and in a sense encouraged environmental degradation, since economic growth can be fastest achieved by using cheap fuel sources like coal and leaving waste and pollution untreated.
Cadre Evaluation System,” paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Chinese Studies, New Brunswick, New Jersey, October. It was only in 2014, under the leadership of Xi Jinping, that the GWR's focus began to shift from economic growth to social stability. The 12th FYP for 26 of the 31 provinces set economic growth targets of around 12-17 percent, much higher than the national target of 7 percent.128 Given that the ability to meet the FYP targets is a factor in the evaluation, it is clear that provincial governments set many of their own priorities for promotion and are able to undermine national policies.
They are just as, if not more, aware as the public of the health risks associated with air and other forms of pollution. Pollution affects the lives of the officials in the same way as it affects the common people, affecting their health and general well-being.
Social Pressure
The large discrepancy between the PM2.5 measurements recorded by the US Embassy in Beijing and the official air quality index of the Chinese government caused web users to openly question official air quality data for the first time. According to a study published in 2013 by the Pew Research Center, 36 percent of the Chinese population considered air pollution a "very big problem" in 2012. According to a 2007 poll by World Values Survey, the majority of the survey population (690) people or 34.7 percent) did not know whether global warming or the greenhouse effect were serious problems or not.149 However, it should be noted that the second highest percentage, 29.7.
Assuming that the results of the three questions discussed above are correct, it is safe to assume that the Chinese public is not only concerned about environmental protection, but also about China's coal use, which is the cause of a large percentage of the country's, and the world's, air pollution. 154 Xiumei Guo and Dora Marinova, "Environmental Awareness in China: Facilitating the Greening of the Economy." (Paper presented at the 19th International Congress on Modeling and Simulation, Perth, Australia, December. For example, in 2012 when the citizens of Chengdu organized a protest against a new paraxylene (PX) plant, the government instructed that the Saturday of the proposed protest be a working day.
Any mention of the plant or PX and its effects on the environment or the human body was. One of the earliest documented mentions of this occurred in 2014, when the Financial Secretary of the NDRC stated in an interview that the public yearns for environmental protection and that current environmental problems are causing public incidents.162 Although this phrase would be commonplace and even Dark, in American politics, marks a notable change in China's political dialogue.
Conclusion
Further evidence can be seen in the policies themselves, which are unspecific and contradictory, as well as the country's international negotiations, which have so far not resulted in binding agreements. Whether or not China's coal policy is still dominated by economic concerns, it appears to be in a stage of transition, moving the country away from coal consumption and toward more environmentally sound options. Research attributes this shift to rising environmental costs as well as social discontent and subsequent pressure on the government to amend the situation.
The heavy use of coal, which makes economic sense for the country, is the cause of massive environmental degradation, causing both social unrest and billions of yuan in damage (in fact, about 2 percent of the country's GDP163), reducing the economic growth is undermined. Because of the many similar facets of China's coal policy, it is important to view each of these categories in the context of each other and the bigger picture, rather than in isolation. The direction China takes with its coal regulatory policies will have broad implications for the future quality of life of the Chinese people.
The Chinese Central Party's inability to respond to its pollution problem is therefore likely to serve as a major catalyst for social unrest. The government has ample reasons to continue using heavy coal, including convenience, low cost, and energy security; It is therefore up to the people and the increasing social pressure to challenge the government and force them to make drastic changes.
The Future of Coal- Looking Ahead
De Chinese milieucrisis.” Council on Foreign Relations, 25 april 2014, http://www.cfr.org/china/chinas-environmental-crisis/p12608.
