Power: Clean Air, Frozen Classrooms, and Smog

This is Nick Steele posting from Kristi's account. 

China is undergoing a major shift in how power is generated for energy use. Currently, the country is leading a transition from “dirty” coal powered energy plants to ones that burn natural gas, a cleaner alternative. Replacing the sources of China’s energy has been termed the gas-for-coal strategy; it is an example of the wholesale policy changes spearheaded by the Communist Party to ween its country off of coal power. 

And they have good reason to do so: replacing coal with natural gas will contribute to a reduction of smog from the principal emitters of pollution, as Professor Jia of Tsinghua University, an expert in air pollution, explained to us on Thursday. 

His lecture, titled “Air Pollution in General,” provided a broad and informative overview of air pollution — it’s sources and chemical compositions; and also the methods used to monitor and analyze emission data. He detailed the many ways in which countries have discounted the cost of air pollution in order to develop their economies, describing the human health effects of unchecked pollution. Professor Jia also provided hope that his work to better calculate the cost and benefit of pollution will inform governments in how to make industrial policy decision — crucial when a country’s economic health hinges on industry. 

Indeed, the recent policy change regarding the substitution of gas for coal has come with significant controversy. Not only has the short supply of gas has caused severe shortages of energy use, it has also inflated the cost of gas due to a surge in demand. A recent photo of a classroom in rural China, forced to sit outside in the winter sunshine for warmth, underscores the problems associated with immediate top-down policy changes. When they are not implemented correctly, or the unintended consequences not fully forecasted, humans can suffer. 

What the simple economics of rising demand and inadequate supply of natural gas doesn’t reveal is the dramatic change in the air quality of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cluster. This winter has experienced excellent air quality, in large part due to the substitution of natural gas for coal. It is encouraging to see this development occur as we are studying this issue at school.