China's huge fuel conversion plants in remote areas have carbon footprint double conventional coal and oil, one plant larger than st. of Connecticut, US media silent -Inside Climate News

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2/13/14, "China's Plan to Clean Up Air in Cities Will Doom the Climate, Scientists Say," William J. Kelly, insideclimatenews.org

1 coal base larger than Connecticut

"China is erecting huge industrial complexes in remote areas to convert coal to synthetic fuel that could make the air in its megacities cleaner. But the complexes use so much energy that the carbon footprint of the fuel is almost double that of conventional coal and oil, spelling disaster for earth's climate, a growing chorus of scientists is warning.

Efforts by China to develop so-called "coal bases" in its far-flung regions have received scant attention beyond the trade press, but scientists watching the effort say it could cause climate damage that eclipses worldwide climate protection efforts.

The facilities, which resemble oil refineries, use coal to make liquid fuels, chemicals, power and "syngas," which is like natural gas but extracted from coal. The fuels and electricity are then transported to China's big cities to be burned in power plants, factories and cars.

Currently 16 coal base sites are being built and many are operational. One being constructed in Inner Mongolia will eventually occupy nearly 400 square miles—almost the size of the sprawling city of Los Angeles."...

 images via insideclimatenews.org. Above graph from 2013 UN IPCC. Caption for first image:
 "A factory in Shaanxi province. The Shaanbei coal base under construction in Shaanxi is larger than the state of Connecticut, spanning 5,575 square miles. It's one of many planned coal bases that together could bring China's yearly emissions to 10 gigatons a year and push the world's climate past safe thresholds.Credit: Lorenzo Shiavi, flickr/" This article via Tom Nelson.


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