China’s Coal Future, Part II

The problem is that IGCC plants still cost about 10 percent to 20 percent more per megawatt than pulverized-coal-fired power plants. (And that’s without carbon dioxide capture.) China’s power producers–much like their counterparts in the United States and Europe–are waiting for a financial or political reason to make the switch. In part, what’s been missing is regulation that penalizes conventional coal plants. And China’s environmental agencies lack the resources and power to make companies comply even with regulations already on the books. Top officials in Beijing admit that their edicts are widely ignored, as new power plants are erected without environmental assessments and, according to some sources, without required equipment for pollution control.

Despite such pessimistic predictions, China’s vast experience with advanced coal technologies and its proven ability to implement new technologies at a startling pace provide ample room for optimism. When you’re racing into Shanghai at one-third the speed of sound on a train supported by an electromagnetic force field, it’s hard to believe that a country capable of such an engineering feat will continue to ignore the deadly pollution engulfing its cities.
Technology Review
This post is a follow up on the story, posted earlier here.

The train mentioned above is actually the German Transrapid. In fact it’s mroe of a prestige project than anything else…