Coal Towns Remain the Heartbeat of China's Economy

Amid the glowing reports of new wind farms and investment in solar photovoltaics throughout China, it’s easy to forget that cities like Datong are still the heart of this country. Located about 150 miles west of Beijing in Shanxi province, this city is the coal capital of China. The Jing Hua Gong mine on the city’s outskirts produces about 4.5 million tons of coal each year — in a country that produces more than 2.4 billion tons each year, according to the World Coal Institute.
Manufacturing, especially of energy-intensive goods like cement and steel, is the driver of China’s explosive economic growth. Even in the midst of a global recession, the country’s industrial production has continued steadily.

Nothing is small about this country’s long sojourn with coal. It accounts for more than 70 percent of China’s energy consumption, and the country continues to develop it at a rapid pace. According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration, coal energy produced in China will double over the next 20 years or so. Clean alternatives like wind, hydro, solar and nuclear are growing fast, but they will amount to less than a third of the country’s total installed capacity by 2020.

The men wear no safety equipment, not an unusual sight in a country that experiences more than 1,000 mine deaths each year. Now that China has smashed its “iron rice bowl” system of guaranteed lifetime employment, miners say that many even pay hefty bribes for the privilege of toiling six-hour rotating shifts deep below the Earth’s surface.

They claim pride in helping to keep the nation’s economic engine purring. “If the coal mine shuts down, the lights go out in Beijing,” says Gao Ailing, who said he has been working at the mine outside Datong 20 years. Standing by the exit as men with streaked black faces trickle out, Gao says he’s familiar with the global climate change policy debate. He sees U.S. insistence that China cut back emissions as inherently unfair. “America wants other people to do more, but it hasn’t done anything itself,” Gao says.

New York Times